iPhone pathForResource vs bundlePath - iphone

Question

I want to use pathForResource, but it doesn't look like it will create the path if one doesn't exist. Therefore I'm trying to create one manually by doing the following:
NSString *path = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#/%#.plist",[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath],#"myFileName"];
I'm creating files dynamically, so I need to access them after I have Build and Run the application. But it puts the project in a unique id folder so the path comes out to something like:
/Users/RyanJM/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/3.0/Applications/80986747-37FD-49F3-9BA8-41A42AF7A4CB/MyApp.app/myFileName.plist
But that unique id changes every time I do a build. What is the proper way to create a path that I can get to every time (even in the Simulator)?
Thanks.
Update: edited the question, hopefully to help anyone who comes across it in the future.
Update: IWasRobbed answered the proper way to get create a path URL. But the the best answer I've been able to find is from Brad Parks. Though, I do wish there was a cleaner way.

Answer 1

With the way you phrased your question, this is how you read a plist that has been included in the bundle before build:
NSString *propertyListPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:SomeString ofType:#"plist"];
If you want to access the directories that each app has as a unique storage area for a file that you create AFTER build, you use this:
#define kFilename #”data.plist”
- (NSString *)dataFilePath {
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
return [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:kFilename];
}
Then you can check for it and do some data handling here:
NSString *filePath = [self dataFilePath];
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:filePath]) {
// do something with data here
}
You would save yourself a lot of trouble if you bought/read Beginning iPhone 3 Development specifically chapter 11 where he goes over data persistence (which is where this example came from). It's a great book.