Populating TableView with Plist Documents Directory in iOS - ios

Question

I'm a newbie to Objective-C so any help is greatly appreciated.
I have a TableView that is successfully pulling back the list from my Data.plist file within my Xcode project but I need it to pull from the Documents Directory.
I have seen many posts about this but can't seem to get it to work for me.
Here is my .m file below. Like I said, it pulls back the data but I need it to be dynamically changed based on my Documents plist copy.
Thanks in advance!
#synthesize content = _content;
- (NSArray *)content
{
if (!_content) {
_content = [[NSArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"Data" ofType:#"plist"]];
}
return _content;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
// Return the number of rows in the section.
return [self.content count];
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];
// Configure the cell...
cell.textLabel.text = [[self.content objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:#"Name"];
cell.detailTextLabel.text = [[self.content objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:#"Score"];
return cell;
}

Answer 1

Try this:
Step 1: In .h File declare a global variable
#property (nonatomic,retain) NSMutableDictionary *contents;
Step 2: In .m file set synthesis.
#synthesize contents;
Step 3: Move plist file from mainbudle into documents directory
-(void) createPlistDocuments
{
// Get path to documents directory
NSArray *arrayPaths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
// Finds the contained Documents directory
NSString *documentsDirectory = [arrayPaths objectAtIndex:0];
NSError *error;
// Create an object that we will later use to look for a file and return a boolean value on whether or not it exists
NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
// File we want to move, stored in original top level directory
NSString *demoFile = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"data" ofType:#"plist"];
// Define where we want it moved to and name it
NSString *demoFileMoved = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/data.plist", documentsDirectory];
// Attempt the copy
if ([manager copyItemAtPath:demoFile toPath:demoFileMoved error:&error] != YES)
NSLog(#"Unable to move file: %#", [error localizedDescription]);
}
Step 4: Read plist data from document directory
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
[self createPlistDocuments];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(
NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectoryPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *path = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/data.plist",documentsDirectoryPath];
contents = [NSArray arrayWithContentsOfFile:path];
NSLog(#"%d", contents.count);
}
For brief explanation follow this sample... TechDevMobile(IOS-Message-Chat)