Ordering UITableView Sections Loaded From pList - iphone

Question

I have a sectioned UITableView being populated by data from a pList. The root of the pList is a dictionary, each key of this dictionary is loaded into an array, which is used to define the section headings (and presumably order).
Currently my sections appear in the table in a random order, I would like to order them as they appear in the pList, or at least fake it by ordering the sections alphabetically.
I understand that dictionaries have no order, which is why the output does not reflect the pList order, but I would prefer not to change the root to an array as it requires me to rewrite chunks of my app, plus Xcode 4 seems to prefer you using a dictionary as the root. Of course if changing the pList structure is the best method, I'll go with that.
pList sample:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>Section A</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Details</key>
<string>Details Here...</string>
<key>Image</key>
<string>X.png</string>
<key>Name</key>
<string>Person X</string>
</dict>
<dict>
<key>Details</key>
<string>Details Here...</string>
<key>Image</key>
<string>Y.png</string>
<key>Name</key>
<string>Person Y</string>
</dict>
</array>
<key>Section B</key>
<array>
<dict>
<key>Details</key>
<string>Details Here...</string>
<key>Image</key>
<string>Z.png</string>
<key>Name</key>
<string>Person Z</string>
</dict>
</array>
</dict>
Code within 'TableViewController.m':
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"Team" ofType:#"plist"];
NSDictionary *tempDict = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
self.teamDictionary = tempDict;
[tempDict release];
NSArray *tempArray = [[NSArray alloc] init];
self.teamArray = tempArray;
[tempArray release];
self.teamArray = [self.teamDictionary allKeys];
}
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView {
return [self.teamArray count];
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
return [[self.teamDictionary valueForKey:[self.teamArray objectAtIndex:section]] count];
}
- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {
// this is here because I am altering the appearance of the header text
UIView* customView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, tableView.bounds.size.width, 44.0)] autorelease];
UILabel * headerLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
// some custom formatting stuff has been removed from here...
headerLabel.text = [self.teamArray objectAtIndex:section];
[customView addSubview:headerLabel];
[headerLabel release];
return customView;
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
NSUInteger section = [indexPath section];
NSUInteger row = [indexPath row];
NSString *key = [teamArray objectAtIndex:section];
NSArray *teamMember = [teamDictionary objectForKey:key];
static NSString *SectionsTableIdentifier = #"SectionsTableIdentifier";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:SectionsTableIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:SectionsTableIdentifier] autorelease];
}
// Configure the cell...
NSDictionary *name = [teamMember objectAtIndex:row];
cell.textLabel.text = [name objectForKey:#"Name"];
}

Answer 1

I can think of two options:
Use an array as the root of your plist. Each item in the array would be a dictionary, with two keys: name/title and items. Name/title would be a string and items would be an array.
Keep your plist as is, order the keys alphabetically:
NSArray *sortedKeys = [[dict allkeys] sortedArrayUsingSelector:#selector(caseInsensitiveCompare:)]];