Image Path encode to Base64 -Json file - ios

Question

i am building app where I retrieve list of menus using Json file:
I got poblem within my UITableview , the loading is too slow .
example of Json:
"Mon": [
{
"Type" : "Breakfast",
"Name":"Sweet Potato Breakfast Taquitos",
"Price" : "OMR 1.500",
"Image":"http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4443/satbf1.jpg",
"Description": "olive oil, sweet potato , onions, jalapenos , cilantro , salt , pepper , shredded cheddar cheese , eggs , milk, corn tortilla , olive oil "
},
{
"Type" : "Lunch",
"Name":"Mexican Rice",
"Price" : "OMR 1.500",
"Image":"http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4296/mlunch1.jpg",
"Description": "rice, chicken broth, butter, olive oil, onion, garlic, tomato paste, lime juice, cilantro, cumin, salt"
}
]
I found that I have to convert my image path into Base46 string ...(How can I do that automatically )?and how will be the formate of my new path ??
Any help?

Answer 1

1 - If you need to convert only the path into base64 you can use the php function base64_encode()
$img_path = 'http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4443/satbf1.jpg';
$b64_img_path = base64_encode($img_path);
2 - If you need to convert the image data into base64 all you have to do is:
$img_path = 'http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/4443/satbf1.jpg';
$img_data = file_get_contents($img_path);
$b64_img = base64_encode($img_data);
3 - Use base64_decode() to decode you base64 string.
$b64_str = 'VGhpcyBpcyBhbiBlbmNvZGVkIHN0cmluZw==';
$str = base64_decode($b64_str);