Question

I am trying to save a .plist I have created into my NSUserDefaults so that I can save the data that I am putting into it, so if the app is stopped (removed from multitasking bar) I do not loose the values.

I have been pointed to this tutorial here

In it is has this sample code.

-(void)saveToUserDefaults:(NSString*)myString
{
    NSUserDefaults *standardUserDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];

    if (standardUserDefaults) {
        [standardUserDefaults setObject:myString forKey:@"Prefs"];
        [standardUserDefaults synchronize];
    }
}

-(NSString*)retrieveFromUserDefaults
{
    NSUserDefaults *standardUserDefaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
    NSString *val = nil;

    if (standardUserDefaults) 
        val = [standardUserDefaults objectForKey:@"Prefs"];

    return val;
}

What I would like some help with is how dose the above relate to saving .plists?

I have a .plist controller class which reads the bundle .plist creates a new .plist in the root document then reads and writes to that… how so I use the above to save it when the app
exits or turns off?

This is how I am loading and writing to my .plist, at the moment using singlettons and it being in its own class.

#pragma mark Singleton Methods
+ (id)sharedManager {
    @synchronized(self) {
        if (sharedMyManager == nil)
            sharedMyManager = [[self alloc] init];
    }
    return sharedMyManager;
}
- (id)init {
    if (self = [super init]) {

        // Data.plist code
        // get paths from root direcory
        NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains (NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
        // get documents path
        NSString *documentsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
        // get the path to our Data/plist file
        NSString *plistPath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"EngineProperties.plist"];

        // check to see if Data.plist exists in documents
        if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:plistPath])
        {
            // if not in documents, get property list from main bundle
            plistPath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"EngineProperties" ofType:@"plist"];
        }

        // read property list into memory as an NSData object
        NSData *plistXML = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsAtPath:plistPath];
        NSString *errorDesc = nil;
        NSPropertyListFormat format;
        // convert static property liost into dictionary object
        NSDictionary *tempRoot = (NSMutableDictionary *)[NSPropertyListSerialization propertyListFromData:plistXML mutabilityOption:NSPropertyListMutableContainersAndLeaves format:&format errorDescription:&errorDesc];
        if (!tempRoot)
        {
            NSLog(@"Error reading plist: %@, format: %d", errorDesc, format);
        }
        // assign values
        self.signature = [tempRoot objectForKey:@"Signature"];
        self.version = [tempRoot objectForKey:@"Version"];
        self.request = [tempRoot objectForKey:@"Request"];
        self.dataVersion = [tempRoot objectForKey:@"Data Version"];

        man = [cacheValue objectForKey:@"Man"];
        mod = [cacheValue objectForKey:@"Mod"];
        sub = [cacheValue objectForKey:@"SubMod"];

        cacheValue = [tempRoot objectForKey:@"Cache Value"];
    }


    - (void) saveData:(NSString *)methodName signature:(NSString *)pSignature Version:(NSNumber *)pVersion request:(NSNumber *)rNumber dataVersion:(NSNumber *)dvReturned cacheValue:(NSNumber *)cValue;
    {
        // get paths from root direcory
        NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains (NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
        // get documents path
        NSString *documentsPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
        // get the path to our Data/plist file
        NSString *plistPath = [documentsPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"EngineProperties.plist"];

        // set the variables to the values in the text fields
        self.signature = pSignature;
        self.version = pVersion;
        self.request = rNumber;
        self.dataVersion = dvReturned;

        //do some if statment stuff here to put the cache in the right place or what have you.
        if (methodName == @"manufacturers")
        {
            self.man = cValue; 
        }
        else if (methodName == @"models")
        {
            self.mod = cValue;
        }
        else if (methodName == @"subMod")
        {
            self.sub = cValue;
        }

        self.cacheValue = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                           man, @"Manufacturers",
                           mod, @"Models",
                           sub, @"SubModels", nil];


        NSDictionary *plistDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                   signature, @"Signature",
                                   version, @"Version",
                                   request, @"Request",
                                   dataVersion, @"Data Version",
                                   cacheValue, @"Cache Value", nil];



        NSString *error = nil;
        // create NSData from dictionary
        NSData *plistData = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:plistDict format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0 errorDescription:&error];

        // check is plistData exists
        if(plistData)
        {
            // write plistData to our Data.plist file
            [plistData writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];

            NSString *myString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:plistData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
            //        NSLog(@"%@", myString);
        }
        else
        {
            NSLog(@"Error in saveData: %@", error);
            //        [error release];
        }
    }


    @end

Answer 1

You can’t write a .plist into NSUserDefaults, at least not practically. To achieve this you’ll have to write specific keys from the .plist into NSUserDefaults which is basically like saving two copies of all of your data. You can think of NSUserDefaults as an invisible .plist that you can read and write to, without ever being able to actually see the file. Using NSUserDefaults, you will be able to restore saved values even if the app has been killed in multitasking.

However, how you choose between .plist and NSUserDefaults should be based off of how much data you need to save. Apple recommends only saving small amounts of data to NSUserDefaults. If you need to save a lot of information then .plist is the way to go. Either that or of course Core-Data.