Weird NSString vs NSURL behavior - iphone

Question

I have a class which parse an XML feed. In that class I have to following method:
-(id)loadXMLByURL:(NSString *)urlString name:(NSString*)name{
NSString *urls = [[NSString alloc]initWithFormat:#"%#%#" , urlString, name];
NSLog(#"STRING URL: %#" , urls);
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:urls];
NSLog(#"%#" , url);
parser = [[NSXMLParser alloc]initWithContentsOfURL:url];
parser.delegate = self;
BOOL success = [parser parse];
if (success) {
NSLog(#"No error");
}else{
NSLog(#"Error: %#" , parser.parserError);
}
return self;
}
The first NSLog is the correct url, however the NSURL comes out as (null)
Here's where I call the method:
//f is an object where I store the value of name from another feed, which I have to use as a parameter in the url for this feed
NSString *name = f.name;
myParser = [[MyParser alloc]loadXMLByURL:#"http://myurl.com/names.asp?name=" name:name];
If I NSLog name here, it shows the right value.
Anyone have any idea why the NSURL comes out as (null)?

Answer 1

You'll want to escape name.
Add a category on NSString and then call [name urlEncodedString]. e.g.:
#implementation NSString (URLEncoding)
- (NSString *)urlEncodedString
{
return (NSString *)CFURLCreateStringByAddingPercentEscapes(NULL,
(CFStringRef)self,
NULL,
(CFStringRef)#"!*'\"();:#&=+$,/?%#[]% ",
kCFStringEncodingUTF8);
}
#end

Answer 2

Use the following..
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat::#"%#%#" , urlString, name]]];
parser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData: data];
parser.delegate = self;
BOOL success = [parser parse];
if (success) {
NSLog(#"No error");
}else{
NSLog(#"Error: %#" , parser.parserError);
}
return self;