Get certain values in a NSString - objective-c

Question

I have this NSString below. I want to be able to get the name of each application and the location of it. Can someone help me or point me in the right direction?
Thanks in advance.
Applications:
Xcode:
Version: 4.5.2
Last Modified: 11/3/12 11:45 PM
Kind: Intel
64-Bit (Intel): Yes
App Store: Yes
Location: /Applications/Xcode.app
Terminal:
Version: 2.3
Last Modified: 6/21/12 12:01 AM
Kind: Intel
64-Bit (Intel): Yes
App Store: No
Location: /Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app
Google Chrome:
Version: 23.0.1271.64
Last Modified: 10/31/12 7:59 PM
Kind: Intel
64-Bit (Intel): No
App Store: No
Location: /Applications/Google Chrome.app
App Store:
Version: 1.2.1
Last Modified: 4/18/12 7:52 PM
Kind: Intel
64-Bit (Intel): Yes
App Store: No
Location: /Applications/App Store.app

Answer 1

Create an instance of NSScanner using your string. Since instances of NSScanner default to skipping whitespace and newlines by default, you need to disable this behavior before proceeding, like this:
[scanner setCharactersToBeSkipped:[[[NSCharacterSet alloc] init] autorelease]];
From here, you'd do something like this:
NSString *appName = nil;
[scanner scanString:#"Applications:" intoString:NULL];
NSCharacterSet *charset = [NSCharacterSet newlineCharacterSet];
[scanner scanCharactersFromSet:charset intoString:NULL];
while ([scanner isAtEnd] == NO)
{
// Get your application name.
[scanner scanUpToCharactersFromSet:charset intoString:&appName];
[scanner scanCharactersFromSet:charset intoString:NULL];
// You could do something with your application name here.
// Skip over the other stuff.
for (NSUInteger idx = 0; idx < 6; idx++)
{
[scanner scanUpToString:#":" intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanString:#":" intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanUpToCharactersFromSet:charset intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanCharactersFromSet:charset intoString:NULL];
}
}
Note that, despite appearances, I didn't give you a complete solution. Beyond checking for the end of the string, there's no error checking, and it goes without saying that Real Applications check for errors. (There should even have been a check for end-of-string at the very outset.) Also, this snippet relies on a rigid presentation of the data, such as you have provided.

Answer 2

I would use componentsSeparatedByString if there are easy delimiters. If not, try to use a regex with NSRegularExpression to find the value

Answer 3

There are numerous ways to solve this. NSRegularExpression has been mentioned. NSScanner is another. Here's a potential solution (no guarantees about correctness - just a guide.)
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
int main(int argc, const char * argv[])
{
#autoreleasepool {
NSString *source = #"Applications:\n\nXcode:\n\n Version: 4.5.\n Last Modified: 11/3/12 11:45 PM\n Kind: Intel\n 64-Bit (Intel): Yes\n App Store: Yes\n Location: /Applications/Xcode.app";
NSScanner *scanner = [NSScanner scannerWithString:source];
[scanner scanUpToString:#":" intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanString:#":" intoString:NULL];
while( ![scanner isAtEnd] ) {
NSString *appName = nil;
NSString *appPath = nil;
[scanner scanUpToCharactersFromSet:[NSCharacterSet alphanumericCharacterSet] intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanCharactersFromSet:[NSCharacterSet alphanumericCharacterSet] intoString:&appName];
NSString *junk = nil;
[scanner scanUpToString:#"Location: " intoString:&junk];
[scanner scanString:#"Location: " intoString:NULL];
[scanner scanUpToString:#"\n" intoString:&appPath];
[scanner scanString:#"\n" intoString:NULL];
printf("app name = %s, path = %s\n",[appName UTF8String],[appPath UTF8String]);
}
}
return 0;
}