Complex JSON as NSArray Datasource for a UITableView iOS - iphone

Question

I tried almost everything before posting (google, Apple Dev Doc etc.). I hope I did not miss anything before posting..
I already built a working JSON <-> Webservice <-> iPhone login.
with the following code:
NSString *responseString = [[[NSString alloc] initWithData:responseData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]autorelease];
NSDictionary *jsonDict = [responseString JSONValue];
NSString *loginResult = [jsonDict valueForKey:#"LoginResult"];
loginResult is the name of the employee: e.g "Henning Wenger"
The corresponding JSON looks like this:
{"LoginResult":"S:00000412"}
Now I have a more complex task which I can´t manage to figure a way through:
I´m getting the following JSON from the webservice:
{"GetTeamPresentStatusResult"[
{"Firstname":"Steffen","Id":"00000456","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Polker"},
{"Firstname":"Erich","Id":"00000455","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Welter"},
{"Firstname":"Titus","Id":"00000454","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Sommerbeck"}, {"Firstname":"Ruediger","Id":"00000453","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Oelmann"},{"Firstname":"Heinz","Id":"00000452","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Radelfs"},{"Firstname":"Franz","Id":"00000451","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Wippermann"},{"Firstname":"Klaus-Dieter","Id":"00000450","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Just"},{"Firstname":"Alan","Id":"00000412","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Turing"},{"Firstname":"Konrad","Id":"00000138","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Zuse"},{"Firstname":"Marius","Id":"00000112","IsPresent":"true","Lastname":"Sandmann"}]}
My code for handling this starts with:
NSDictionary *jsonDict = [responseString JSONValue];
NSArray *teamStatus = [jsonDict objectForKey:#"GetTeamPresentStatusResult"];
[self BuildDataSource: nil :teamStatus];
teamStatus now contains 10 key/value pairs.
Here is how I tried to build up the datasource for my table:
- (void)BuildDataSource: (id) sender: (NSArray*)teamStatusData{
teamStatusMutableArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
teamStatusDataSection = [[NSArray alloc]initWithArray:teamStatusData];
teamStatusDictSectionOne = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:teamStatusDataSection forKey:#"OrgUnits"];
[teamStatusMutableArray addObject:teamStatusDictSectionOne];
[tblView reloadData];
}
I can not manage to figure out which way to go from here to get the data how I need it.
Do I need different Arrays where one contains the firstname/value and another one that contains lastname/value? If yes, how do I do that?
Here are some lines I´ve tried so far which did not have helped:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease];
}
// Set up the cell...
//First get the dictionary object
NSDictionary *dictionary = [teamStatusMutableArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.section];
NSString *testString = [dictionary valueForKey:#"Firstname"];
NSArray *testarray = [dictionary objectForKey:#"OrgUnits"];
NSString *test = [testarray JSONRepresentation];
test = [test stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:#"[" withString:#""];
test = [test stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:#"]" withString:#""];
NSDictionary *jsonDict = [test JSONValue];
}
What I need is to have a Datasource with the Employee Names that I can bind to a Table. From there I think I can make my way without additional help.
I´m coming from the .NET (C#) world and maybe this confuses me too much.
Thank you so much..
Henning
If you need further details please ask!
Details for SPtail:
Here is the .h file:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "RootViewController.h"
#import "EmployeeDetails.h"
#interface OrgUnitAA:NSObject {
NSString *FirstName;
NSString *Id;
NSString *IsPresent;
NSString *LastName;
}
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *FirstName;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *Id;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *IsPresent;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *LastName;
#end
#interface TeamStatusView : UIViewController {
UITableView *tblView;
NSMutableArray *teamStatusMutableArray;
NSArray *teamStatusDataSection;
NSDictionary *teamStatusDictSectionOne;
UIViewController *EmployeeDetails;
UIViewController *RootViewController;
NSMutableData *responseData;
}
#property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITableView *tblView;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *teamStatusMutableArray;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray *dummyMutableArrayTimeQuota;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *teamStatusDataSection;
#property (nonatomic, retain) NSDictionary *teamStatusDictSectionOne;
#property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UIViewController *RootViewController;
#property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UIViewController *EmployeeDetails;
- (void)GetTeamStatus: id;
- (void)BuildDataSource: id: (NSArray*)teamStatusData;
#end

Answer 1

Hey the array returned by the web service contains dictionaries, which is obvious.
Instead of using different arrays for each property, you can create a class which extends NSObject and convert each dictionary so that you will have the objects inside an array instead of dictionaries. In this case:
#interface OrgUnit:NSObject {
NSString *FirstName;
NSNumber *Id;
bool IsPresent;
NSString *LastName;
}
//And all the properties here
After this you can convert dictionaries into object by using
OrgUnit *unit = [[OrgUnit alloc] init];
[unit setValuesForKeysWithDictionary:dictionary];
PS: The variable names in the object should be same as that of the keys in dictionary

Answer 2

I´ve found a solution.
This is the way I get to the data:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease];
}
// Set up the cell...
NSDictionary *dictionary = [teamStatusMutableArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.section];
NSArray *teamStatus = [dictionary objectForKey:#"OrgUnits"];
NSEnumerator *e = [teamStatus objectEnumerator];
id object;
int i = 0;
while (object = [e nextObject]) {
if(i == indexPath.row)
{
NSString *firstname = [object valueForKey:#"Firstname"];
NSString *lastname = [object valueForKey:#"Lastname"];
NSString *fullname = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#%#%#", lastname, #", ", firstname];
cell.textLabel.text = fullname;
bool isPresent = [object valueForKey:#"IsPresent"];
if(isPresent == true)
{
cell.imageView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"GreenBall.png"];
}
else
{
cell.imageView.image = [UIImage imageNamed:#"RedBall.png"];
}
break;
}
i++;
}
[aiActivity stopAnimating];
self.aiActivity.hidden = true;
return cell;
}

Answer 3

Could be just a typo.
Change this:
teamStatusDictSectionOne = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:teamStatusDataSection forKey:#"OrgUnits"];
To this:
teamStatusDictSectionOne = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:teamStatusDataSection forKey:#"OrgUnits"];
The change is -dictionaryWithObjects. Plural. Obj-C is kinda finicky about that stuff.
Also, you are referencing indexPath.section when you build the individual cells. I think you should be referencing the row for the cell. The row should correlate to your array index.
NSInteger row = [indexPath row];
NSDictionary *dictionary = [teamStatusMutableArray objectAtIndex:row];