iOS 7 - Using MLPAutoCompleteTextField with a plain NSArray - ios

Question

I am relatively new to iOS Development and I wanted to implement an autocomplete textfield in my application. Upon doing research, I have come across this library, MLPAutoCompleteTextField. I downloaded it, ran the Demo, and tried to understand how it works.
From what I got, the demo uses a custom class for the Array and a custom cell view that's why the autocomplete in the demo contains the flag of the country.
However, what I want to implement is a much simpler version, one that would only use an Array, no more custom classes for the data and the cell layout.
Here is what I have so far:
My FirstViewController.h File
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDataSource.h"
#import "MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDelegate.h"
#interface FirstViewController : UIViewController <UITextFieldDelegate, MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDataSource, MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDelegate>
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSArray *groupID;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *part;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *brand;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *barcode;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *itemName;
#property (weak) IBOutlet MLPAutoCompleteTextField *groupIDInput;
#property (weak) IBOutlet MLPAutoCompleteTextField *partInput;
#property (weak) IBOutlet MLPAutoCompleteTextField *brandInput;
#property (weak) IBOutlet MLPAutoCompleteTextField *barcodeInput;
#property (weak) IBOutlet MLPAutoCompleteTextField *itemNameInput;
#property (strong, nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UIButton *searchButton;
#property (assign) BOOL testWithAutoCompleteObjectsInsteadOfStrings;
#end
As you can see, I have 5 AutoCompleteTextViews and I intend to use the 5 Arrays to supply the data for the autoCompleteTextViews.
This is my FirstViewController.m File:
#import "FirstViewController.h"
#import "FMDatabase.h"
#import "FMDatabaseAdditions.h"
#import "MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDataSource.h"
#import "MLPAutoCompleteTextFieldDelegate.h"
#import "MLPAutoCompleteTextField.h"
#interface FirstViewController ()
#end
#implementation FirstViewController
#synthesize groupID;
#synthesize part;
#synthesize brand;
#synthesize barcode;
#synthesize itemName;
#synthesize groupIDInput;
#synthesize partInput;
#synthesize brandInput;
#synthesize barcodeInput;
#synthesize itemNameInput;
#synthesize searchButton;
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil{
self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
[self setType];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - MLPAutoCompleteTextField DataSource
- (void)groupIDInput:(MLPAutoCompleteTextField *)textField
possibleCompletionsForString:(NSString *)string
completionHandler:(void (^)(NSArray *))handler{
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0);
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
NSArray *completions;
if(self.testWithAutoCompleteObjectsInsteadOfStrings){
completions = [self allCountryObjects];
} else {
completions = [self allCountries];
}
handler(completions);
});
}
-(void) setType{
[self.groupIDInput setAutoCompleteTableAppearsAsKeyboardAccessory:NO];
}
- (NSArray *)allCountryObjects{
if(!self.groupID){
NSArray *countryNames = [self allCountries];
NSMutableArray *mutableCountries = [NSMutableArray new];
for(NSString *countryName in countryNames){
[mutableCountries addObject:countryName];
}
[self setGroupID:[NSArray arrayWithArray:mutableCountries]];
}
return self.groupID;
}
- (NSArray *)allCountries{
NSArray *countries =
#[/* Insert Long List of Countries Here */];
return countries;
}
#end
However, my problem now is that in the demo, there is a line that goes [self.autocompleteTextField registerAutoCompleteCellClass:[DEMOCustomAutoCompleteCell class] wherein the custom cell class is used. I get the feeling that I'm also supposed to create my own custom cell class even though I'm not implementing anything fancy.
So, question is:
Do I have to implement my own CustomAutoCompleteObject and CustomAutoCompleteCell? If not, how can I implement this library just by using simple Arrays?
Any help is appreciated. I have been working on this for the past 4-5 hours and my lack of iOS Dev knowledge is taking it's toll on me.
UPDATE 1:
I tried to use a predeclared array instead of a mutable one populated by a database query, I also made some changes as follows:
- (void)autoCompleteTextField:(MLPAutoCompleteTextField *)textField
possibleCompletionsForString:(NSString *)string
completionHandler:(void (^)(NSArray *))handler{
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0);
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
NSArray *completions;
//completions = [self allCountries];
completions = [self initializeGroupIDArray];
handler(completions);
});
}
This function is attached to the storyboard.
And my initializeGroupIDArray is as follows:
-(NSArray *)initializeGroupIDArray{
// Getting the database path.
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *docsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *dbPath = [docsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"itemList.db"];
NSMutableArray *groupArray = #[/* Insert List of Countries Here */];
FMDatabase *database = [FMDatabase databaseWithPath:dbPath];
[database open];
NSString *sqlSelectQuery = #"SELECT DISTINCT GROUPID FROM ItemList";
// Query result
FMResultSet *resultsWithNameLocation = [database executeQuery:sqlSelectQuery];
while([resultsWithNameLocation next]) {
NSString *queryResult = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[resultsWithNameLocation stringForColumn:#"GROUPID"]];
// loading your data into the array, dictionaries.
NSLog(#"GroupID = %#", queryResult);
[groupArray addObject:queryResult];
}
[database close];
NSArray *groupID;
[groupID = groupArray copy];
return groupID;
}
However, it seems to me that I am not adding my results from the database query properly. Does anyone have ideas?

Answer 1

I didn't initialize my mutable array. Now goes goes as such:
#pragma mark - MLPAutoCompleteTextField DataSource
- (void)autoCompleteTextField:(MLPAutoCompleteTextField *)textField
possibleCompletionsForString:(NSString *)string
completionHandler:(void (^)(NSArray *))handler{
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0);
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
NSLog(#"autoCompleteTextField Entered");
NSArray *completions;
completions = [self allGroups];
handler(completions);
});
}
allGroups function:
-(NSArray *)allGroups{
NSLog(#"allGroups Entered");
// Getting the database path.
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *docsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *dbPath = [docsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"itemList.db"];
NSMutableArray *groupArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; //This bad body right here.
FMDatabase *database = [FMDatabase databaseWithPath:dbPath];
[database open];
NSString *sqlSelectQuery = #"SELECT DISTINCT GROUPID FROM ItemList";
// Query result
FMResultSet *resultsWithNameLocation = [database executeQuery:sqlSelectQuery];
while([resultsWithNameLocation next]) {
NSString *groupIDName = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[resultsWithNameLocation stringForColumn:#"GROUPID"]];
// loading your data into the array, dictionaries.
NSLog(#"Group ID = %#", groupIDName);
[groupArray addObject:groupIDName];
}
[database close];
NSLog(#"size of groupArray (mutbale): %d", [groupArray count]);
for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < [groupArray count]; i++){
NSLog(#"Group Array (mutable) :%#", groupArray[i]);
}
NSArray *groupID;
[groupID = groupArray copy];
NSLog(#"size of groupID (immutbale): %d", [groupID count]);
for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < [groupID count]; i++){
NSLog(#"Group ID (non mutable) :%#", groupID[i]);
}
NSLog(#"allGroups before return statement");
return groupID;
}