how to use dict inside a plist - ios

Question

I have a plist file like
<dict>
<key>horse</key>
<dict>
<key>level</key>
<integer>2</integer>
</dict>
</dict>
and I load it by code bellow
let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("test", ofType: "plist")
dataBase = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path!)
let array = NSMutableArray()
for member in (dataBase.allKeys) {
let level = member.valueForKey("level") as! Int
if () {
//do something
}
}
when the app runs, it will crash. The reason I think is that member in the dataBase can't be cast to NSDictionary since it's NSTaggedPointerString, I don't know how to make it work.
update:
The previous question, I have addressed the answer by #Wonzigii, and now I got the right dict using this method I defined validateCard(), which is #Wonzigii said bellow.
func validateCard() -> NSArray?
Now I want to randomly retrieve its item inside the new array to use it to do something, what I'm solving this issue is using a random index, but seem I can't get the array item by index, since if I did so, I can't use it to get the next layer dict. what should I do next?
if let avaliableCardDeck = self.validateCard() {
for _ in 0...16 {
let maxAvaliableCards = avaliableCardDeck.count
let index = Int(arc4random()) % maxAvaliableCards
let cardInfo = avaliableCardDeck[index]
let newCard = PlayCard()
newCard.rank = cardInfo.valueForKey("number") as! Int
newCard.imageName = cardInfo.valueForKey("imageSource") as? String
addCard(newCard)
}
}

Answer 1

The reason is allKeys will return an array contains type AnyObject.
So yet member, in this case, is AnyObject type.
for member in (dataBase!.allKeys) where member as? String == "horse" {
let integer = dataBase?.valueForKeyPath("horse.level") as! Int
print(integer)
}
Note that allKeys always return top level keys.
Edit:
The below code will use member as the key to loop through the dictionary to retrieve deeper value.
for member in (dataBase!.allKeys) {
if let dic = dataBase?.valueForKey(member as! String) {
// get the level value or something else
let integer = dic.valueForKey("level") as! Int
print(integer)
}
}
More Swiftly way(without forced unwrapping, aka, !):
if let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("test", ofType: "plist"), db = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path) as? [String: AnyObject] {
for member in db.keys {
if let dic = db[member] {
// get the level value or something else
let integer = dic.valueForKey("level") as! Int
print(integer)
}
}
}

Answer 2

Try this out. If the path and all are correct this code must work, or else it will not execute. Will surely not crash
guard let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("test", ofType: "plist") else {
return
}
if let dataBase = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path), member = dataBase["horse"] as? [String: AnyObject] {
if let level = member["level"] as? Int {
//do something
}
}
Edit: Giving a generic one
guard let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("test", ofType: "plist") else {
return
}
if let dataBase = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path) {
for (_, value) in dataBase {
if value is [String: AnyObject], let level = value["level"] as? Int {
//do something
}
}
}