Replace smiles with images in NSAttributedString - ios

Question

I have a list of Emoji entities and each of the has property codes and I want to check string ("]:-)") if it contains any of them and then replace smile with an image.
for (Emoji *emoji in self.emojis) {
for (NSString *code in emoji.codes) {
NSString *pattern = [NSRegularExpression escapedPatternForString:code];
NSRegularExpression *regex = [[NSRegularExpression alloc] initWithPattern:pattern options:0 error:nil];
NSArray *matches = [regex matchesInString:[sourceString string] options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0, [sourceString length])];
[matches enumerateObjectsWithOptions:NSEnumerationReverse usingBlock:^(NSTextCheckingResult * _Nonnull aResult, NSUInteger idx, BOOL * _Nonnull stop) {
NSTextAttachment *attachment = [[NSTextAttachment alloc] init];
[attachment setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:emoji.image]];
NSAttributedString *replacement = [NSAttributedString attributedStringWithAttachment:attachment];
[sourceString replaceCharactersInRange:[aResult range] withAttributedString:replacement];
}];
}
}
The problem is that smile with code ]:-) contains :-) and my method replacing it with next: bracket ] + [image] for :-), it is because :-) goes first in list.
How can I check for exact string?
I've tried:
]:-/), \\b]:-/)\\b, /^]:-/)$/
Maybe there is better solution to make this working.

Answer 1

If I understood correctly your current structure:
#interface Emoji : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *image; //I'd expect a UIImage there and not an image name
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray *codes;
#end
A possible solution is instead to use a single couple of values: imageName/code
#interface Emoji : NSObject
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *image; //I'd expect a UIImage there and not an image name
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *code;
#end
self.emojis will have plenty of Emoji object that may have the same image name for different code, but an advantage of doing that is this little trick:
Sort self.emojis in a way that "smaller" emojis are at the end. So you'll replace first only the "lengthy" ones and the the smaller ones.
self.emojis = [arrayOfSingleEmojis sortedArrayUsingComparator:^NSComparisonResult(Emoji * _Nonnull emoji1, Emoji * _Nonnull emoji2) {
NSUInteger length1 = [[emoji1 code] length];
NSUInteger length2 = [[emoji2 code] length];
return [#(length2) compare:#(length1)]; //Or reverse length1 & length2, I never know, I always have to test, but I think it's the correct one
}];
So in your current case: ]:-) will be replace before :-) so you should have <imageFor:">:-)"] instead of ]<imageFor:":-)>