How to parse this XML structure ?

[XXX]

Hi

can any one please help on parsing this XML :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<XML>
<CATEGORY ID="1" name="cars">
<CATEGORYCHILD ID="2" name="TOYOTA"></CATEGORYCHILD>
<CATEGORYCHILD ID="3" name="BMW"></CATEGORYCHILD>
<CATEGORYCHILD ID="4" name="MITSUBISHI"></CATEGORYCHILD>
</CATEGORY>
<CATEGORY ID="5" name="Electronics">
<CATEGORYCHILD ID="6" name="TVs"></CATEGORYCHILD>
<CATEGORYCHILD ID="7" name="Calcs"></CATEGORYCHILD>
</CATEGORY>
</XML>

i need to store each Category and its sub category in a dictionary then the other category with its sub and finally all in one master nsmutablearray !

any help please !

[XXX]

this is the code i wrote but its not what i really want ..

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

	if ([elementName isEqualToString:@"CATEGORY"]) {
		
		item = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease];
		[item setObject:[attributeDict objectForKey:@"name"] forKey:@"MainCategName"];
			
	}
	 else if ([elementName isEqualToString:@"CATEGORYCHILD"]){
		[item setObject:[attributeDict objectForKey:@"ID" ]forKey:@"subCategID"];
		[item setObject:[attributeDict objectForKey:@"name" ]forKey:@"subCategName"];
		 
		 [masterArray addObject:[item copy]];
	 }
	
}

and the result is so wrong ...

(
        {
        MainCategName = cars;
        subCategID = 2;
        subCategName = TOYOTA;
    },
        {
        MainCategName = cars;
        subCategID = 3;
        subCategName = BMW;
    },
        {
        MainCategName = cars;
        subCategID = 4;
        subCategName = MITSUBISHI;
    },
        {
        MainCategName = Electronics;
        subCategID = 6;
        subCategName = TVs;
    },
        {
        MainCategName = Electronics;
        subCategID = 7;
        subCategName = Calcs;
    }
)

thanx

[dljeffery]

Can you explain what exactly is wrong? As in, what exactly are you trying to end up with?

[XXX]

Hi dljeffery.thanx for replying.

here is how i want it

(
        {
        MainCategName = cars;
        subCategID = 2;
        subCategName = TOYOTA;
        subCategID = 3;
        subCategName = BMW;
        subCategID = 4;
        subCategName = MITSUBISHI;
    },
        {
        MainCategName = Electronics;
        subCategID = 6;
        subCategName = TVs;
        subCategID = 7;
        subCategName = Calcs;
    }
)

Regards

[dljeffery]

Can you explain what exactly you are trying to accomplish with this? As in, how would you interact with the structure? Do you look stuff up in it? If so, how do you do the lookup? Child ID? Child Name? Category Name? Some combination of these?

[XXX]

i have a tableView with sections. for the title of the section it will be the name of the main category.in this case (cars). and the rows belong to this section will be filled with the names of the child categories.

and regarding how to retrieve it maybe something like this

cell.textLabel.text = [[masterArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] objectForKey:CHILD_NAME_KEY];

Regards !

[dljeffery]

OK. I was about to suggest a dictionary where category name maps to a sub dictionary which would contain your child id/names.

However, I'm glad I didn't. A dictionary is not an appropriate data source for a table view. Perhaps an array of category names, and then a dictionary mapping category name to a sub array of child names (do you actually need the child ID for anything?).

But even better would be a database. Unless your needs and the size of your data set are both very light.

How much data will you be handling, and where will you get it from? And how often will it change? Finally, what will you actually be doing with this table view? Displaying your data, sure, but for what ultimate purpose?

[XXX]

OK. I was about to suggest a dictionary where category name maps to a sub dictionary which would contain your child id/names.

this is exactly what i was looking for.
if you can please change the previous code or guide me on how to do exactly that.
and yes i really need the child ID with the name.so i can send it to the remote server which will save it in the user preferences and also to do other operations based on it.

thank you.

[dljeffery]

Originally Posted by XXX

this is exactly what i was looking for.
if you can please change the previous code or guide me on how to do exactly that.
and yes i really need the child ID with the name.so i can send it to the remote server which will save it in the user preferences and also to do other operations based on it.

thank you.

No, I can't... please re-read my previous post on why I don't recommend using a dictionary, after hearing what you are going to do with it.

You shouldn't use an unordered collection (such as a dictionary) as the data source for a table view.

[XXX]

Originally Posted by dljeffery

No, I can't... please re-read my previous post on why I don't recommend using a dictionary, after hearing what you are going to do with it.

You shouldn't use an unordered collection (such as a dictionary) as the data source for a table view.

well, it seems i can't find the best way to do it. child names and ids are needed so i can't use your second suggestion. and using db is not practical also.

regards

[dljeffery]

Originally Posted by XXX

well, it seems i can't find the best way to do it. child names and ids are needed so i can't use your second suggestion. and using db is not practical also.

regards

You could easily create a class to hold your data, and then put instances of the class into an array.