I've been reading up on saving objects, preserving state etc, but I'm still a little confused on the route I should take when saving objects that are created from my app. I have built an app where a user can create a Radio Station with the Genre, name and frequency. Once a user hits save, a "RadioStation" object is created using a custom class and is stored in an NSMutableArray that is placed in the RootViewController. While RadioStation objects can be stored in this array and are displayed correctly in the table view, it's obvious that once the application quits, these are no longer going to be held by the application.
At this point I'm not sure how I should begin to architect this design. Do I need to set up a plist? Should I use Core Data with a SQLite DB? Do I need to research iOS object serialization for both these scenarios? Or is there an more straight forward way that I'm not aware of?
There are three ways to persist data locally:
Store objects in a database using managed objects or SQLite
Store objects in a file in the sandbox using various classes' writeToFile
Store the data in NSUserDefaults
How you persist your object data depends on how you're using it, and what type of data you're saving. CoreData makes sense if you have a lot of objects of the same type and SQL's search and sorting mechanisms would be useful. I tend to use the sandbox for very large files, eg images, sound files, and large agglomerations of data bounced through NSData. And I use UserDefaults for small amounts of data that might be considered "preferences".
You can put anything anywhere you want, and I suggest being familiar with all three mechanisms when you start a new project. Additional techniques, like using NSCoding to serialize and deserialize classes, can be used to make saving data easier. Note that once you've implemented NSCoding, you could store data anywhere and even send it over the wire.
For your RadioStation, I would personally use UserDefaults. The benefit of using NSCoding is that, once you implement initWithCoder and encodeWithCoder, you can stream a hierarchy of objects (eg an array of custom objects, each of which might contain a dictionary, array, or custom object, etc) fairly easily. If the only thing you're saving is an array of strings, then directly using UserDefaults is easy enough.
The most powerful approach is to make your custom object a subclass of NSManagedObject, and store it in an NSManagedObjectContext using Core Data. On iOS this will always use an sqlite database, on Mac OS X you can use sqlite, xml, or a proprietary binary format (smaller/faster than xml).
Depending on how complicated your data structure is, and how likely it is to change in future, this technique may or may not be too complicated for your app. It's a lot of work to setup, and the API is very complicated, but it's the best choice if you need to store tens of thousands/millions of objects in a file.
For your app, I would have a single sqlite file containing all of the radio stations in the app.
The simplest option, is to implement the NSCoding protocol in your custom object's class. Documented here:
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/Archiving/Articles/codingobjects.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/20000948-BCIHBJDE
The basic theory is your object writes or reads all it's data to a "coder", and then passes the coder on to any child object(s). Outside of the class, you use an "archiver" or an "unarchiver" class to coordinate everything.
Once your custom class implements NSCoding you can read/write it to the disk with:
myObject = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithFile:filePath];
[NSKeyedArchiver archiveRootObject:myObject toFile:filePath];
This is a very simple approach, but it has a few drawbacks, for example you will need to figure out your own way to support different versions of the file format (perhaps with a different file extension for example).
Many classes in Cocoa/CocoaTouch already implement NSCoding, so they can be written to a file in this fashion (including NSArray, NSString, NSNumber, etc).
For your app, i would use this to store each radio station in a single file. When the app launches, load all the radio stations from a directory. You should consider enabling iTunes drag/drop filesharing for your app, so users can easily share radio station files with their friends or between devices.
This would also fit in well with iCloud for syncing between devices, I haven't looked into iCloud much, but I expect one file per radio station will be the ideal way to implement iCloud syncing.
No need for such things. If you only have like one thing to save, then research this method of NSArray:
- (BOOL)writeToFile:(NSString *)path atomically:(BOOL)flag
I your user can save many radio stations, then you might want to look into CoreData, which has a bit of a curve, but ultimately will be the easiest way.
Related
I was talking to several developers which approach is best in objective C according to latest trends?
For example: if i am populating data from server in json form, which approach should i use?
I have seen my friends populating data into json objects in past as well as fewer of them in NSdictiory,NSMututable Dictionary, what apple recommends data structure wise?
any help would be appreciated.
I personally greatly prefer custom objects (or Structs for Swift) because it lets me more easily tell what properties the objects have. If you are just passing around dictionaries it makes it much harder (in my opinion) to remember what object you have, what keys it has, and maybe what nested objects it has too. Whereas if you have named classes (again, these ought to be Structs in Swift), then you (and the compiler) can easily know what properties they have. Plus you can easily create instance methods for your objects.
And if you don't want the pain of parsing them yourself there are frameworks that will manage parsing the server response into objects (e.g. RestKit https://github.com/RestKit/RestKit).
If you consider example code from Apple as a "recommendation" from Apple, you can see the way they make a data model in their "Start Developing iOS Apps" here: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/referencelibrary/GettingStarted/DevelopiOSAppsSwift/Lesson6.html. Yes the example is for Swift but most concepts are comparable.
Apple also has "Cocoa Core Competencies" (https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/DevPedia-CocoaCore/ModelObject.html) where they define a modal object as "typically a subclass of NSObject or...a subclass of NSManagedObject."
