Why is my core data saving slow? - ios

Question

Every time I try to save my NSManagedObjectContex, it takes 1-8 seconds each time. Here is my code:
- (IBAction)save
{
if (self.managedObjectContext == nil) {
self.managedObjectContext = [(RootAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate] managedObjectContext];
}
if (self.brandText.text.length == 0 || self.modelText.text.length == 0) {
UIAlertView *alertView = [[UIAlertView alloc]initWithTitle:#"Error" message:#"Please fill out the required fields" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Dismiss" otherButtonTitles:nil, nil];
UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(125, 40, 31, 7)];
NSString *path = [[NSString alloc] initWithString:[[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"bullet.png"]];
UIImage *bkgImg = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
[imageView setImage:bkgImg];
[alertView addSubview:imageView];
[alertView show];
} else {
Hand *a = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:#"Hand" inManagedObjectContext:self.managedObjectContext];
a.brand = self.brandText.text;
a.caliber = self.cText.text;
self.managedObjectContext = self.app.managedObjectContext;
a.notes = self.notesView.text;
a.serialNumber = self.serialNumberText.text;
a.nickname = self.nicknameText.text;
a.model = self.modelText.text;
a.gunImage = self.image.image;
a.roundsFired = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"0"];
a.cleanRounds = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"500"];
a.showBadge = [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES];
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
NSError *error;
if (![self.managedObjectContext save:&error]) {
UIAlertView *errorAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc]initWithTitle:#"Error" message:#"There was an internal error. \n Please restart the app and try again, Thank You" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Dismiss" otherButtonTitles:nil, nil];
[errorAlert show];
}
}
}
The code just saves the all of the textFields text. What is the reason its so slow? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Based on your question is quite difficult to understand what is going on but I would modify the else statement as follows...
else {
Hand *a = [NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:#"Hand" inManagedObjectContext:self.managedObjectContext];
a.brand = self.brandText.text;
a.caliber = self.cText.text;
// why this?
// self.managedObjectContext = self.app.managedObjectContext;
a.notes = self.notesView.text;
a.serialNumber = self.serialNumberText.text;
a.nickname = self.nicknameText.text;
a.model = self.modelText.text;
a.gunImage = self.image.image;
a.roundsFired = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"0"];
a.cleanRounds = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"500"];
a.showBadge = [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES];
NSError *error;
if (![self.managedObjectContext save:&error]) { // error during saving
UIAlertView *errorAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc]initWithTitle:#"Error" message:#"There was an internal error. \n Please restart the app and try again, Thank You" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Dismiss" otherButtonTitles:nil, nil];
[errorAlert show];
} else { // the save completes correctly, dismiss the view controller
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}
}
If you want to monitor Core Data you should do it through Instrument. In addition you could set up Xcode as follows: XCode4 and Core Data: How to enable SQL Debugging.
Edit
Since the slow saving is due (based on your comment) to images, you should relies on these rules.
Core Data - Storing Images (iPhone)
Edit 2
Ok, since you don't know in advance about the size (in bytes) of your image, I really suggest to store the image in the filesystem and not in the Core Data store. In the db save only the path to your image. The image will be saved in background. This to prevent the UI to block.
Otherwise, if iOS 5 is the minimum requirement, use the External Storage flag.
How to enable External Storage for Binary Data in Core Data
Hope that helps.