How to use pList in iOS Programming

Question

Recently, I'm a senior in high school, and I'm interested in making apps for iPhone. Recently, one of my apps came out: NBlock. It's a puzzle app and it's very challenging. However, it has a few problems. The high scores are not saved. I've been told to use a plist. Any tips?

Answer 1

The URL based method for this:

// Get the URL for the document directory
NSFileManager *fileManager = [[NSFileManager alloc] init];
NSURL *documentDirectoryURL = [[fileManager URLsForDocumentDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] objectAtIndex:0];

// Turn the filename into a string safe for use in a URL
NSString *safeString = [@"scores.plist" stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

// Create an array for the score
NSMutableArray *array = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];      
[array addObject:[NSNumber numberWithInt:score]];

// Write this array to a URL
NSURL *arrayURL = [NSURL URLWithString:safeString relativeToURL:documentDirectoryURL];
[array writeToURL:arrayURL atomically:YES];

Answer 2

I'd avoid using a plist. The easiest way to save simple data in an application, by far, is NSUserDefaults.

Check out this tutorial for a simple guide on how to use NSUserDefaults. Always be sure to synchronize NSUserDefaults when you're done writing to them.

If you're looking for a more powerful (but more complex) way to save data, check out Apple's guide to using Core Data.