I am building a very simple app to store data on people like name, age, etc. I give the user the option of changing the data such as when a person has a birthday. I can't figure out the best way to store the data.
I have searched for a long time now and I can't find the simple answer that I am looking for. If I change the data in a mutable array will that data be changed permanently? I mean will that write over the existing code and change the data so that it will still exist when the app is closed and reloaded again?
So far I am not able to do that. I have experience in MySql and Sql server so I have a tendency to go that direction if possible, but I would really like to use a mutable array or mutable dictionary if possible. This may be such an elementary question, but I can't find an answer anywhere.
You have some misconceptions.
The objects you create are in memory. There's nothing permanent about them. You have to save them somehow or they are gone when you quit the application and come back.
If you want to save an array, you have a number of options.
If the array contains nothing but objects of type NSString, NSData, NSDate, NSNumber, NSArray, or NSDictionary, you can save the array using the system class NSUserDefaults.
NSArray also has a method writeToFile:atomically: that will save an array of data to a file.
If your array contains any objects other than the types I listed above, though, neither of those approaches (NSUserDefaults or writeToFile:atomically) won't work.
The other option is to use an NSKeyedArchiver to convert the contents of your array to data, and then write that data to a file. In order for that approach to work, every single object i your array, and all the objects in those objects, need to support the NSCoding protocol.
As others have pointed out, you could also use Core Data or mySQL to save your data, but that seems like overkill for just saving an array.
Take a look at Core Data. It is the easiest way to manage this kind of data storage requirement on iOS.
Take a look at my book, it got good reviews and is perfect for what you are trying to do: http://www.amazon.com/Pro-Core-Data-iOS-Professionals/dp/1430233559
If you want an easy way to get started, there are tons of online tutorials too. For example Ray has written some good stuff:
http://www.raywenderlich.com/934/core-data-on-ios-5-tutorial-getting-started
Mutable means you can change the data at any time, so no, it's not permanent.
Yes, it will be permanent in terms of what you are asking. Although because the array is mutable it means you can always change the data back, the initial data will be overwritten by this new data.
Edit: No, the information will not remain after closing the app. You will need to programmatically save it. I would use Core Data.
CoreData is the way data is normally persisted in Cocoa and Cocoa-Touch. It also gives you some nice extras like undo support. But it has a big learning curve.
If what you're doing is super-simple, look at NSUserDefaults. If you need a little more flexibility, you could always use NSArray's -writeToFile:atomically: and -initWithContentsOfFile: (there are also versions of both those methods that take URLs instead of file paths).
Anything more complicated than that, and it's probably worth the trouble learning CoreData.
I have a large MKOverlay that I would like to be saved in Core Data so that I don't have to create it later. Since this isn't one of the types that you can choose in Core Data, how do I go about saving it?
Do I need to somehow encode it first?
Do I then need to decode it when using?
What kind of object do I select in core data when creating a new property?
Thanks guys.
If you do not need to query for different overlays and you're not using core data elsewhere in your project, then you're probably better off caching the overlay on disk as an encoded NSArray.
However, if you're already using Core Data or you're caching multiple overlays then you can encode/decode the overlay in a field of type NSData. Add additional fields to the entity so you can query for the specific overlay you're looking for.
In iOS 5, you can enable optional storage of NSData fields in an external file by selecting the "Allows External Storage" option. Core Data will apply a size-based heuristic to determine if a blob or external file will result in better performance.
MKOverlay conforms to NSCoding, so you can encode and decode an entire array of MKOverlay objects using an encode method of NSKeyedArchiver and store the result in a binary field in your entity. You'll likely want + (NSData *)archivedDataWithRootObject:(id)rootObject on NSKeyedArchiver and + (id)unarchiveObjectWithData:(NSData *)data on NSKeyedUnarchiver
See the Archives section in the Archives and Serializations Programming guide for details of creating a keyed archive at: http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/Archiving/Articles/archives.html
You can write a custom accessor for the entity's binary field that encodes and decodes the overlay array for you. Another option is to create a value transformer that encapsulates the encoding and decoding operations. The end result would be an overlays array property that you can set and read via entity.overlays.
I believe you can use Apple's NSCoding libraries to convert the object to and from a serialized state. However, Core Data may support saving objects, but NSCoding lets you save any class that implements it anywhere, including a string sent to a server, a file written to disk, or if you're as bad a programmer as me, an NSUserDefaults entry.
edit- You may have to implement NSCoding into your own class based on MKOverlay by adding read and write methods, I'm uncertain.
Why not instead save the properties (size, color, coordinates, etc can all be described with NSNumbers and those can be stored in Core Data natively) and recreate the MKOverlay when needed. I think that's a much more efficient approach to be honest. I'm not sure how much of an impact creating an object has, so prove me wrong if I'm wrong.
You need to take the large dataset that composes the overlay and turn those individual data nodes into NSManagedObjects to be stored in CoreData.
