Need To Populate Core Data From SQLite Database - iphone

Question

I have an SQLite database with 4 tables in it that I want to load into my Core Data database so I can implement core data. Can anyone help me with this?
I have the core data app ready, and I have the SQLite database ready. I need to copy the data from SQLite tables their 4 respective entities in core data in App delegate.
I'm currently using this code, how can I edit it so that instead of adding to array, it creates a new object in MOC?
-(NSMutableArray *) getCPTCodes
{
sqlite3 *database = CodesDatabase();
NSMutableArray *cptCodes = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];
NSString *nsquery = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"SELECT code, short_description, medium_description FROM cpt_codes"];
const char *query = [nsquery UTF8String];
[nsquery release];
sqlite3_stmt *statement;
int prepareCode = (sqlite3_prepare_v2( database, query, -1, &statement, NULL));
if(prepareCode == SQLITE_OK) {
while (sqlite3_step(statement) == SQLITE_ROW)
{
CPTCodes *code = [[CPTCodes alloc] init];
code.code = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 0) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
code.name = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 1) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
code.description = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 2) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[cptCodes addObject:code];
// NSLog(#"Code: %# Short Description: %# Long Description: %#", hcpcsCode.code, hcpcsCode.name, hcpcsCode.description);
[code release];
}
sqlite3_finalize(statement);
}
return cptCodes;
}
Instead of loading that into an array, I need to add it as an object in core data, using this?
insertNewObjectForEntityForName:inManagedObjectContext:

Answer 1

It looks like you can create an entity and NSManagedObject subclass to take the place of the Code class in your existing code.
Your entity would look like:
CPTCode{
code:string
name:string
desc:string // "description" is a method of NSObject so you can't use it as a property name
}
... and then you could have Xcode generate a custom subclass, lets call it CPTCodeMO just for clarity.
Then you adapt your existing code:
CPTCodeMO *code;
while (sqlite3_step(statement) == SQLITE_ROW){
code=[NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:#"CPTCode" inManagedObjectContext:self.managedObjectContext];
code.code = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 0) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
code.name = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 1) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
code.description = [NSString stringWithCString:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(statement, 2) encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
}
Each pass through the loop would create a new CPTCodeMO instances and insert it in the managed object context. When you have created all the new instances you would just save the context:
[self.managedObjectContext save:&saveError];
... and your done.
There are nuances of course but this is the basic idea.
Do that once and you will have a Core Data SQLite store file with the existing data. You can then include that in the app bundle to ship with the app or do something else with it.
I usually create a small utility app project in Xcode just to do this kind of import.