NSArray/NSDictionary into Mutuable

[toha]

Hi,

I want to hand-over a NSArray with NSDictionary entries to sub view controller to change data. I have to store in the dictionary additional key-value-pairs for editing (as current value and UITextField).

Is there a way to change a NSArray with NSDictionary into NSMutableArray and/or NSMutableDictionary to add key-value-pairs in the sub view controller?

Here is the code with creating the array/dictionary and the init of the sub view controller:

- (void) startEditPerson
{
    NSArray *anArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:
                            
                                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                    @"Nickname", kEITitleKey,
                                    player.name, kEIValueKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                             kEditItem_Required], kEIRequiredKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                        EditItemTypeString], kEIEditingTypeKey,
                                 nil],
                             
                                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                    @"Surname", kEITitleKey,
                                    person.surname, kEIValueKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                        kEditItem_Optional], kEIRequiredKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                       EditItemTypeString], kEIEditingTypeKey,
                                 nil],
                             
                                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                    @"Address",kEITitleKey,
                                    person.address,kEIValueKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                          kEditItem_Optional], kEIRequiredKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                          EditItemTypeAddress], kEIEditingTypeKey,
                                 nil],

                                [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                    @"Phone",kEITitleKey,
                                    person.phone,kEIValueKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                                   kEditItem_Optional], kEIRequiredKey,
                                    [NSNumber numberWithInteger: 
                                        EditItemTypePhone], kEIEditingTypeKey,
                                 nil],
                             
                        nil];
                            
	EditItemsVC *editItemsVC = [[EditItemsVC alloc] initWithItems:anArray 
                                                                            target:self];
	
	
    [self.navigationController pushViewController:editItemsVC animated:YES];
	[editItemsVC release];
}

Thanks for help!

Torsten

[BrianSlick]

mutableCopy

Why not just start with mutable items?

[toha]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

mutableCopy

I'm not sure about mutableCopy. What I tried now is following code to convert a NSArray with NSDictionary items into NSMutableArray with NSMutableDictionary.

        NSMutableArray *mutArray=[[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
        NSUInteger uiItem=0;
        while (uiItem<[arrayEditItems count])
        {
            NSDictionary *dictItem=[arrayEditItems objectAtIndex:uiItem];
            NSMutableDictionary *mutDictItem=[[NSMutableDictionary alloc]initWithDictionary:dictItem];
            [mutArray addObject:mutDictItem];
            uiItem++;
        }

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

Why not just start with mutable items?

To start with MutableDictionary could be possible way. But why should a caller of a sub class know, that sub class need to add value-key-pairs in to array. That's why I need the convert.

[BrianSlick]

It doesn't really have anything to do with subclasses. You are making a design decision. If this data does not ever change, then non-mutable is fine. But you have already identified a need for the data to change. This suggests you should go mutable. You are trying to jump through several hoops here, when it would be considerably easier to simply start mutable.

[toha]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

It doesn't really have anything to do with subclasses. You are making a design decision. If this data does not ever change, then non-mutable is fine. But you have already identified a need for the data to change. This suggests you should go mutable. You are trying to jump through several hoops here, when it would be considerably easier to simply start mutable.

So I changed my code to use MutableDictionary and it works fine.

Thanks!