I am having trouble writing my file into the plist after going through many tutorials, other people's problems and attempting it for myself. I can read the plist with no problems but I cant update it. Below are my codes on how I am writing my data into the plist. Correct me if I made any mistake.
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"EventAddress" ofType:#"plist"];
NSMutableDictionary *myDictionary = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
NSArray* allmyData = [myDictionary allValues];
// creates and array to store only the event details
NSMutableArray *data = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:allmyData];
[data addObject:[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithObjectsAndKeys:tfAddress.text, #"Address", tvEvents.text, #"Events", nil]];
[myDictionary setValue:data forKey:#"Whampo"];
BOOL flag = [myDictionary writeToFile:path atomically:YES];
if (flag){
NSLog(#"write to plist success");
}
NSLog(#"%#", myDictionary);
[myDictionary release];
The path is correct, the file exists, my values in the textView and textField are in the array, but when it comes to the writeToFile, it does not reflect on the file located at the document directory.
EDIT 01:
I found this online, very similar to Nekto's suggestion. But I am thinking on how to implement my code with his. I think its pretty simple, but I cant seem to figure out how to.
NSArray *paths= NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistDirectory = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/Enterprise",documentDirectory];
NSString *mPath = [plistDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"Downloads.plist"];
[mDownloadsArray writeToFile:mPath atomically:YES];
iphonesdk.blogspot taken from that site.
EDIT 02:
I used Nekto's suggestion and it worked well. But I am curious why it is returning DocumentsEventAddress.plist rather than EventAddress.plist. My assumption is because of the
NSString *rootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];
NSString *plistPath = [rootPath stringByAppendingString:#"EventAddress.plist"];
Where rootPath is returning Document is that right?
I'm writing to file in such way:
NSString *errorDesc = nil;
NSString *rootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];
NSString *plistPath = [rootPath stringByAppendingString:TEMPLATES_PATH];
NSDictionary *dict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:templates forKey:#"templates"];
NSData *plistData = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:dict format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 errorDescription:&errorDesc];
if (plistData)
{
[plistData writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
}else
{
NSLog(#"[Error] Application Did Enter Background {saving file error}: %#", errorDesc);
[errorDesc release];
}
Be sure to save file in app documents directory.
I don't believe you can write to a resource. Only files in the documents directory can be written to.
You can't write to files that are located in you Bundle.
The app bundle is read only.
Related
I'm making a application where I need to store some information the user have provided. I try to use a .plist file to store the information, I found this:
NSString *filePath = #"/Users/Denis/Documents/Xcode/iPhone/MLBB/data.plist";
NSMutableDictionary* plistDict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
[plistDict setValue:#"Man" forKey:#"Gender"];
[plistDict writeToFile:filePath atomically: YES];
The problem is that the application will only work as long as I'm testing it in the iPhone simulator. I've tried this Changing Data in a Plist but without luck. I have also read something about that I need to add it to my bundle, but how?
New code:
- (IBAction)segmentControlChanged{
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistLocation = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"data.plist"];
NSMutableDictionary* plistDict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:plistLocation];
if (Gender.selectedSegmentIndex == 0) {
[plistDict setObject:#"Man" forKey:#"Gender"];
[plistDict writeToFile:plistLocation atomically: YES];
}
else
{
[plistDict setObject:#"Women" forKey:#"Gender"];
[plistDict writeToFile:plistLocation atomically: YES];
}
}
I guess you have added your plist file to your resources folder in Xcode (where we place image, if not then you need to place that first). Resources data goes to [NSBundle mainBundle] by default and iOS does not allow us to change data inside bundle. So first you need to copy that file to Documents Directory.
Here is the code for copying file from NSBundle to the Documents directory.
- (NSString *)copyFileToDocumentDirectory:(NSString *)fileName {
NSError *error;
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory,
NSUserDomainMask,
YES);
NSString *documentsDir = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *documentDirPath = [documentsDir
stringByAppendingPathComponent:fileName];
NSArray *file = [fileName componentsSeparatedByString:#"."];
NSString *filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle]
pathForResource:[file objectAtIndex:0]
ofType:[file lastObject]];
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
BOOL success = [fileManager fileExistsAtPath:documentDirPath];
if (!success) {
success = [fileManager copyItemAtPath:filePath
toPath:documentDirPath
error:&error];
if (!success) {
NSAssert1(0, #"Failed to create writable txt file file with message \
'%#'.", [error localizedDescription]);
}
}
return documentDirPath;
}
Now you can use the returned documentDirPath to access that file and manipulate (Read/Write) over that.
