Question

I’m using the following code to save a NSMutableDictionary to file then retrieve it later.

The NSLog in the save method works fine, but the NSLog in retreive method logs null.

- (void)saveDataToFile
{
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *filePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"cahchedTemplates"];
    [self.workflowTemplates writeToFile:filePath atomically:TRUE];
    NSLog(@"template save: %@", self.workflowTemplates);
}

- (IBAction)retrieveDataButtonPressed:(id)sender
{
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
    NSString *filePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"cahchedTemplates"];
    NSMutableDictionary *tempDic = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:filePath]; 
    NSLog(@"tempDict: %@", tempDic);
}

+(NSMutableDictionary*)getClinicalTemplatesAndWorkFlowTemplates:(NSInteger)appointmentId
{
    NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@/ichrono/20110715/60b88126/fetch_clinical_templates/", [self getDrChronoHost]]];

    ASIFormDataRequest *request = [[[ASIFormDataRequest alloc] initWithURL:url] autorelease];
    [self addCurrentUserLoginToPostRequest:request];
    [request setPostValue:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%d", appointmentId] forKey:@"appointment_id"];

    [request startSynchronous];
    NSError *error = [request error];
    NSString *responseString;
    if (!error) {
        responseString = [request responseString];
    } else {
        //return [[NSString alloc] initWithString:@"Failed to connect to DrChrono.com, please check your WiFi or 3G connection."];
        NSMutableDictionary *returnContainer = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease];
        [returnContainer setObject:[[[NSArray alloc] init] autorelease] forKey:@"custom_templates"];
        [returnContainer setObject:[[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease] forKey:@"workflow_templates"];
        return returnContainer;
    }

    NSDictionary *responseDictionary = [responseString JSONValue];
    if ((NULL == responseDictionary) || (NULL == [responseDictionary valueForKey:@"errors"])) {
        NSMutableDictionary *returnContainer = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease];
        [returnContainer setObject:[[[NSArray alloc] init] autorelease] forKey:@"custom_templates"];
        [returnContainer setObject:[[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease] forKey:@"workflow_templates"];
        return returnContainer;
    }

    NSMutableArray *templates = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    for (id it in [responseDictionary valueForKey:@"custom_templates"]) {
        NSMutableDictionary *clinical_template = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease];

        [clinical_template setValue:[it valueForKey:@"has_data_flag"] forKey:@"has_data_flag"];

        if (0) {
            //@note: mnusimow 20101010: Activate this code to put a "*" character at beginning of templates with values.
            if (0 != [[it valueForKey:@"has_data_flag"] intValue]) {
                [clinical_template setValue:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"*%@", [it valueForKey:@"name"]] forKey:@"display"];
            } else {
                [clinical_template setValue:[it valueForKey:@"name"] forKey:@"display"];
            }
        } else {
            [clinical_template setValue:[it valueForKey:@"name"] forKey:@"display"];
        }
        [clinical_template setValue:[it valueForKey:@"id"] forKey:@"template_id"];

        [templates addObject:clinical_template];
    }

    NSMutableDictionary *returnContainer = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init] autorelease];
    [returnContainer setObject:templates forKey:@"custom_templates"];
    [returnContainer setObject:[responseDictionary valueForKey:@"workflow_templates"] forKey:@"workflow_templates"];
    return returnContainer;
}

NSLog of self.workflowTemplate

2011-11-03 13:12:11.178 app[2869:1a603] sdfsafsafa:{
    "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    "hp_assessment" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77607;
    };
    "hp_cc_history_present_illness" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77603;
    };
    "hp_med_fam_social_history" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77604;
    };
    "hp_medications_allergies" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = "<null>";
    };
    "hp_physical_exam" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77606;
    };
    "hp_plan" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77608;
    };
    "hp_review_of_systems" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77605;
    };
    "soap_assessment" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77611;
    };
    "soap_objective" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77610;
    };
    "soap_plan" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77612;
    };
    "soap_subjective" =     {
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
        id = 77609;
    };
}

Edit:

Updated dictionary without id object

2011-11-03 16:28:31.136 app[11158:1a603] sdfsafsafa:{
    "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    "hp_assessment" =     {
        "db_id" = 77607;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_cc_history_present_illness" =     {
        "db_id" = 77603;
        "has_data_flag" = 1;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_med_fam_social_history" =     {
        "db_id" = 77604;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_medications_allergies" =     {
        "db_id" = "<null>";
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_physical_exam" =     {
        "db_id" = 77606;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_plan" =     {
        "db_id" = 77608;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "hp_review_of_systems" =     {
        "db_id" = 77605;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "soap_assessment" =     {
        "db_id" = 77611;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "soap_objective" =     {
        "db_id" = 77610;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "soap_plan" =     {
        "db_id" = 77612;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
    "soap_subjective" =     {
        "db_id" = 77609;
        "has_data_flag" = 0;
        "has_manual_edits_flag" = 0;
    };
}

Answer 1

The method writeToFile:atomically: returns a BOOL, which you should check. If it’s failing, then you most likely have something in your dictionary which cannot be written out. Only the basic object types can be written out from a dictionary. See my answer to this question: iPhone – Writing a dictionary to file : handling errors as well as the docs for writeToFile:atomically:.