Parsing xml that contains new line characters within nodes - ios

Question

I am trying to parse the XML from a URL in Xcode. The trouble I am having is with new line characters within the nodes. When I parse the following XML, I am getting the address perfectly fine but not the name or description. Also, if there happens to be a "&" symbol, the parser stops parsing. How do I get around these two obstacles?
Here is an example XML I am trying to parse:
<item>
<Name>
John Smith
</Name>
<Address>555 WHITEHEAD ST, Greenville, NY 55555</Address>
<Description>
Brick house - white trim
</Description>
</item>
<item>
<Name>
Jane Smith
</Name>
<Address>555 WHITEHEAD ST, Greenville, NY 55555</Address>
<Description>
Brick house - white trim & stone drive
</Description>
</item>
Here is the code I am using to parse the XML:
-(id) loadXMLByURL:(NSString *)urlString {
arrests = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:urlString];
NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url];
parser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData:data];
parser.delegate = self;
[parser parse];
return self;
}
-(void) parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didStartElement:(NSString *)elementName namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qualifiedName attributes:(NSDictionary *)attributeDict
{
if([elementName isEqualToString:#"item"]) {
currentArrest = [[ArrestObject alloc] init];
}
}
-(void) parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser foundCharacters:(NSString *)string {
currentNodeContent = (NSMutableString *) [string stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet]];
}
-(void) parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didEndElement:(NSString *)elementName namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName {
if ([elementName isEqualToString:#"channel"]) {
return;
}
if ([elementName isEqualToString:#"item"]) {
[self.arrests addObject:currentArrest];
currentArrest = nil;
}
else {
[currentArrest setValue:currentNodeContent forKey:elementName];
currentNodeContent = nil;
}
}
Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

foundCharacters: can be called more than once per element. You need to append each string you get to your currentNodeContent variable, not just set it. So basically, reset currentNodeContent in the didStartElement method and use the fully appended value in the didEndElement method.
And you can't use stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet to get rid of the newlines because that only removes the whitespace from the ends of the string, not the middle.
Lastly, the problem with the & character is simple - it's not a valid character in XML. Whenever you need an actual & character in your XML, you need to use &, like in HTML. Same for < and > - use < and > respectively.
Update:
In didStartElement do:
currentNodeContent = [NSMutableString string];
In foundCharacters do:
[currentModeContent appendString:string];