NSDictionary to custom class - nsdictionary

I've a custom class QBChatDialog object, that I'm storing in sqlite database like
-(void)storeInDB:(QBChatDialog *)dialog {
NSString *query = = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"INSERT INTO dialogs (dialog_id,last_message) VALUES ('%#','%#')",dialog.ID,dialog.lastMessageText];
//run the query
}
Then I'm retrieving as NSDictionary from database.
// after fetching as an array in dbrecord
NSDictionary *dialogDictionary = #{#"dialog_id":[dbrecord objectAtIndex:DIALOG_ID_INDEX],
#"dialog_last_message":dbrecord objectAtIndex:DIALOG_LAST_MESSAGE_INDEX]
};
How can I map it back to QBChatDialog class, to get values like dialog.ID or dialog.lastMessageText . The class is third party API, and some properties are read-only.
Thanks

You don't need to set readonly properties, so you can basically unwrap your NSDictionary, just make sure you for sure store dialog id and it's type, so that you can start with this code:
QBChatDialog *fetchedDialog = [[QBChatDialog alloc] initWithDialogID:dialogDictionary[#"dialog_id"] type:dialogDictionary[#"dialog_type"]];
And after that just set every field you need, that is not readonly, e.g.:
fetchedDialog.lastMessageText = dialogDictionary[#"dialog_last_message"];

Related

Getting objectId from parse.com

So I am building an app that uses parse as a backend. I've written my own before but I figured I'll just save some time and use parse. I'm populating a table view with data from parse and that's fine. I want to grab the objectId from an dictionary built from an array from parse.
The output of my array is as follows:
<news_events:pdbIEvOteH:(null)> {\n eventDescription = \"This is a test description.\";\n eventMessage = \"This is a test message.\";\n eventTitle = \"Free Wi-Fi Now Available!\";\n}
The object ID is pdbIEvOteH in the example above. I at first tried getting the id by using:
NSString * objectId = [myDictionary objectForKey:#"objectId"]; But that returned null. I know it is not a problem with my dictionary because I can get other information. The problem is it looks like there is no key for objectId in the array above. As you can see it follows news_events.
I know you can get it with the PFObject but I'm not sure if I can populate a table with a PFObject.
So bottom line is how do I get the objectId.
In my didSelectRowAtIndexPath: method, I did the following:
PFObject *myObject = [parseArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
NSString *objectId = [myObject objectId];
To get the Id of a particular PFObject.
In Swift:
var objectId = object.objectId
In Objective-C:
NSString *objectId = object.objectId;
"So bottom line is how do I get the objectId."
following is answer from 'Joe Blow' with actual/example code for ios.
i had similar issue. retrieving data with following code worked:
NSString *reporterOpinion = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", [object objectForKey:#"reporterOpinion"]];
but trying to do objectForKey with objectId returned null:
NSString *objectId = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", [object objectForKey:#"objectId]];
following 'Joe Blow' answer, the following code returned correct value for objectId:
NSString *objectId = object.objectId;

Why does SBJson JSON parsing only get the last key of interest?

