So I have a question about the ideal setup for an app I am getting ready to build. The app is basically going to be a memorization tool and I already have an sqlite database full of content that I will be using for the app.
The user will navigate through the contents of the database(using the uipickerview), and select something for memorization. If that row or cell of data is selected, it is put into a pool or a uitableview that is dedicated to showing which items you have in your "need to memorize" pool. When you go to that tableview, you can select the row, and the actual data would be populated. All information in the tableview would be deletable, in the event that they don't want it there anymore...
Thats it.
I know that with database interfacing, there are a few different options out there, in this particular setup, is core data the easiest approach? Is there any other way that would be better? I am just kind of looking for a point in the right direction, any help is greatly appreciated!!
Core Data is going to be the easiest. You will want to migrate your data from your raw SQLite file to a Core Data generated SQLite file as Core Data is designed to manage its own file 100%. Fortunately you can do this with a quick command line app on the desktop and then copy the resulting Core Data Sqlite file into your application bundle for later use on iOS.
Doing raw SQLite on iOS is possible but a real headache to get right compared to the ease of use that Core Data offers.
Update
Core Data on iOS produces identical files to Core Data on the Desktop. Therefore you can develop a quick and easy app for the desktop that say for example takes the following inputs:
Table/Entity Name
CSV of a row of data
Then it would create a Core Data entity based on the entity name and insert the data into that row.
With that in place it would be trivial to do a bash script to loop through the all of the tables and the rows in those tables to create your new SQLite file.
Hmmm, might have to do a blog post some time on CIMGF about this :)
Related
I've looked around for this but haven't found what I'm looking for. I need some data to basically come pre-loaded in the app. I know that I could just put it all in on the first launch but would like to stay away from a long load time on the first launch and have it already loaded.
Is it possible to insert entities into core-data so that they are hard-coded in?
Yeah, you include a a pre-filled data store in your app bundle and copy it from the bundle to the documents directory as part of the app launch process - check if the data store exists and, if not, do the copy. You do this prior to accessing the Core Data stack for the first time.
There are a few ways you could do this. The lazy programmer way is to enter your default data into the app, either on the phone or in the simulator, grab the data store file, and include it in your Xcode project. The downside is it doesn't work well if you need to go back and edit the data model later.
The other option is to create an editor app on the Mac that uses the same Core Data model as your iPhone app (they're compatible) and edit the data in your Mac app. Jeff Lamarche talks a bit about this in one of his blog postings. I've done something similar, except I wrote a command line tool to download the latest data from a web site (in my case, XML data) and parse the XML into NSManagedObjects.
This StackOverflow post talks about a bit more complex option of having two data stores - one for your system data and one for your user data - and letting Core Data use both stores at runtime.
i am trying to develop a simple application like shopping list.
for that i have 20 categories in that 250 item names.
for that i found two ways to save these item names and it's respective values one is using sqlite data base,another one is plist.
and i need to edit these item quantity and need to add new item to category.
for that which way is better for my application.
experts who have familiar with sqlite data base and plist can suggest which way is better.
thank u in advance.
My feeling is that SQLite is the better tool for this job, especially when the data grows. That's because with a PList, you have to completely load it into memory whereas with SQLite you only fetch the data you need. Of course, programming for SQLite is a little bit more work but if you encapsulate that in a class it can be as easy to use later on.
Using of SQLite would be suggested.
If you are doing more transaction over the database then use SQLite instead of plits.
If it is client- server modal, have a database of SQL or Oracle at the back end. Store the data which is frequently used at the client side using SQLite ans sync it regularly with the database
regarding sqlite tutorial
http://dblog.com.au/iphone-development-tutorials/iphone-sdk-tutorial-reading-data-from-a-sqlite-database/
I hope all of you have had a good Christmas :-)
In my app i have a database, using Core Data, that requires a lot of data, at least 1.500 records consisting of 6 fields. That means at least 9.000 lines of data. All data is pure text.
During the development phase i have 250 records to test on.
