JSON file in arrays - ios

Question

I'm trying to parse this JSON :
[
{
"text" : "Test",
"color" : "yellow",
},
{
"text" : "Test2",
"color" : "blue",
},
]
I am trying to get two arrays, one with the key "text" and another with the key "color".
NSString *jsonPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"notes"
ofType:#"json"];
NSError *e = nil;
NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:jsonPath];
NSArray *parsed = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:data
options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers
error:&e];
if (! [parsed isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
NSLog(#"Error");
}
NSArray *texts = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
NSArray *colors = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (NSDictionary* dict in parsed)
{
[texts addObject:dict [#"text"]];
[colors addObject:dict [#"color"]];
}
I have an error with the following code:
[texts addObject:dict [#"text"]];
[colors addObject:dict [#"color"]];
How should I fix this?

Answer 1

Looking at your JSON data, you've got an array that contains 2 dictionaries. Each dictionary has keys for text and color.
You can use a trick on the array to get all the values in one:
First, your code to extract the JSON into an NSArray:
NSString *jsonPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"notes"
ofType:#"json"];
NSError *e = nil;
NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:jsonPath];
NSArray *parsed = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:data
options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers
error:&e];
Now the trick:
NSArray *textEntries = [parsed valueForKey: #"text"];
NSArray *colorEntries = [parsed valueForKey: #"color"];
EDIT:
The trick is in sending the valueForKey message to an array. When you do that, it passes on the message to every object in the array. The array then builds a new array with the answer it gets back from each object it contains and returns the resulting array to you. This does a whole lot of work for you with a very simple statement.