Parsing XML without attribute and display it in UITableView

[funk_ynot_24]

Hello all, I'm newbie in iPhone Application Programming. I can't get value from XML file and display it in UITableView. I need to get the name value of animal. How is the simple way to parse XML without attribute? I've been read NSXMLParser Documentation but the data is not displayed in my UITableView. Here is my XML file :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<animals>
  <animal>
    <id>1</id>
    <name>Elephant</name>
  </animal>
  <animal>
    <id>2</id>
    <name>Tiger</name>
  </animal>
  <animal>
    <id>3</id>
    <name>Bird</name>
  </animal>
</animals>

I follow some tutorial about Parsing XML with attribute, but in my XML file, I don't have attribute. And this is my code to parse XML:

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didStartElement:(NSString *)elementName 
      namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qualifiedName 
     attributes:(NSDictionary *)attributeDict {

     if([elementName isEqualToString:@"animals"]) {
        appDelegate.animals = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
     }

     else if([elementName isEqualToString:@"animal"]) {  
     }

     else if([elementName isEqualToString:@"id"]){
        aAnimal = [[Animal alloc] init];
        aAnimal.animalID = elementName;
     } 
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser foundCharacters:(NSString *)string { 
     if(!currentElementValue) 
        currentElementValue = [[NSMutableString alloc] initWithString:string];
     else
        [currentElementValue appendString:string]; 
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didEndElement:(NSString *)elementName 
      namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName {

     if([elementName isEqualToString:@"animals"])
        return;
     else if([elementName isEqualToString:@"animal"]) {
     }
     else if([elementName isEqualToString:@"id"]) {
        [appDelegate.animals addObject:aAnimal];      
        [aAnimal release];
        aAnimal = nil;
     }
     else 
        [aAnimal setValue:currentElementValue forKey:elementName];

     [currentElementValue release];
     currentElementValue = nil;
}

[dljeffery]

Wow... that sounds like the hard way to do it, unless for some reason you actually need to parse an XML file (like, say, your sample XML file is not your real data, but just a test file you're using for now to get things working?).

Take a look at this tutorial that uses a plist for a data source. Disclaimer: I haven't been through this tutorial myself, nor have I ever populated a UITableView from a plist. I use Core Data with a SQLite database in my own stuff.

UITableView - Drill down table view tutorial - iPhone SDK Articles

[funk_ynot_24]

Thanks for reply dljeffery, I follow this tutorial for the first time

Parsing XML Files - iPhone SDK Articles

But that tutorial have attribute on XML file. I try the same case but my XML file don't have attribute. I need to display the name of animal in my UITableView.

[dljeffery]

Well, that article looks like it's probably a good one... but really it's about learning how to parse XML files, whereas it sounds to me like your goal is not to learn to parse XML files, it's just to learn how to get your data into a table view. If that is true, then it would make sense to go with a plist or SQLite data source rather than XML.

The XML parsing just adds unnecessary complexity... it would be kind of like using a CSV file for your data source when you're only ever going to have the one, static CSV file. You could do it if you wanted to, but why?