NSdictionary to JSON data is being sorted - ios

Question

I have to send a data by post in JSON format. I have my nsdictionary with keys and values.
NSDictionary *params_country=[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"1111",#"#id",
nil];
NSDictionary *params = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"dummy3", #"#name",
#"dummy3#example.com", #"#mail",
#"password",#"#password", params_country,#"country",
nil];
When i am doing a log
DLog(#"params %#",[params description]);
I am getting the following
params {
"#mail" = "dummy3#example.com";
"#name" = dummy3;
"#password" = password;
}
The problem is that i have to sent the JSON in the order that i have listed in the above initialisation of my nsdictionary but the keys are being sorted somehow.
Any solution?
EDIT
Sorry i am sending a nsdictionary also in the params. If i remove the country then its fine.

Answer 1

Dictionaries are an unordered collection type. If you need to maintain a certain order, then you should use an ordered collection type like NSArray. But for this, your web service shouldn't care about the order, since it should be looking up the values by the keys provided.

Answer 2

As per some of the comments, this requirement does not match a valid JSON object as the official JSON Specification states:
An object is an unordered set of name/value pairs. An object begins with { (left brace) and ends with } (right brace). Each name is followed by : (colon) and the name/value pairs are separated by , (comma).
Unfortunately we don't live in a perfect world with perfect web services and there are often certain things that are out of our control.
I wrote a subclass of NSMutableDictionary after reading up on the internet that will order the dictionary based on the order you call setValue:forKey:.
I put the class into a gist you can download from here: https://gist.github.com/liamnichols/7869468 or you can just copy it from below:
LNOrderedMutableDictionary.h
#interface LNOrderedMutableDictionary : NSMutableDictionary
///If `anObject` is nil, it will not be added to the dictionary.
- (void)setNothingIfNil:(id)anObject forKey:(id)aKey;
#end
LNOrderedMutableDictionary.m
#import "LNOrderedMutableDictionary.h"
#interface LNOrderedMutableDictionary ()
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableDictionary *dictionary;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableOrderedSet *array;
#end
#implementation LNOrderedMutableDictionary
- (id)initWithCapacity:(NSUInteger)capacity
{
self = [super init];
if (self != nil)
{
self.dictionary = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity:capacity];
self.array = [[NSMutableOrderedSet alloc] initWithCapacity:capacity];
}
return self;
}
- (id)init
{
self = [self initWithCapacity:0];
if (self)
{
}
return self;
}
- (void)setObject:(id)anObject forKey:(id)aKey
{
[self.array removeObject:aKey];
[self.array addObject:aKey];
[self.dictionary setObject:anObject forKey:aKey];
}
- (void)setNothingIfNil:(id)anObject forKey:(id)aKey
{
if (anObject != nil)
[self setObject:anObject forKey:aKey];
}
- (void)removeObjectForKey:(id)aKey
{
[self.dictionary removeObjectForKey:aKey];
[self.array removeObject:aKey];
}
- (NSUInteger)count
{
return [self.dictionary count];
}
- (id)objectForKey:(id)aKey
{
return [self.dictionary objectForKey:aKey];
}
- (NSEnumerator *)keyEnumerator
{
return [self.array objectEnumerator];
}
#end
If possible, your web service shouldn't have to rely on the JSON objects to be formatted in a specific order but if there is nothing you can do to change this then the above solution is what you are looking for.
Source: cocoawithlove