How to update the existing plist with info? I have simple dictionary with strings. Here is my save method:
#define DOCUMENTS [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject]
- (IBAction)saveData:(id)sender {
NSMutableDictionary *data = [NSMutableDictionarydictionaryWithObjects:#[self.textFieldOne.text, self.textFieldTwo.text, self.textFieldThree.text] forKeys:#[#"Key1", #"Key2", #"Key3"]];
NSError *error = nil;
NSData *dataToPlist = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataWithPropertyList:data format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 options:0 error:&error];
NSString *path = [DOCUMENTS stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"userData.plist"];
[dataToPlist writeToFile:path atomically:YES];
}
So, it's OK when I call this method from Class 1, but when I want to update this plist with other info from Class 2 – it overwrites old info with new info. What I should do to update the existing plist with new info from other classes?
You need to load the existing plist into an NSDictionary or NSArray (as appropriate), then update the data with the additional data, and finally write out the updated data to the plist file.
Basically the existing one you have to read into dictionary using dictionarywithcontentsfile method and then on the basis of your requirement use setobjecwt method into dictionary and then write to plist. So that old value will be retain there and you can updates new as well.
Related
Please,
I created a plist with some Keys and values,
And then I tried to add new item to my Plist and save it.
After that i close my App and open it again, but i don't see my new items on my Table View.
So I don't understand where is my wrong !!!
Please Help!!!
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingString:#"MyProfile.plist"];
NSString *error=nil;
NSData *plistData = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:MyProfile format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 errorDescription:&error];
if (plistData){
[plistData writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
}
else{
NSLog(#"Error in save Data:%#",error);
}
self.profileInfo = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc]initWithContentsOfFile:filePathPlist];
The values in self.profileInfo is not mutable, if the value for a specific key is a array, it will be NSArray not NSMutableArray.
Let's talk about the code below:
self.names = [self.profileInfo objectForKey:#"Names"];
Although you declare the property names as a NSMutableArray, the instance you get here is still a NSArray. So you should send mutableCopy method to id to get a mutable array:
self.names = [[self.profileInfo objectForKey:#"Names"] mutableCopy];
BTW:
You can also save self.profileInfo to file directly using [self.profileInfo writeToFile:path atomically:YES].
even after so many research i haven't found a solution for this question. I am currently working on a app which uses 3 view controllers for Registration with a log out button. the last view controller has the Register button which saves all the details of registration in a web service. But if the user has filled the two view forms and logs out. The two view filled forms field should be saved in the local memory and wen the user logs it again the pre filled forms should load the fields saved in internal memory just to continue the Registration for webservice. Any idea how to implement this sort of functionality
As others have said, NSUserDefaults will suffice for what you need.
NSUserDefaults *registrationInfo = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
Guessing you have text fields with the info you need. So pull out the text and save to a key like this.
[registrationInfo setObject:self.someTextFieldName.text forKey#"firstTextField"];
After repeating this for every text field(use different key names though), call this [registrationInfo synchronize];
To pull the data out, you open the defaults again just like the first line. And to retrieve a specific key: NSString *firstTextField = [registrationInfo objectForKey:#"firstTextField"];
To make this easier, you can also put all of your strings in an array or dictionary, and then add that as an object in your defaults. Then you only have to set/get once.
If you have large amount of data to save use CoreData else you NSUserDefaults to save it.
I suggest you to use PLIST There are mainly three steps to do this.
1) Generate .plist file.
NSError *error1;
BOOL resourcesAlreadyInDocumentsDirectory;
BOOL copied1;
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *filePath1 = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingString:#"/epub.plist"];
resourcesAlreadyInDocumentsDirectory = [fileManager fileExistsAtPath:filePath1];
if(resourcesAlreadyInDocumentsDirectory == YES) {
} else {
NSString *path1 = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingFormat:#"/epub.plist"];
copied1 = [fileManager copyItemAtPath:path1 toPath:filePath1 error:&error1];
if (!copied1) {
NSAssert1(0, #"Failed to copy epub.plist. Error %#", [error1 localizedDescription]);
}
}
2) Try to read(open) it.
NSMutableDictionary* dict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:filePath1];
3) write data to plist file.
[dict setObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:value] forKey:#"value"];
[dict writeToFile:path atomically:YES];
This is a simple way to use it. I suggest to use .plist file in place of NSUserDefaults.
How can I append values to an existing key in NSDictionary from a plist?
What I have is basically a plist saved in disc with a few keys and values, the keys are the names of some students with one initial value. What I’m trying to do that doesn't work is to append more items to existing keys/Students by reading the plist, adding it to a temporary NSDictionary, appending a temporary array to an existing key in the plist but when I save the plist back it doesn’t work, it only saves the last two items and basically deletes the initial value for that key.