The way i do populate the DB at this point is that i have a text (.txt) file, which i edit in Word and then reads into my database. This is very inconvenient for many reasons such as if i save it, by mistake, in the wrong format it all screws up (i have Swedish characters that changes).
Given the amount of records i will need i would like to ask for advice how people do these things and what to use? Is there some sort of (free) database available that i could use etc.
Cheers
For editing use notepad, notepad++, or gedit. You won't have issues with MS Word specific characters.
I am not too familiar with Core Data, but I believe it uses SQlite on the backend.
I have implemented SQLite directly into a few developments that I have worked on. It might be worth your time to take a look.
Can you give more details about your app? Platform, how often data is accessed, how often it is modified, etc.
Hmm, one way to get started on this might be to fill the Core Data store a single time, and then, whenever you need to run your tests, just copy this store file out of your application bundle into your documents directory. I maintain a "Reset All" function in a game I've worked on using this method, and it works great for very quickly populating Core Data.
Hej,
currently I am developing an app with very similar requirements - a prepopulated Core Data database with 1200+ entries with more or less the same amount of fields.
The data I receive is in xml format. I've written a small mac app which features the same core data model as the iphone app does - it will read the xml and create core data entries accordingly. I then take the database file my mac app created and add it to my iphone apps bundle, from where it will be copied to the documents folder on the first launch (or whenever a reset to the factory data is required).
This is working perfectly, I think you could do something very similar. The only difference would be that, instead of parsing xml, you'd need to write something that reads your textfile. Fear not, it's easy to do!
I've taken the approach to add a unit test that determines if the database exists. If the database doesn't exist, the test creates it from a text file (usually a plist or csv).
This approach enables me to: alter the underlying data via text, "clean" the database by simply deleting it, and run tests against the data. Since you're using CoreData, there might be some additional benefits by ensuring your schema matches the dataset; I once found I'd accidentally set an attribute to not allow nil.
I'm diving in to iPhone development and I'm building an iPhone app that uses the Core Data framework and my first task will be to get the model setup with a view that will display it. Thus far, I have the model defined and my Managed Object Files created, but I don't have a database with any sample data.
What's a quick way to create a DB that conforms to my schema?
Are there any tools that can generate a sample DB using my schemas? Or do I have to create this sample data by hand?
Once the DB is created, are there any good tools I can use to directly manipulate the data in DB for testing purposes?
Thanks in advance for your help! I'm going to continue researching this question right now.
This is very close to the question "Provide Base Data for Core Data Application?" Additionally, my answer to this question describes how you can quickly build a Mac application that lets you create or edit a Core Data database that is compatible with your iPhone application's data model.
Beyond that, you can use the application Core Data Editor to do what its name describes.
I assume you've already created a working app that uses sqlite as persistent storage for your data model.
Have a look into the AppDelegate.m file to search for the sqlite database name and location, then run your app in the iPhone Simulator.
Use Spotlight to search for the SQLite database created by the app in the simulator, usually this is /Users/<Username>/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/User/Application/<Application GUID>/Documents/<database name.sqlite>
Now you only have to copy that file to a working folder, open it using sqlite3 (www.sqlite.org), then type .schema to retrieve the database schema.
Now populate it, either by hand or using a python/ruby/whatever script!
Unfortunately, i'm not aware of any tool that will populate a db by simply feeding them the schema.
For directly manipulating the data, sqlite3 provides you with a command line utility that's really handy for that purpose.
When you're finished, add the file with sample data to your App project.
I have a Core Data based application that stores hierarchal data displayed using a series of UITableViews. To illustrate my app functionality to the user I would like to pre-populate my database/app with some dummy values. This data would be available upon installation on the user's iPhone/iPod Touch.
What is the best way to achieve this?
Create the data and include it in the app bundle. On first launch, copy that sqlite file to the documents directory and then stand up the core data stack afterwards.
Personally i would create a desktop app using the same model to do the initial data entry to make it easier on you. From there take the sqlite file that is generated and include it in your appilcation.