I am using the following JSON: http://www.kb.dk/tekst/mobil/aabningstider_en.json
When I try to parse it by the key "location" as such:
// get response in the form of a utf-8 encoded json string
NSString *jsonString = [[[NSString alloc] initWithData:responseData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding] stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet newlineCharacterSet]];
// get most parent node from json string
NSDictionary *json = [jsonString JSONValue];
// get key-path from jason up to the point of json object
NSDictionary *locations = [json objectForKey:#"location"];
NSLog( #"%#", locations );
// iterate through all of the location objects in the json
for (NSDictionary *loc in locations )
{
// pull library name from the json object
NSString *name = [loc valueForKey:#"name"];
// add library data table arrays respectively
[ libraryNames addObject: ( ( name == nil | name.length > 0 ) ? name : #"UnNamed" ) ];
}
When I print the the object locations via NSLog:
{
address = "Universitetsparken 4, 3. etage, 2100 K\U00f8benhavn \U00d8";
desc = "";
lastUpdated = "";
latlng = "55.703124,12.559596";
link = "http://www.farma.ku.dk/index.php?id=3742";
name = "Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Library";
parts = {
part = {
hour = {
day = "5.June Constitution Day (Denmark)";
open = Closed;
};
hours = {
hour = {
day = Friday;
open = "10-16";
};
};
name = main;
};
};
}
Which is only the last value for the "location" keys. Am I doing something wrong?
I tried validating the JSON via http://jsonlint.com/, however when I'd put in the JSON URL as above, it said "valid" - still only the last "locations" key was shown", however if I copy-paste it, it will not validate the JSON, and has to be fixed by removing new-lines from the string.
Also, when i try to parse the JSON and get the "name" fields, I get the following exception:
2012-05-08 15:37:04.941 iPhone App Tabbed[563:f803] *** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSUnknownKeyException', reason: '[<__NSCFString 0x68bfe70> valueForUndefinedKey:]: this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key name.'
*** First throw call stack:
(0x13dc052 0x156dd0a 0x13dbf11 0x9d2f0e 0x941841 0x940ca9 0x4593 0xf964e 0x114b89 0x1149bd 0x112f8a 0x112e2f 0x1148f4 0x13ddec9 0x365c2 0x3655a 0x25b569 0x13ddec9 0x365c2 0x3655a 0xdbb76 0xdc03f 0xdbbab 0x25dd1f 0x13ddec9 0x365c2 0x3655a 0xdbb76 0xdc03f 0xdb2fe 0x5ba30 0x5bc56 0x42384 0x35aa9 0x12c6fa9 0x13b01c5 0x1315022 0x131390a 0x1312db4 0x1312ccb 0x12c5879 0x12c593e 0x33a9b 0x281d 0x2785)
terminate called throwing an exception(lldb)
It would make more sense if the "locations" tag was an array object enclosed by square brackets ([]), however right now it's only an sequence of normal key-value pairs... Sadly, that's the JSON I have to work with.
Please help and thanks a great deal! :)
Sincerely,
Piotr.
The JSON you've got to work with may be valid, but it doesn't make much sense. It has one big dictionary with the location key repeated many times. Most JSON parser will simply return the last value for the repeated key. It would be best if you could change the structure to use an array instead, but if you cannot there's still hope. You can read the stream and stuff the values from the location keys into an array as they come out of it. This is how you'd do that:
#interface BadJsonHelper : NSObject
#property(strong) NSMutableArray *accumulator;
#end
#implementation BadJsonHelper
- (void)parser:(SBJsonStreamParser *)parser foundArray:(NSArray *)array {
// void
}
- (void)parser:(SBJsonStreamParser *)parser foundObject:(NSDictionary *)dict {
[accumulator addObject:dict];
}
#end
You can drop that little helper class at the top of your file, outside the #implementation section of the class where you're doing your work. (There's no need for the #interface and #implementation being in different files.)
In your code, you would use it like this:
BadJsonHelper *helper = [[BadJsonHelper alloc] init];
helper.accumulator = [NSMutableArray array];
SBJsonStreamParserAdapter *adapter = [[SBJsonStreamParserAdapter new] init];
adapter.delegate = helper;
adapter.levelsToSkip = 1;
SBJsonStreamParser *parser = [[SBJsonStreamParser alloc] init];
parser.delegate = adapter;
switch ([parser parse: responseData]) {
case SBJsonStreamParserComplete:
NSLog(#"%#", helper.accumulator);
break;
case SBJsonStreamParserWaitingForData:
NSLog(#"Didn't get all the JSON yet...");
break;
case SBJsonStreamParserError:
NSLog(#"Error: %#", parser.error);
break;
}
This example was originally adapted from the following test:
https://github.com/stig/json-framework/blob/master/Tests/StreamParserIntegrationTest.m
Update: I created a fully functional example project that loads the JSON asynchronously and parses it. This is available from github.
The JSON is valid, however there is a basic problem regarding the definition of the array of items.
Instead of defining an array of locations using brackets, the JSON redefines the same location key/value pair over and over again. In other words JSON initially says the value of location is the collection with name "The Black Diamond", but immediately after it redefines it with the collection with name "Faculty Library of Humanities" and so on till the last location Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences Library".
The same is true for parts and hours.
If you can't fix the result of the JSON and you really need to get it working you may want to modify the JSON removing the "location" keys and adding brackets properly.
Edit
Alternatively you may use an NSScanner and process the JSON result manually. Kinda hacky but it will work as long as the JSON format doesn't change significantly.
Edit
This snipped of code should do the work...
NSString *jsonString = [[[NSString alloc] initWithData:responseData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding] stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet newlineCharacterSet]];
int indx = 1;
for (;;)
{
NSRange locationRange = [jsonString rangeOfString:#"\"location\":"];
if (locationRange.location == NSNotFound) break;
jsonString = [jsonString stringByReplacingCharactersInRange:locationRange
withString:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"\"location%d\":", indx++]];
}
NSDictionary *locations = [json objectForKey:#"location"];
As you can see, the result of JSON parsing by SBJson is a NSDictionary. A dictionary contains key/value pairs, and the keys are unique identifiers for the pairs.
The JSON data you need to handle is valid but not a good one. Per RFC 4627 - 2.2:
An object structure is represented as a pair of curly brackets surrounding zero or more name/value pairs (or members). A name is a string. A single colon comes after each name, separating the name from the value. A single comma separates a value from a following name. The names within an object SHOULD be unique.
Things like jQuery can parse the JSON also, but the result is the same as SBJson (the last one as the one). See Do JSON keys need to be unique?.
It is not a MUST, but it's still not a good practice. It would be much easier if you are able to change the structure of the JSON data on the server side (or even on the client side after receiving it) rather than parsing it as is.

