swift - save plist dictionary without overwriting keys - ios

Question

I am creating a note app, i am trying to save the data to a plist dictionary however, with the code I have when I save a new note is going to replace the old one.
How could add the new data in the dictionary without replacing the old one?
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true) as NSArray
let documentsDirectory = paths.objectAtIndex(0) as! NSString
let path = documentsDirectory.stringByAppendingPathComponent("notes.plist")
var dict: NSMutableDictionary = ["XInitializerItem": "DoNotEverChangeMe"]
//saving
dict.setObject(noteResult.text, forKey: nameSave.text)
//writing
dict.writeToFile(path, atomically: false)
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
println("Saved note.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
Loading notes:
func loadNotes(){
let plistPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true) as NSArray
let DocumentsDirectory = plistPath[0] as! String
let path = DocumentsDirectory.stringByAppendingPathComponent("notes.plist")
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
if (!fileManager.fileExistsAtPath(path)) {
if let bundlePath = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("notes", ofType: "plist") {
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: bundlePath)
println("Bundle notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
fileManager.copyItemAtPath(bundlePath, toPath: path, error: nil)
println("copy")
} else {
println("notes.plist not found")
}
}else {
println("note.plist already exists")
//fileManager.removeItemAtPath(path, error: nil)
}
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
println("Loaded notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
var myDict = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
if let dict = myDict {
//load values
} else {
println("worning ccould not create dictionary from notes.plist, default values will be used")
}
}

Answer 1

Point 1: Could you please put a break point and double check after loading dictionary from file system, it contains the data that was saved previously. This most likely be true and then point 2 would help you. If this point is breaking then please ensure to fix this and you will crack it :).
Point 2: Dictionaries are bound to have unique keys. Problem is in your below statement. Make sure every time you save new note, it gets saved with new key. Put a check on
nameSave.text value whenever you are saving data in dictionary.
dict[nameSave.text] = noteResult.text
EDIT:
I see the issue here is you are not initializing your dictionary with already saved file in file system. You must first ensure that you are populating your dictionary with notes.plist in file system and then append new data to it and finally save it back.
This is how I would do this; just combined both of your mentioned methods in a flow. Call this function on trigger of Save operation. Here, I think, first time check might be missing. I did not test this code so please bear with me.
func saveNotes() {
// First fetch old notes
let plistPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true) as NSArray
let DocumentsDirectory = plistPath[0] as! String
let path = DocumentsDirectory.stringByAppendingPathComponent("notes.plist")
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
if (!fileManager.fileExistsAtPath(path)) {
if let bundlePath = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("notes", ofType: "plist") {
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: bundlePath)
println("Bundle notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
fileManager.copyItemAtPath(bundlePath, toPath: path, error: nil)
println("copy")
} else {
println("notes.plist not found")
}
} else {
println("note.plist already exists")
//fileManager.removeItemAtPath(path, error: nil)
}
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
println("Loaded notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
var myDict = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
if let dict = myDict {
// Save new value
dict.setObject(noteResult.text, forKey: nameSave.text)
} else {
println("worning ccould not create dictionary from notes.plist, default values will be used")
}
// Now save it back
dict.writeToFile(path, atomically: false)
}

Answer 2

For Future reference the solution was:
// First fetch old notes
let plistPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true) as NSArray
let DocumentsDirectory = plistPath[0] as! String
let path = DocumentsDirectory.stringByAppendingPathComponent("notes.plist")
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
if (!fileManager.fileExistsAtPath(path)) {
if let bundlePath = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource("notes", ofType: "plist") {
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: bundlePath)
println("Bundle notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")
fileManager.copyItemAtPath(bundlePath, toPath: path, error: nil)
println("copy")
} else {
println("notes.plist not found")
}
} else {
println("note.plist already exists")
//fileManager.removeItemAtPath(path, error: nil)
}
var myDict = NSDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
if let dict = myDict {
// Save new value
var noteResultAll = "Date: " + saveDate.text! + "\n" + noteResult.text
dict.setValue(noteResultAll, forKey: nameSave.text)
dict.writeToFile(path, atomically: false)
} else {
println("worning ccould not create dictionary from notes.plist, default values will be used")
}
// Now save it back
let resultDictionary = NSMutableDictionary(contentsOfFile: path)
println("Loaded notes.plist file is --> \(resultDictionary?.description)")