iOS An Array Of Dictionaries Not Writing To File Correctly?

[Darkroom]

not sure what is my error. i'm attempting to create a .plist that is an array of dictionaries. only the root (array) of the .plist is being created, while the dictionary object is missing.

- (NSString *)measurementsDataPath
	{
	NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
	NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
	return [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"data.plist"];
	}

- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
	{
	NSMutableDictionary *dictionaryItem = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Name String Test"] forKey:@"name"];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Measurements String Test"] forKey:@"measurement"];
	[self.measurementsDataArray addObject:dictionaryItem];
	[self.measurementsDataArray writeToFile:[self measurementsDataPath] atomically:YES];
...

self.measurementsDataArray is an NSMutableArray object.

 

[kainjow]

If you NSLog() your array before you write it to file, does it show everything correctly?

 

[Darkroom]

If you NSLog() your array before you write it to file, does it show everything correctly?

it does not.

	NSMutableDictionary *dictionaryItem = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Name String Test"] forKey:@"name"];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Measurements String Test"] forKey:@"measurement"];
	[measurementsDataArray addObject:dictionaryItem];
	NSLog(@"%@", measurementsDataArray);

NSLog returns (null)

 

[kainjow]

Can you post the code that initializes the array?

 

[Darkroom]

the array is declared in the header and synthesized. is this error happening because of that?

 

[kainjow]

When you synthesize an object you're only creating the accessor methods to access that object. You still need to initialize the object like any other.

 

[Darkroom]

ah of course. silly me. the following works:

	NSMutableDictionary *dictionaryItem = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Name String Test"] forKey:@"name"];
	[dictionaryItem setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Measurements String Test"] forKey:@"measurement"];
	measurementsDataArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
	[measurementsDataArray addObject:dictionaryItem];
	[dictionaryItem release];
	[measurementsDataArray writeToFile:[self measurementsDataPath] atomically:YES];