The plist structure is:
<array>
<dict>key-value data</dict>
<dict>key-value data</dict>
</array>
Here is code to write data into plist file:
/* Code to write into file */
- (void)addToMyPlist {
// set file manager object
NSFileManager *manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
// check if file exists
NSString *plistPath = [self copyFileToDocumentDirectory:
#"MyPlistFile.plist"];
BOOL isExist = [manager fileExistsAtPath:plistPath];
// BOOL done = NO;
if (!isExist) {
// NSLog(#"MyPlistFile.plist does not exist");
// done = [manager copyItemAtPath:file toPath:fileName error:&error];
}
// NSLog(#"done: %d",done);
// get data from plist file
NSMutableArray * plistArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]
initWithContentsOfFile:plistPath];
// create dictionary using array data and bookmarkKeysArray keys
NSArray *keysArray = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:#"StudentNo", nil];
NSArray *valuesArray = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:
[NSString stringWithFormat:#"1234"], nil];
NSDictionary plistDict = [[NSDictionary alloc]
initWithObjects:valuesArray
forKeys:keysArray];
[plistArray insertObject:poDict atIndex:0];
// write data to plist file
//BOOL isWritten = [plistArray writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
[plistArray writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
plistArray = nil;
// check for status
// NSLog(#" \n written == %d",isWritten);
}
Are you using that same path on your device? Apps on a device are sandboxed and can only read/write files in their documents directory. Grab that file path like this and append your plist name. This approach will also work on the simulator.
Try this:
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistLocation = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"myplist.plist"];
I want to add a new dictionary to the existing plist file, how can I do that, I can read from the file, but with the same approach, writing doesn't work. My plist structure looks like this:
Root Array
|__item0 Dictionary
|__item1 Dictionary
|__item2 Dictionary
The code of writing to the file looks like this:
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [documentDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
if (![fileManager fileExistsAtPath:plistPath]) {
plistPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"list" ofType:#"plist"];
}
NSMutableArray *dataRoot = [NSMutableArray arrayWithContentsOfFile:plistPath];
NSMutableDictionary *item = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
[item setObject:#"value1" forKey:#"1"];
[item setObject:#"value2" forKey:#"2"];
[item setObject:#"value3" forKey:#"3"];
[dataRoot addObject:item];
[dataRoot writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
[item release];
Can anyone help me with this, thanks!
I have updated my code, but it still doesn't work...And the problem is list.plist file doesn't get copied to ~/Documents directory.
You are trying to write the main bundle which is no-no on iOS. Please read the A Few Important Application Directories.
But your coding boils down to the following:
Check if plist is not in Application_Home/Documents/
Copied original plist from main bundle is the answer to step 1 is false.
Open the plist in the Documents directory
Update NSMutableArray
Write to file the plist
I think code is not wrong.
Have you check plistPath, dataRoot, and item?
They have correct value?
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *filePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:filePath]) {
bingoArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
}
[bingoArray writeToFile:filePath atomically:YES];
You can only save primitive types by default.
try out this link.
http://deadpanic.com/howtosave
He explains how to save any object to disk by using NSCoding protocol.
If you are working only with primitives then I apologize for wasting your time. But this is the path I took to write my custom stuff to disk. And I thought it was just an array issue.
Edit:
I just noticed... It looks like you are trying to write to an array in the Main Bundle. These files are read only.
You need to save a copy of the file in the Documents directory.
try this out to find the documents directory
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
// Change your plistPath to be this
plistPath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
[dataRoot writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
put your plist in this folder and you can write to it.
I want to create "UrlPaths.plist" file in my Application and also a dictionary with 4 or 5 objects. Please help me create a plist file and dictionary. And also read data from that plist file.
I want the plist to add the file to resources folder and i want to add Dictionary at that time also.i dont want pragmatical creation of plist but i want reading the data is pragmatically.
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *path = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"plist.plist"];
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSMutableDictionary *data;
if ([fileManager fileExistsAtPath: path]) {
data = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
}
else {
// If the file doesn’t exist, create an empty dictionary
data = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
}
//To insert the data into the plist
data[#"value"] = #(5);
[data writeToFile: path atomically:YES];
[data release];
//To retrieve the data from the plist
NSMutableDictionary *savedStock = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:path];
int value1;
value1 = [savedStock[#"value"] intValue];
NSLog(#"%i",value1);
[savedStock release];
If you are about to create Plist without programmatically then follow these steps :
1. Right Click on Files in Left Pane and Select 'New File...' option.
2. Choose Resources from OS X tab.
3. An option for Property List is available.
4. Select an give an appropriate name.
This gets added to your project.
