Objective-C: Parse string to object - objective-c

Question

I have a simple object. It has several NSString properties (propertyA, propertyB, propertyC).
I have a string (read from a csv file) in the following form:
this is value A, this is value B, this is value C
another row A, another row B
Notice that the second row is missing the last property.
I want to parse the string into my object. Currently I'm grabbing a line from the csv file and then doing this:
MyObject *something = [[MyObject alloc] init];
NSArray *split = [line componentsSeparatedByString:#","];
if (something.count > 0)
something.propertyA = [split objectAtIndex:0];
if (something.count > 1)
something.propertyB = [split objectAtIndex:1];
if (something.count > 2)
something.propertyC = [split objectAtIndex:2];
This works well, but feels really horrible and hacky!
Has anyone got any suggestions for how I can improve the code?

Answer 1

Take a look at this tread about parsing CSV Where can I find a CSV to NSArray parser for Objective-C?
Dave DeLong wrote a CSV-parser library, you can find it here: https://github.com/davedelong/CHCSVParser
Hope this helps :)

Answer 2

Here's a CSV parsing extension to NSString that I used in the past to handle CSV data.
http://www.macresearch.org/cocoa-scientists-part-xxvi-parsing-csv-data
If basically adds a -(NSArray *)csvRows method to NSString that returns a NSArray with each row on your data and a NSArray inside each row to handle the columns.
It's the simplest and cleanest way I found so far to deal with the ocasional CSV data that comes up.

Answer 3

Your approach actually seems pretty sound, given the input format of the file, and assuming that no individual items actually contain a comma within themselves. As others have mentioned, CSV and/or custom flat files require custom solutions to get what you want from them.
If the approach above gets you the data you want, then I say use it. If it doesn't though, perhaps you can share the actual problem you're experiencing (ie, what data are you getting out, and what were you expecting?)

Answer 4

Consider using an array of keys that correspond to MyObject property names. For example:
NSString *propertyNames[] = { #"property1", #"property2", #"property3" };
NSArray *values = [line componentsSeparatedByString:#","];
NSArray *keys = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:propertyNames count:[values count]];
NSDictionary *dict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjects:values forKeys:keys];
MyObject obj = [[MyObject alloc] init];
[obj setValuesForKeysWithDictionary:dict];
You could then consider adding an initWithDictionary: method to MyObject that calls setValuesForKeysWithDictionary. That would help streamline things a little further, allowing you to write the last two lines above as a single line:
MyObject obj = [[MyObject alloc] initWithDictionary:dict];