This is what is my understanding: the resources in the project folder are read only. So, almost all examples show copying a plist from the resources to the app's document folder. Why can we not simply find the app's document folder (after first run) and create the initial plist there (i.e. in the documents folder of the app so that subsequently we can modify the plist via code?
The answer is: Yes, you can create an initial plist there. But before you do this, consider using NSUserDefaults to save the settings.
Because there might already be data needed in a plist when the app is first installed; and that data has to come from somewhere. Why not from a plist?
I would also suggest using the Library folder rather than the Documents folder, just in case you do file sharing via iTunes at some stage. The Documents folder is available to the end user, whereas the Library folder is not.
Related
Hi in my app launch i will invoke a web-service call and i will download some zip files now i need to save those files permanently in my application bundle so that when i launch my app for the second time i will just look for update if there is no update i will just use my previously saved files, so i thought to make use of document directory and get the zip file then unzip it and save it in application bundle, here my problem is how to save a file from DocumentsDirectory to my Application Bundle?
and does my approach is right & efficient way or do i need to follow some other ways to achieve this? Any help is thankful in advance.
You can't write to your application's bundle - it is readonly, only the documents directory is readwrite.
You don't need to move the files, as the documents directory provides permanent storage.
The resources which are modified at runtime should be part of Documents directory. iPhone application creates a sandbox environment which is signed. If you try to modify any of the bundle resource or try to add/remove the resource, it will not allow. It works fine with simulator but not with device.
So you should store your response to the documents directory and not to the bundle.
In my application
I want to change only some content of the file.
For doing that I am fetching the plist file in dictionary.
Modifying the dictionary and then Re-Writing the whole plist file.
Is it possible to modify the plist file directly or some content of the plist file.
It's not possible to modify a plist file without rewriting the whole file. If your plist file is so big that it takes too long to rewrite the whole thing, you should look at using a SQLite database instead, and perhaps adopting Core Data.
If you are talking about Info.plist or any resource inside your bundle (i.e.: inside MyApp.app folder) the answer is NO.
Files inside your bundle are read-only. So you cannot override them.
If you are talking about other files that could be in Documents or Cached folder then the answer is YES.
Can my application download a .plist from a URL and replace the one that I built in xcode and shipped with the application?
Thanks
Leo
No, you can't change anything in your application bundle. You must download you plist file to some folder in application sandbox (documents or caches) and read it from there.
Your possible workflow for reading that plist can be:
Check if plist file is present at download location. If yes - read it from there
If it is not present - read plist shipped with your bundle (or copy plist file from bundle to download location and go to step 1 - this way workflow may be a bit more consistent)
You can use an NSURLRequest to download the .plist file, and then save it the Documents directory in your app's sandbox. Use the NSSearchPathsForDocumentsInDomain() function (see the Foundation Functions reference for more info) to get the file system path to the Documents directory.
Read for More
I'm looking for a good way to manage many image files in my app.
When the number of images to maintain gets large, it seems vital to have a directory structure to hold them.(to organize images and to support duplicate image names)
Since normal way of storing images in documents directory(by adding images to xcode's resource folder) doesn't seem to support directory structure,
I probably need to use something called bundle.
Here are questions.
It's not clear to me what's the difference between "documents
directory" and "bundle". Are they
just names to specify directory path
inside an iphone application? Since
documents directory doesn't support
directory structure, I guess it's not
a regular file path in iOS? (I'm
looking for a definition or overview
description on those two terms enough
to help answering the following
questions)
How do I create a tree structure directory to store resources?
How do I add files to the created directory?
What is the step (probably in xcode) to add new files to the
directory as project grows? note:
question 3 deals with initial set up,
4 deals with update.
What happens to files under documents directory and bundle when
user updates the app? Since many
applications store user data
somewhere, there must be a way of
updating an app without wiping out the
saved user data. ie. How does
"documents directory" and "bundle"
behave in update situation?
So called "resource bundle" refers to the "bundle" used in above
questions?
Thank you.
Your app is a "bundle". It's represented by an NSBundle object. On iOS, this is the only bundle you are allowed to use; you can't create another bundle and import it into your app.
However, you can add a subdirectory to your app's bundle. In Xcode 4, select your project in the navigator and click on the Build Phases tab. Add a new build phase (bottom right), Copy Files. Move it up just below Copy Bundle Resources, and rename it something meaningful ("copy interface images", or something). You'll notice you've got a Subpath field there - that's your directory in your bundle. Drag the files you want in that subdirectory on to this build phase, and then you can access them through the normal methods in NSBundle, UIImage, NSData and so on.
Wish it was easier? Me too.
Can someone help me find where CoreData is storing the SQL file it creates in iOS applications?
So far I've tried "Show package contents" on the .xcdatamodel file and also the .xcodeproj file...No dice!
Is there an editor for looking at the contents of these SQL files?
Cheers.
-A
The url parameter of [NSPersistentStoreCoordinator addPersistentStoreWithType:configuration:url:options:error] specifies the location of the file. Find this call in your code and see where you've stored it. XCode templates will put it into the top of your application documents directory, but you can put it anywhere you like.
Note that Apple considers the contents of this database to be opaque and non-user-modifiable. Playing with the data in your store is likely to cause issues with Core Data.
It's typically saved into your application's documents directory, with the name of your data model.
So, for example, if my data model is called AppData.xcdatamodeld, it will be AppData.sqlite inside my app's document directory. You shouldn't really need to touch the .sqlite file though.
Hope that helps!
Core Data editor --> http://christian-kienle.de/CoreDataEditor/