We can get simple understanding about plist as below
Now you can read this data as below
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"Priority" ofType:#"plist"];
NSDictionary *dictPri = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path];//mm
NSMutableArray *arrMarkets=[[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithArray:[dictPri valueForKey:#"List"]];
NSMutableArray *arrForTable=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
NSMutableArray *arrForTable1=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (NSDictionary *dict in arrMarkets)
{
NSString *strS1=nil;
strS1= [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[dict valueForKey:#"Description"] ];
[arrForTable addObject:strS1];
}
NSLog(#"%#----------------- ",[arrForTable description]);
for (NSDictionary *dict in arrMarkets)
{
NSString *strS2=nil;
strS2= [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[dict valueForKey:#"Name"] ];
[arrForTable1 addObject:strS2];
}
NSLog(#"%#----------------- ",[arrForTable1 description]);
create new plist file -
NSArray *Arr = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:obj1,obj2,nil];
NSData *data = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:Arr format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 errorDescription:nil];
[data writeToFile:PlistDataFilePath atomically:YES];
Read data from this plist file -
NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:PlistDataFilePath];
NSPropertyListFormat format;
NSArray *array = [NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListFromData:data mutabilityOption:NSPropertyListImmutable format:&format errorDescription:nil];
you should read this great tut on plist files - http://www.edumobile.org/iphone/iphone-programming-tutorials/how-to-use-plist-in-iphone/
I want to write an Array to a plist wich works fine when i manually create the plist in the document folder.
but When I check if the plist exist and if not to create it from the plist in main bundle nothing happen.....
i did it as in the Property List Programming Guide it is written.
NSString *plistRootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [plistRootPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:plistPath]) {
plistPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"list" ofType:#"plist"];
}
what did I missed?
edit:
I tryed the function in an seperate App and it worked.
So I tryed It again:
NString *rootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [rootPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
self.ListArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithContentsOfFile:plistPath];
NSLog(#"preSave: %#", [ListArray count]);
NSLog(#"%#", plistPath);
and the Log says:
2011-02-16 16:54:56.832 ListApp[3496:207] .../Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/4.0.2/Applications/267F55E4-A46A-42E0-9E1C-EAF26846F75F/Documents/list.plist
but there is no file in the Dir.!
NSString *DocPath=[NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
filePath=[DocPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"AlarmClock.plist"];
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:filePath])
{
NSString *path=[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"AlarmClock" ofType:#"plist"];
NSLog(#"file path: %#",filePath);
NSDictionary *info=[NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path];
[info writeToFile:filePath atomically:YES];
}
//***Try this...
I tryed the code on an other mac and there it works It's the same project.
can anyone explain me why the plist is created on one mac but not on the other?
on the IPhone also no plist is written?
I guess in both cases this is cause the array I write to the plist is empty:
NSString *rootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [rootPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"list.plist"];
NSMutableArray *currentArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:plistPath];
NSMutableDictionary *dictionary = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
[selectet valueForKey:NAME], #"name",
nil];
NSLog(#" DIC. : %#", dictionary);
[currentArray addObject:[dictionary copy]];
NSLog(#" %#", currentArray);
[currentArray writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
[currentArray release];
the dictionary has the entry but currentArray is empty....
And still it works on one mac. but not on the other and on the IPhone.
Edit:
For some reason it worked again.
To be sure I deleted the plist from the document folder and cleared all targets.
And now the Problem as before I can only write the plist when i write the dictionary to it but then i can only save the last one.
And reading the plist won't work either.
Can anyone Tell me why this happens and how I can solve it?
Edit 2:
I found the Problem: since X-Code won't create the plist when I write the array with the dictionary to the plist.When I wrote the dictionary to the plist so X-Code creates the plist but with a dictionary Root so I cant write the array to it and I also can't read it in an Array.....
I created a plist in the Resources folder with a Array Root and copy it when it not exist to document folder and now it works.....
isn't it amazing how such easy things can give you such an headache
I'm trying to write an NSDictionary to a plist but when I open the plist no data has been written to it.
From the log my path looks correct and my code is pretty standard.
Any ideas?
NSArray *keys = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"key1", #"key2", #"key3", nil];
NSArray *objects = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"value1", #"value2", #"value3", nil];
NSDictionary *dictionary = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:objects forKeys:keys];
for (id key in dictionary) {
NSLog(#"key: %#, value: %#", key, [dictionary objectForKey:key]);
}
NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"FormData" ofType:#"plist"];
NSLog(#"path:%#", path);
[dictionary writeToFile:path atomically:YES];
Johan is right -- you're not allowed to modify your app's bundle. You have two good options for where to save your dictionary: the documents directory, which is backed up by iTunes when a user syncs their device; or the caches directory, which is not backed up. If you don't need to have the data backed up, put it in caches so you don't slow down syncing. You can get the directory paths like so:
NSString *documentsDirectoryPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *cachesDirectoryPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSCachesDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
It doesn't get saved because you can't write into your app's bundle. Save your file elsewhere, in the documents folder for example.