-initWithContentsOfFile: for an NSMutableArray - objective-c

Question

I stored images in an NSMutableArray, and now I'm trying to get them to show up in viewDidLoad. I tried calling initWithContentsOfFile, but that doesn't seem to work. This is how the code looks:
imageView.image = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[self.array objectAtIndex:0]];
I'm not sure what I should use instead of initWithContentsOfFile to have the saved images load, I'm not even sure if I can save images in a plist through user defaults. I've been researching it for awhile now to no avail. Any help is much appreciated, thanks!
EDIT: Here is additional code:
- (IBAction)grabImage {
self.imgPicker = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init];
self.imgPicker.delegate = self;
self.imgPicker.sourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypePhotoLibrary;
if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad) {
_popover = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:imgPicker];
[_popover presentPopoverFromRect:self.imageView.bounds inView:self.imageView permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionAny animated:YES];
}
else {
[self presentModalViewController:imgPicker animated:YES];
}
[self.imgPicker resignFirstResponder];
}
// Sets the image in the UIImageView
- (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingImage:(UIImage *)img editingInfo:(NSDictionary *)editInfo {
if (imageView.image == nil) {
imageView.image = img;
[self.array addObject:imageView.image];
[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
[self.popover dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];
return;
}
if (imageView2.image == nil) {
imageView2.image = img;
NSLog(#"The image is a %#", imageView);
[self.array addObject:imageView2.image];
[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
[self.popover dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];
return;
}
if (imageView3.image == nil) {
imageView3.image = img;
[self.array addObject:imageView3.image];
[picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
[self.popover dismissPopoverAnimated:YES];
return;
}
}
- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication*)application {
NSLog(#"Image on didenterbackground: %#", imageView);
[self.array addObject:imageView.image];
[self.array addObject:imageView2.image];
[self.array addObject:imageView3.image];
[self.user setObject:self.array forKey:#"images"];
[user synchronize];
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
self.user = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
NSLog(#"It is %#", self.user);
self.array = [[self.user objectForKey:#"images"]mutableCopy];
imageView.image = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[self.array objectAtIndex:0]];
imageView2.image = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[self.array objectAtIndex:1]];
imageView3.image = [[UIImage alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:[self.array objectAtIndex:2]];
UIApplication *app = [UIApplication sharedApplication];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(applicationDidEnterBackground:)
name:UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification
object:app];
backToGalleryButton.hidden = YES;
tapToDeleteLabel.hidden = YES;
deleteButton1.hidden = YES;
[super viewDidLoad];
}
EDIT: This is how I'm tagging the images and deleting them based upon their tags:
- (IBAction)deleteButtonPressed:(id)sender {
NSLog(#"Sender is %#", sender);
UIAlertView *deleteAlertView = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"Delete"
message:#"Are you sure you want to delete this photo?"
delegate:self
cancelButtonTitle:#"No"
otherButtonTitles:#"Yes", nil];
[deleteAlertView show];
int imageIndex = ((UIButton *)sender).tag;
deleteAlertView.tag = imageIndex;
}
- (UIImageView *)viewForTag:(NSInteger)tag {
UIImageView *found = nil;
for (UIImageView *view in self.array) {
if (tag == view.tag) {
found = view;
break;
}
}
return found;
}
- (void)alertView: (UIAlertView *) alertView
clickedButtonAtIndex: (NSInteger) buttonIndex
{
if (buttonIndex != [alertView cancelButtonIndex]) {
NSLog(#"User Clicked Yes. Deleting index %d of %d", alertView.tag, [array count]);
NSLog(#"The tag is %i", alertView.tag);
UIImageView *view = [self viewForTag:alertView.tag];
if (view) {
[self.array removeObject:view];
}
NSLog(#"After deleting item, array count = %d", [array count]);
NSLog(#"Returned view is :%#, in view: %#", [self.view viewWithTag:alertView.tag], self.view);
((UIImageView *)[self.view viewWithTag:alertView.tag]).image =nil;
}
[self.user setObject:self.array forKey:#"images"];
}

Answer 1

The problem is that you can't store images in a property list, which is what you're trying to do when you save it in the user defaults. You need to use an archiver to convert the image to an NSData object which you can store.

Answer 2

It looks like you're not passing a valid image path to the initializer method. Make sure the path is correct, and that it includes the image extension.
Really, though, you shouldn't be calling initWithContentsOfFile: in this case, because UIImageView's image property retains the image when you set it. That will usually lead to a memory leak (unless you're using automatic reference counting). Use one of the static initializers instead, such as imageNamed:, which has the added bonuses of using the system cache and also automatically loading the correct version of the image based on the characteristics of the device (for instance, it will load a higher resolution variant of the image if the device has a retina display).