Loading plist from URL instead of file - ios

Question

I am currently trying to load a plist file from a URL. I'm not sure if the way I have my code set up is causing it to crash or if I'm doing something wrong.
.m file
#import "deptTableViewController.h"
#interface deptTableViewController ()
#property (nonatomic, copy) NSDictionary *names;
#property (nonatomic, copy) NSArray *keys;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *filterednames;
#property (nonatomic, strong) UISearchDisplayController *searchController;
#end
#implementation deptTableViewController
#synthesize names, keys, filterednames, searchController, searchNames;
- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewStyle)style
{
self = [super initWithStyle:style];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
UITableView *tableview = (id) [self.view viewWithTag:1];
[tableview registerClass:[UITableViewCell class] forCellReuseIdentifier:#"Cell"];
filterednames = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
searchController = [[UISearchDisplayController alloc]init];
searchController.searchResultsDataSource = self;
// This will get the plist into data format
NSData *dataReturn = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"http://morphinggamers.ca/staff.plist"]];
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle]pathForResource:#"staff" ofType:#"plist"];
names = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path];
keys = [[names allKeys]sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(compare:)];
keys = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:dataReturn];
}
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
if (tableView.tag == 1) {
return [keys count];
}
else{
return 1;
}
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section{
if (tableView.tag == 1) {
NSString *key = keys[section];
NSArray *keyValues = names[key];
return [keyValues count];
}
else {
return [filterednames count];
}
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];
// Configure the cell...
if (tableView.tag == 1) {
names = keys[indexPath.row];
NSString *teacherNames = names[#"teacherNames"];
cell.textLabel.text = teacherNames;
}
else{
cell.textLabel.text = filterednames [indexPath.row];
}
return cell;
}
-(NSString*)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section{
if (tableView.tag == 1) {
return keys[section];
}
else{
return nil;
}
}
#pragma mark - Search Display And Delegate Methods
-(void)searchDisplayController:(UISearchDisplayController *)controller didLoadSearchResultsTableView:(UITableView *)tableView {
[tableView registerClass:[UITableViewCell class] forCellReuseIdentifier:#"Cell"];
}
-(BOOL)searchDisplayController:(UISearchDisplayController *)controller shouldReloadTableForSearchString:(NSString *)searchString{
[filterednames removeAllObjects];
if (searchString.length > 0) {
NSPredicate *predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"SELF contains [search] %#", self.searchNames.text];
for (NSString *key in keys) {
NSArray *matches = [names[key]filteredArrayUsingPredicate:predicate];
[filterednames addObjectsFromArray:matches];
}
}
return YES;
}
#end

Answer 1

You can only use initwithcontentsofurl using local files (files on your device already) This URL is on a server so you need to use a network request to fetch the data from the server.
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:#"http://morphinggamers.ca/staff.plist"];
[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:request queue:[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *connectionError) {
NSDictionary *names = [NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListFromData:data mutabilityOption:0 format:0 errorDescription:nil];
keys = [[names allKeys]sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(compare:)];
keys = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:dataReturn];
//might want to reload the tableview
[self.tableview reloadData]
}];