Here is the code that I’m using…
- (IBAction)testing:(id)sender
{
NSArray *dirPaths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsPath = [dirPaths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *fullPath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"studentsRecords.plist"];
BOOL fileExists = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:fullPath];
if(fileExists)
{
NSMutableDictionary *dictionaryRecords = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc]initWithContentsOfFile:fullPath];
NSLog(#"Items for Nathan: %#",[dictionaryRecords objectForKey:#"Nathan"]);// here the output is, Items for Nathan: Ruler
// which make sense since I only had one initial record for Nathan in my plist,
// Here, I want to add two more items to the key Nathan by appending an arry to
// NSMutableDictionary (dictionaryRecords) but it doesnt work
NSArray *tempArray = #[#"NoteBook", #"Pencil"];
[dictionaryRecords setObject:tempArray forKey:#"Nathan"];
[dictionaryRecords writeToFile:fullPath atomically:YES];
// when I check the plist after saving this, I only see the last two values, NoteBook and Pencil
// instead of the three that I'm expecting, Ruler, NoteBook and Pencil
}
}
What am I missing here?
Thanks a lot in advance.
[dictionaryRecords setObject:tempArray forKey:#"Nathan"] replaces whatever the previous value was with tempArray.
If you want to add to the existing array, you have to retrieve it, make a mutable copy, and append to it.
Here is how I made it work. I hope I didn't over complicated things here but for some reason I had to use two arrays, an NSArray and an NSMutableArray, I would think that the NSMutableArray would be enough but it didn't work.
- (IBAction)testing:(id)sender
{
// get directory path
NSArray *dirPaths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsPath = [dirPaths objectAtIndex:0];
// create plist
NSString *fullPath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"studentsRecords.plist"];
BOOL fileExists = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:fullPath];
// if file exists create dictionary
if(fileExists)
{
// add items from plist to dictionary
NSDictionary *dictionaryExistingRecords = [[NSDictionary alloc]initWithContentsOfFile:fullPath];
// make a copy if dictinary with existing items
NSMutableDictionary *dictionaryNewRecords = [dictionaryExistingRecords mutableCopy];
// array to hold existing values from a spcecified key
NSArray *arrayWithExistingKey = [dictionaryExistingRecords objectForKey:#"Nathan"];
// mutable array to add existing and be able to insert new items
NSMutableArray *arrayOldAndNewItems = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:arrayWithExistingKey];
// insert new items to array
[arrayOldAndNewItems addObject:#"Snow Pans"];
// add old and new items to specified key
[dictionaryNewRecords setObject:arrayOldAndNewItems forKey:#"Nathan"];
// save new records to plist
[dictionaryNewRecords writeToFile:fullPath atomically:YES];
}
}
#end
This question already has an answer here:
Writing a NSArray to file
(1 answer)
Closed 9 years ago.
I have an app which has several ViewControllers. Each ViewController has a question with 2-5 buttons as possible answers. The title of a button is saved to a NSMutableArray called submission. The user can go back to previous questions, change their answer, and the NSMutableArray will be updated accordingly. I need to save this array to file so new results can be saved into a UITableView each time the questionnaire is completed. I have researched and it sounds like a .plist is a good option, as all of my objects in the array are NSStrings.
A sample of my array:
2013-12-17 14:06:34.210 Questionnaire[1724:70b] (
1234,
"Dec 17, 2013",
Yes,
Games,
"Not Applicable",
Yes
)
"1234" is the User ID, the date is the Date of Birth, and the other submissions are the answers to each question.
My ViewControllers look like this:
MainViewController
InfoViewController <-- Array allocated + initialised, inserting ID and DoB
Q1ViewController <-- question
..
Q4ViewController <--question
ENDViewController <-- offers user options for Home or Results
ResultsViewController <-- UITableView ordered by User ID
SavedResultsViewController <-- UITableView showing complete submission
The NSMutableArray gets passed through each ViewController.
My questions: What method of saving to file would best suit my needs? (.plist, filetype, etc). Viewing the results on Excel would be nice (but not essential). Where should the save take place? I was thinking when the last object is inserted into the array on Q4 ViewController, so it would be saved to file when the ENDViewController is popped, is this logical? Do I need to create a new Objective-C file to store the data? I have saw a few tutorials explaining this, declaring each object in a separate NSObject file, although I'm not sure if that is needed as my objects are already stored in the array.
As you've probably guessed I am quite new to Objective-C and iOS programming, so any help offered is greatly appreciated. I am not sure how else to describe my problem, so apologies if the question is still unclear.