I mean, you probably COULD just NSCoder the entire thing into one giant datablob, but at that point, you might as well just write the thing to a flat file (which frankly might be better if all you want to do is read/write it without changing it).
Don't use Core Data unless you're going to be doing legit querying or piecemeal changes to the dataset.
I'm working on a multiview app for iPhone and currently have my views (VIEW) set up and their transitions (CONTROLLER?) working nicely. Now I'd like to add objects for the actual program data (MODEL).
My question is: How should I structure my data to adhere to the Model View Controller (MVC) design pattern? I know I should create separate classes to implement my data structures and that my controller classes can pass messages to them from the view, but are there any other organizational considerations I should examine? Especially those particular to Cocoa Touch, Xcode, or iOS?
Other particulars: Playback of pre-recorded and perhaps user-generated audio will also be essential. I know these are model elements, but how exactly they relate to the "V" and the "C" I'm still a bit fuzzy on. I suppose when a user action requires audio playback, the CONTROLLER should pass a message to the MODEL to ready the appropriate sounds, but where exactly should regulation of the playback live? In a "PlayerController" separate from the ViewController I imagine?
Many thanks and pardon my MVC noobery.
Caleb gives a good introduction and overview of how to think about the problem. In your particular case, here are some of the pieces you would might have given your description:
Clip (M) - Responsible for holding the actual audio data. It would know how to interpret the data and given information about it, but it wouldn't actually play anything.
Player (V) - Actually plays a clip on the speakers. Yes, that's a kind of view in MVC. Audio is just another kind of presentation. That said, you'd never call it "PlayerView" because that would suggest it were a subclass of UIView.
PlayerView (V) - A screen representation of the Player. Knows nothing about Clips.
ClipManager (C) - An object that would keep track of all the clips in the system and manage fetching them from the network, adding and removing them to caches, etc.
PlayerViewController (C) - Retrieves a Clip from the ClipManager, and coordinates a Player and a PlayerView to display and play it, as well as any other UI elements (like a "back button" or the like).
This is just an example of how you might break it down for some theoretical audio player app. There are many correct MVC ways to do it, but this is one way to think about it.
Lord John Worfin (and, I'm sure, someone before him) said: "Character is what you are in the dark." Well, a model is what an application is when nobody is looking -- it's the data and logic that defines how the app behaves regardless of how it's presented on screen.
Imagine that you decide to add a command-line interface to your application. You'd still want to use the same structures for managing your data, and your logic for sorting, sifting, and calculating based on the data should still be the same too. The code in your app that remains important/useful no matter how the user sees or interacts with the app is the model.
A model can be very simple and made up entirely of standard objects. iOS apps are often more about retrieving, storing, and displaying data than they are about crunching numbers, so it's not unusual to have a model that's just an array of dictionaries, or a hierarchy of dictionaries that's several levels deep. If you look at Core Data's NSManagedObject class, it's similar in many respects to NSMutableDictionary. So, don't be afraid to use standard objects if they're appropriate.
That said, you can certainly also create your own model objects, and that's useful if you have certain requirements that you want to enforce on your data, or if you want to be able to derive information from the data.
Beginners often wonder how each controller gets access to the model. Some folks advocate using the singleton pattern for this, mainly because it provides a single, shared, globally accessible object. I don't recommend this. Instead, have some high-level object in your app such as the app delegate create/load the model (which will likely be a graph of many individual objects) and give a pointer to the model to any view controllers that need it. If those controllers in turn create other view controllers, they can again provide a pointer to the model (or part of it) to their child controllers.
I hope that helps.
Hobbyist Cocoa programmer here. Have been looking around all the usual places, but this seems relatively under-explained:
I am writing something a little out of the ordinary. It is much simpler than, but similar to, a desktop publishing app. I want editable text boxes on a canvas, arbitrarily placed.
This is document-based and I’d really like to use Core Data.
Now, The cocoa text-handling system seems to deal with a four-class structure: NSTextStorage, NSLayoutManager, NSTextContainer and finally NSTextView. I have looked into these and know how to use them, sort of. Have been making some prototypes and it works for simple apps.
The problem arrives when I get into persistency. I don't know how to, by way of Cocoa Bindings or something else, store the contents of NSTextStorage (= the actual text) in my managed object context.
I have considered overriding methods pairs like -words, -setWords: in these objects. This would let me link the words to a String, which I know how to store in Core Data. However, I’d have to override any method that affects the text - and that seems a little much.
Thankful for any insights.
NSTextStorage is just a subclass of NSMutableAtrributedString which support the NSCoding protocol so you can save it in Core Data as a transformable attribute using the default NSKeyedUnArchiveFromData transform.
I'm pretty sure that holds true for all the other classes you might want to save with the possible exception of the views. (I've never tried to store them in Core Data buts its theoretically possible to do so.)
Any class that implements/inherits NSCoding or has a initWithCoder: method can be stored in code data as a transformable attribute.
I suggest binding the value binding of a text view to a string attribute of one of your model entities, or the attributedString binding to a transformable attribute. This hooks up the view to the model without you having to pass text back and forth yourself.