How to read plist file in iphone

Question

I want to read a plist into my application. I want to try to create a tree.

The plist file contents:

  <plist version="1.0">
    <array>
     <dict>
      <key>Name</key>
      <string>Test Webservice</string>
      <key>child</key>
      <array>
       <dict>
        <key>child</key>
        <array>
         <dict>
          <key>child</key>
          <array>
           <dict>
            <key>id</key>
            <integer>4291</integer>
            <key>name</key>
            <string>1.1.1</string>
           </dict>
           <dict>
            <key>id</key>
            <integer>4292</integer>
            <key>name</key>
            <string>1.1.2</string>
           </dict>
          </array>
          <key>id</key>
          <integer>4290</integer>
          <key>name</key>
          <string>1.1</string>
         </dict>
         <dict>
          <key>child</key>
          <array>
           <dict>
            <key>id</key>
            <integer>4294</integer>
            <key>name</key>
            <string>1.2.1</string>
           </dict>
          </array>
          <key>id</key>
          <integer>4293</integer>
          <key>name</key>
          <string>1.2</string>
         </dict>
        </array>
        <key>id</key>
        <integer>4287</integer>
        <key>name</key>
        <string>1</string>
       </dict>
       <dict>
        <key>child</key>
        <array>
         <dict>
          <key>child</key>
          <array>
           <dict>
            <key>child</key>
            <array>
             <dict>
              <key>id</key>
              <integer>4297</integer>
              <key>name</key>
              <string>2.1.1.1</string>
             </dict>
            </array>
            <key>id</key>
            <integer>4296</integer>
            <key>name</key>
            <string>2.1.1</string>
           </dict>
          </array>
          <key>id</key>
          <integer>4295</integer>
          <key>name</key>
          <string>2.1</string>
         </dict>
        </array>
        <key>id</key>
        <integer>4288</integer>
        <key>name</key>
        <string>2</string>
       </dict>
       <dict>
        <key>id</key>
        <integer>4289</integer>
        <key>name</key>
        <string>3</string>
       </dict>
      </array>
      <key>id</key>
      <integer>4286</integer>
     </dict>
    </array>
    </plist>

Answer 1

Follow the given snippet for fetching data from plist

NSString *strplistPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:<plistName> ofType:@"plist"];

// read property list into memory as an NSData  object
NSData *plistXML = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsAtPath:strplistPath];
NSString *strerrorDesc = nil;
NSPropertyListFormat plistFormat;
// convert static property liost into dictionary object
NSDictionary *temp = (NSDictionary *)[NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListFromData:plistXML mutabilityOption:NSPropertyListMutableContainersAndLeaves format:&plistFormat errorDescription:&strerrorDesc];
if (!temp) {
    NSLog(@"Error reading plist: %@, format: %d", strerrorDesc, plistFormat);
} else {
    // assign values
    NSMutableArray *plistArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:[temp objectForKey:key]];
}

where Key -> for accessing particular field from plist

Enjoy Programming!

Answer 2

First thing first, declare a property for your plist in the header file

@property (strong, nonatomic) NSArray *content;

Then synthesize it implementation file

@synthesize content = _content;

Then you have to declare that array in implementation file. Something like this

-(NSArray *)content
{
if (!_content) {
    _content = [[NSArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"Data" ofType:@"plist"]];
}
return _content;
}

Then you have to declare the data source. Something like the following

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
// Return the number of rows in the section.
return [self.content count];
}

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];

cell.textLabel.text = [[self.content objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:@"city"];
cell.detailTextLabel.text = [[self.content objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:@"state"];
return cell;
}

That's pretty much it in the nutshell.

Hope this helps out