Edit: I have learnt a bit more about Objective-C since creating this post, and have decided to save my data to a .csv file. This file is strictly for the purpose of emailing, it doesn't get displayed on the UITableView (I am currently implementing Core Data for that). This solution might help someone in the future, so here it is:
// Set column titles for .csv
NSArray *columnTitleArray = #[#"User ID", #"DoB", #"Question 1", #"Question 2", #"Question 3", #"Question 4"];
NSString *columnTitle = [columnTitleArray componentsJoinedByString:#","];
NSString *columnTitleToWrite = [columnTitle stringByAppendingString:#"\n"];
// Separate submissions from array into cells
NSString *questionResults = [self.submission componentsJoinedByString:#","];
NSString *questionResultsToWrite = [questionResults stringByAppendingString:#"\n"];
// Find documents directory
NSString *docPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
// Set file name and type
NSString *survey = [docPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"result.csv"];
// Create new file if none exists
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:survey]){
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] createFileAtPath:survey contents:nil attributes:nil];
// Set column titles for new file
NSFileHandle *fileHandle = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForUpdatingAtPath:survey];
[fileHandle writeData:[columnTitleToWrite dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
}
NSFileHandle *fileHandle = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForUpdatingAtPath:survey];
[fileHandle seekToEndOfFile];
[fileHandle writeData:[questionResultsToWrite dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
[fileHandle closeFile];
You could save your array as a JSON file. This would allow you to view it in a text editor, but not a spreadsheet. The following code will write it out as JSON to a file:
NSURL *url = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] lastObject];
url = [url URLByAppendingPathComponent:#"yourdata.json"];
NSError *e = nil;
NSData *jsonData = [NSJSONSerialization dataWithJSONObject:yourdata options:NSJSONWritingPrettyPrinted error:&e];
if (jsonData) {
[jsonData writeToFile:url.path atomically:YES];
}
You could also save your data as a plist file. The following will write the data to a plist:
NSURL *url = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] lastObject];
url = [url URLByAppendingPathComponent:#"yourdata.plist"];
NSError *e = nil;
NSData *plistData = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataWithPropertyList:yourdata format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 options:0 error:&e];
if (plistData) {
[plistData writeToFile:url.path atomically:YES];
}
Plists can be saved in binary or XML format, and the above will save it as XML format, which means the XML will also be readable with a text editor. Again, this won't be viewable as a spreadsheet. If you want to export your data in CSV format, you'll probably have to write your own code to output it.
You can use standard NSCoding protocol for saving data but in this case you can't read it in excel.
Or you can save it in xml.
Or you can manually create a csv (comma separated values) file and open it anywhere.
Implementation is up to you anyway :)
I have a plist like in the below first image ,thats my main plist and in that the field "bid" is unique . i have the value of bid (for example bid=90) then i need to search the value in all entries of my main (first image)plist and create a new plist& retrieve the corresponding values(bid,description,category,rating) belongs to that plist .How can i do this?
EDIT
if i have multiple values with me like bid =88 and another bid=90 then i have to create a new plist from the main plist (as shown in first image) then the result should be like image 3
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"mainPlistFile" ofType:#"plist"];
//path has path for main plist.
NSDictionary *dictionary=[NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentOfFile: path];
NSArray *listbook = [dictionary objectForKey:#"listbook"];
for (NSDictionary *item in listbook) {
if ([[item objectForKey:#"bid"] isEqualToString yourNSStringWithBidToSearch]) {
//now item is the desired dictionary, you can get values by using objectForKey
//or write it to a file like below.
[item writeToFile:pathToSaveNewPlist automatically:NO];
break;
}
}
Remember you will have to first create the NSString pathToSaveNewPlist and yourNSStringWithBidToSearch, I'll leave that to you.
So you edited the question :
Lets assume you have an NSArray bidsToSearch which has NSStrings of the bid values to be searched :
NSMutableArray *targetListbook = [[NSMutableArrray alloc] init]];
NSDictionary *dictionary=[NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"mainPlistFile" ofType:#"plist"]];
for (NSDictionary *item in [dictionary objectForKey:#"listbook"])
if ([bidsToSearch containsObject:[item objectForKey:#"bid"]])
[targetListbook addObject:item];
[#{listbook:targetListbook} writeToFile:pathToSaveNewPlist automatically:NO];
You can use NSPropertyListSerialization class to serialize and deserialize property lists.
EDIT: below is some pseudo code for how to do it.
NSData* data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:plistFile]; // read file
id plist = [NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListWithData:data ...]; // deserialize
// do your work
data = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataWithPropertyList:plist2 ...]; // serialize
[data writeToFile:plistFile2 ...]; // write to file