xcode iPhone array and dictionary [noob]

I'm sorry for this (probably very) noob question, but i've been asked about this and can't see what's wrong (i'm java tought..)
This is what I have, data is loaded via JSON:
NSDictionary *myvalues = [myres objectForKey:#"0"];
this is the content if I output via NSLog:
({id = "1a";myval = 5;},
{id = "2b";myval="24.6";})
how do I iterate through myvalues and how do I get the values id and myval? Something like this i'm getting stuck:
for (NSArray* myvals_array in myvalues)
First it looks like the returned value is an Array, the content inside of the parentheses() denotes this. So I would try and set it as such instead of a Dictionary. Then you can enumerate through the array of dictionary's and get each dictionary inside:
for (id object in myvalues) {
NSDictionary *currentObject = (NSDictionary*)object;
NSString *myID = [currentObject valueForKey:#"id"];
NSString *myValue = [currentObject valueForKey:#"myval"];
NSLog(#"ID:%# VALUE:%#",myID,myValue);
}
This will enumerate through the array and create a dictionary for each entry, then get the values for each of the two elements inside. I just NSLog() them here but you can do whatever you want with the values.

Update original NSMutableArray after filtering with NSPredicate

I have recently started programming for the iOS Platform but now I need some help figuring out how to do 'something':
For my application I fetch some JSON data and put this data as objects into an Array
This Array is written to my own PLIST file (in the docs directory)
Now when the users starts a sync action I:
Fetch the data from the PLIST
Get the timestamp for a certain object in the Array that came from the PLIST
Use timestamp in new JSON request (for the new data)
So far so good.
Now for my (current) problem -> After receiving the new data (JSON req) I wish to update the timestamp of this 'certain' object in the array (and write this to the Plist).
Using an NSPredicate I am able to find the right set of data within the main Array (stampArr).
NSString *documentsDir = [NSHomeDirectory()stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"Documents"];
NSString *plistPath = [documentsDir stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"stamps.plist"];
NSMutableArray *stampArr = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:plistPath];
NSPredicate *filter = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"eventid = 1"];
NSMutableArray *filteredStampArr = [stampArr filteredArrayUsingPredicate:filter];
But now, after I update the filteredStampArr, I want to update the main Array with the data from the filtered Array.
In other words, I need to update the object from the Array with the new 'timestamp' (field of object).
I could off course use something like [stampArr addObject: [filteredStampArr copy]] after changing the filterd array but that would just create a duplicate of the information. I wish to overwrite the original object.
Somehow (I think) I need a 'pointer' that tells me the location of the data in the original array so that I can change the data directly in the main array?
(I hope my questions is clear - If not please say so)
Get the item, find it's index in stampArr and replace it with the newItem.
NSArray *filteredStampArr = [stampArr filteredArrayUsingPredicate:filter];
id item = [filteredStampArr objectAtIndex:0]; // id because the type of the item is not known
NSUInteger itemIndex = [stampArr indexOfObject:item];
[stampArr replaceObjectAtIndex:itemIndex withObject:newItem];
When you get filteredArray, you can directly update objects in it (not replace) and thay willbe uopdated in main array.
Read the API carefully!
try:
[stampArr filterUsingPredicate:];

How to refer to an object in a NSDictionary that is in a NSArray

When I NSLog the array I get this:
(
{
content = "content a";
id = 452069;
timestamp = 1313341470;
},
{
content = "content b";
id = 451498;
timestamp = 1313261505;
},
etc...
)
How do you refer to specific index's? For example how would you get the content for the second index.
I've tried [[myArray objectAtIndex:1]objectForKey:#"content"] but that crashes the program.
Also doing [myArray objectAtIndex:1] crashes the program as well.
According to your edit your array is likely over released. Make sure your array is properly retained, if it uses a property make sure the property is set to copy or retain and if you set it internally be sure to use self.myArray = ...; and not myArray = ...'.
Have you tried -valueForKey:? The item at that index is not an object but a value.