Whats the best way to convert an NSString to an NSInteger based on an array of values? - objective-c

Question

I want to convert characters into integers based on predetermined values, for example:
a = 0
b = 1
c = 2
d = 3
etc...
Right now I'm doing it with an If/Else If, I just want to know if there is a faster/better way I should be doing it because the list of conversions may get quite long.
Here's what I'm using now:
-(NSInteger)ConvertToInt:(NSString *)thestring {
NSInteger theint;
if([thestring isEqualToString:#"a"] == YES){
theint = 0;
} else if ([thestring isEqualToString:#"b"] == YES){
theint = 1;
} //etc...
return theint;
}
This works fine, but as I said, if it makes more sense can I create an array with all the key/values then just run through that to return the integers?
Please provide examples as I'm a beginner with Objective C/iOS. I come from Web languages.
Thanks!
EDIT: Thanks for the help everyone. I used taskinoors answer but I replaced the NSDictionary which was giving error messages with this:
NSDictionary *dict;
dict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
[NSNumber numberWithInt:0], #"a",
[NSNumber numberWithInt:1], #"b",
[NSNumber numberWithInt:2], #"c", nil];

Answer 1

unichar ch = [thestring characterAtIndex:0];
theint = ch - 'a';
Note that, 'a' with a single quote is character a, not string "a".
If the values are not regular like your example then you can store all predefined values into a dictionary. For example:
"a" = 5;
"b" = 1;
"c" = 102;
NSArray *values = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:[NSNumber numberWithInt:5],
[NSNumber numberWithInt:1], [NSNumber numberWithInt:102], nil];
NSArray *keys = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"a", #"b", #"c", nil];
NSDictionary *dic = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:values forKeys:keys];
theint = [[dic valueForKey:thestring] intValue];

Answer 2

If you wanted to keep some flexibility in what strings map to what integers, and your integers run from 0 to n-1 where you have n unique items in the array, you could do something like this:
-(NSInteger)ConvertToInt:(NSString *)thestring {
NSArray *arr = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"a", #"b", #"c", #"d", nil];
NSInteger theint = [arr indexOfObject:thestring];
return theint;
}
Now this will build the array each time, which would be very inefficient, the optimal way would be to build the array once in your class, and then just use a reference to that array with the indexOfObject method call.