Let's suppose that I want to store (and later update via internet) a simple database of words with their definition :
- label
- definition
According to you, what would be the best way to store them in different languages ?
there's a label and a definition in both French and English, and later we could add other languages.
EDIT: for the moment I can only think about a 3rd property : language
label
definition
language
I would define the assessor to return the language according to the current settings, or english by default.
Coredata doesn't support the localization of data? it supports localization of property names
assuming you have a large set of words, you can save them as an array (s)
as described here:
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSData_Class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000172-CIAEAHFJ
example:
NSString *errString;
NSData *serialized =[NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:imgsData
format:NSPropertyListBinaryFormat_v1_0
errorDescription:&errString];
[serialized writeToFile:dataFilePath atomically:YES];
if (errString)
{
NSLog(#"%#" errString);
[errString release]; // exception to the rules
}
To read it back in, use
NSString *errString;
NSData *serialized = [NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:data
FilePath];
imgsData =
[NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListFromData:serialized
mutabilityOption:NSPropertyListMutableContainers
format:NULL
errorDescription:&errString];
if (errString)
{
NSLog(#"%#" errString);
[errString release]; // exception to the rules
}
You have to localise your text strings and support translations for the language you want to use. There are many tutorials on how this can be achieved. Its more like mapping enums to text. And text will be returned for the language you ask for. Here is a good start point for your requirement.
Follow the steps there and you can modify them as per your needs once you get hold of localisation of strings.
Related
I'm trying to show content of text file with unknown encoding according to Apple's documentation:
Try stringWithContentsOfFile:usedEncoding:error: or initWithContentsOfFile:usedEncoding:error: (or the URL-based equivalents). These methods try to determine the encoding of the resource, and if successful return by reference the encoding used.
If (1) fails, try to read the resource by specifying UTF-8 as the encoding.
If (2) fails, try an appropriate legacy encoding. "Appropriate" here depends a bit on circumstances; it might be the default C string encoding, it might be ISO or Windows Latin 1, or something else, depending on where your data is coming from.
This is not always working. Is there more reliable ways to detect encoding?
You should use NSAttributedString which can detect encoding. After long time testing different solutions, I use that:
NSError *error;
NSDictionary *options = [NSDictionary dictionary];
NSDictionary *attributes;
NSAttributedString *theString = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithURL:fileURL options:options documentAttributes:&attributes error:&error];
NSInteger detectedEncoding = [[attributes objectForKey:#"CharacterEncoding"] integerValue];
I tested many files from many sources/environment, and it seem to be efficient (thus you should check whether error is nil or not). For a plain csv file exported from Excel, I get this attributes dictionary (30 value means NSMacOSRomanStringEncoding:
{
CharacterEncoding = 30;
DocumentType = NSPlainText;
UTI = "public.plain-text";
}
If you do not know the encoding of the data ahead of time, then it has to be guessed through analysis of the raw data, and that can sometimes lead to wrong guesses and thus unreliable decoding. When in doubt, just ask the user which encoding to use.
I am making an Iphone drinking card game app.
All the card mean something different and i want the user to be able to press an info button and then show a new screen with information about the current card. How can i make a document to load text from instead of using a bunch og long strings?
Thanks
You could look into plist files - they can be loaded quite easily into the various collection objects and edited with the plist editor in Xcode.
For instance, if you organize your data as a dictionary, the convenience constructor
+ (id)dictionaryWithContentsOfURL:(NSURL *)aURL
from NSDictionary would provide you with as many easily accessible strings as you need.
This method is useful if you consider your strings primarily data as opposed to UI elements.
Update:
As #Alex Nichol suggested, here is how you can do it in practice:
To create a plist file:
In your Xcode project, for instance in the Supporting Files group, select New File > Resource > Property List
You can save the file in en.lproj, to aid in localization
In the Property list editing pane, select Add Row (or just hit return)
Enter a key name (for instance user1) and a value (for instance "Joe")
To read the contents:
NSURL *plistURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:#"Property List" withExtension:#"plist"];
NSLog(#"URL: %#", plistURL);
NSDictionary *strings = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfURL:plistURL];
NSString *user1 = [strings objectForKey:#"user1"];
NSLog(#"User 1: %#", user1);
A plist, a JSON string, and an SQLite database walked into a bar ...
Oops!! I mean those are the three most obvious alternatives. The JSON string is probably the easiest to create and "transport", though it's most practical to load the entire thing into an NSDictionary and/or NSArray, vs read from the file as each string is accessed.
The SQLite DB is the most general, and most speed/storage efficient for a very large number (thousands) of strings, but it takes some effort to set it up.
In my other answer, I suggest the use of a dictionary if your texts are mostly to be considered as data. However, if your strings are UI elements (alert texts, window titles, etc.) you might want to look into strings files and NSBundle's support for them.
Strings files are ideally suited for localization, the format is explained here.
To read them into you app, use something like this:
NSString *text1 = NSLocalizedStringFromTable(#"TEXT1", #"myStringsFile", #"Comment");
If you call your file Localizable.strings, you can even use a simpler form:
NSString *str1 = NSLocalizedString(#"String1", #"Comment on String1");
A useful discussion here - a bit old, but still useful.
I know that NSUserDefaults can read the key and value from plist file.
Is it possible to read the structure of a key?
For example:
Key 'Count' is an integer and has option
1,2,3,4,5
the codes below can get the value 'Count'
NSUserDefaults *defaults=[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
if([defaults objectForKey:#"Count"]!=nil)
{
NSString *s=[[NSString alloc] initWithString: [defaults objectForKey:#"Count"]];
NSInteger v=[s intValue];
[s release];
}
But I prefer to get all options and store to a NSArray or a better storage structure.
Is it Possible?
I read bundle settings the following way:
// Get path to Root.plist file in settings bundle and retrieving its contents
NSString* tPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"Settings" ofType:#"bundle"];
settingsBundle = [[NSBundle bundleWithPath:tPath] retain];
NSDictionary* tSetDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:[tPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"Root.plist"]];
// Get array of preference dictionaries
NSArray* prefs = [tSetDict objectForKey:#"PreferenceSpecifiers"];
// Iterate through dictionaries to find required value
for (NSDictionary* setDict in prefs){
NSString* type = [setDict objectForKey:#"Type"];
if (![type isEqualToString:#"PSMultiValueSpecifier"]){
// Get possible preference values for PSMultiValueSpecifier case
// You may need to know value type in advance - not sure about that
NSArray* values = [setDict objectForKey:#"Values"];
}
}
I'm not exactly sure I understand your question but you can't directly access the user defaults system save through its defined methods. You can't read them out in one big chunk.
The defaults system isn't actually a means of reading plist files, its an more of an API for accessing a database maintained by the OS itself. Although, you don't see it much on the iPhone, its actually a very large and complex system for managing preferences not only for individual apps but also for users, groups of users, computers and networks. It seems trivial on iOS because you don't have the flexibility of configuration and use that you have on MacOS proper.
It would be impossible to read out the entire defaults because they are huge and much larger than you would expect even on iOS.
Instead of jumping through the hoops in the code you showed in the answer, you should access the data in the key using one of the dedicated methods for the type of data stored. In this case:
NSUserDefaults *defaults=[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
NSInteger v=[defaults integerForKey:#"Count"];
Even if you did read the defaults out in one chunk, you would just find yourself using the same type of calls and code to access the data in the alternate data structure as you would in using the defaults in the first place. You might as well use the defaults system.
I have a NSString like that? (in iPhone application)
NSString *xmlStr = "<?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8>
<information>
<name>John</name>
<id>435346534</id>
<phone>045635456</phone>
<address>New York</address>
</information>"
How I can get elements value?
(Do i need convert to XML format and get elements value? or split string? any way please tell me?)
Thank you guys.
If you want to use split string, you can use tokenization of strings using "componentsSeparatedByString" method. This is a more cumbersome method of course, rather than the recommended XMLParser
To get the name.
NSArray *xmlStr_first_array = [xmlStr componentsSeparatedByString: #"<name>"];
NSString *xmlStr_split = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[xmlStr_first_array objectAtIndex:1]];
NSArray *xmlStr_second_array = [xmlStr_split componentsSeparatedByString: #"</name>"];
NSString *name = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#",[xmlStr_second_array objectAtIndex:0]];
The most obvious solution is to use an XML parser to retrieve the values from each element.
You could use the excellent TBXML for this task. It provides a really simple interface where it wouldn't take more than a few lines to retrieve the desired values. The drawback to using this small library is that it (as far as I know) loads the entire XML data into memory. In this particular case, however, that is not problem at all.
There's of course also the option of using the NSXMLParser, though this is an event-driven parser, and thus a bit less simple to use.
Your string is in xml format already and you need to parse it to retrieve data. There're several options available - for example you can use NSXMLParser class or libxml library.
Edit: XMLPerformance sample project shows how to use both approaches and compare their performance.
I am aware this question has been asked several times, but I was unable to find a definate answer that would best fit my situation.
I want the ability to have the user select an image from the library, and then that image is converted to an NSData type. I then have a requirement to call a .NET C# webservice via a HTTP get so ideally I need the resulting string to be UTF8 encoded.
This is what I have so far:
NSData *dataObj = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(selectedImage, 1.0);
[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
NSString *content = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:dataObj encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSLog(#"%#", content);
The NSLog statement simply produces output as:
2009-11-29 14:13:33.937 TestUpload2[5735:207] (null)
Obviously this isnt what I hoped to achieve, so any help would be great.
Kind Regards
You can't create a UTF-8 encoded string out of just any arbitrary binary data - the data needs to actually be UTF-8 encoded, and the data for your JPEG image obviously is not. Your binary data doesn't represent a string, so you can't directly create a string from it - -[NSString initWithData:encoding:] fails appropriately in your case.
Assuming you're using NSURLConnection (although a similar statement should be true for other methods), you'll construct your NSMutableURLRequest and use -setHTTPBody: which you need to pass an NSData object to. I don't understand why you would be using a GET method here since it sounds like you're going to be uploading this image data to your web service - you should be using POST.