Parsing Apple property lists (commonly used by iOS apps)

[99toLife]

Has anyone had any success parsing Apple property lists (commonly used by iOS apps)?

An example is below:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<array>
   <dict>
      <key>title</key>
      <string>The Title</string>
      <key>link</key>
      <string>http://link/</string>
   </dict>
   <dict>
      <key>title</key>
      <string>The Title2</string>
      <key>link</key>
      <string>http://link2/</string>
   </dict>
</array>
</plist>

I'm going crazy trying to display data from a plist into a list view. Any tips or suggestions are appreciated! :sign0163:

 

[Erel]

Here:

Sub Process_Globals
   Dim parser As SaxParser
   Type Item (Title As String, Link As String)
   Dim Items As List
   Dim key As String
End Sub
Sub Globals

End Sub
Sub Activity_Create(FirstTime As Boolean)
   If FirstTime Then
      parser.Initialize
      Items.Initialize
      Dim in As InputStream
      in = File.OpenInput(File.DirAssets, "list.xml")
      parser.Parse(in, "parser")
      in.Close
   End If
End Sub
Sub Parser_StartElement (Uri As String, Name As String, Attributes As Attributes)
   If Name = "dict" Then
      Dim i As Item
      i.Initialize
      Items.Add(i)
   End If
End Sub
Sub Parser_EndElement (Uri As String, Name As String, Text As StringBuilder)
   If Name = "key" Then
      key = Text.ToString
   Else If Name = "string" Then
      Dim i As Item
      i = Items.Get(Items.Size - 1) 'get the last added item
      Select key
         Case "title"
            i.Title = Text.ToString
         Case "link"
            i.Link = Text.ToString
      End Select
   End If
End Sub

 

[99toLife]

Here:

Awesome! :sign0188:

 

[sanjibnanda]

listview from plist

Here:

Sub Process_Globals
   Dim parser As SaxParser
   Type Item (Title As String, Link As String)
   Dim Items As List
   Dim key As String
End Sub
Sub Globals

End Sub
Sub Activity_Create(FirstTime As Boolean)
   If FirstTime Then
      parser.Initialize
      Items.Initialize
      Dim in As InputStream
      in = File.OpenInput(File.DirAssets, "list.xml")
      parser.Parse(in, "parser")
      in.Close
   End If
End Sub
Sub Parser_StartElement (Uri As String, Name As String, Attributes As Attributes)
   If Name = "dict" Then
      Dim i As Item
      i.Initialize
      Items.Add(i)
   End If
End Sub
Sub Parser_EndElement (Uri As String, Name As String, Text As StringBuilder)
   If Name = "key" Then
      key = Text.ToString
   Else If Name = "string" Then
      Dim i As Item
      i = Items.Get(Items.Size - 1) 'get the last added item
      Select key
         Case "title"
            i.Title = Text.ToString
         Case "link"
            i.Link = Text.ToString
      End Select
   End If
End Sub

Hi Erel,
very nice to see that B4A can parser plist files too. I tried and it works, but how can i use above code to populate listview. Your help can definitely push me accelerated.:sign0085:

regards,
sanjib

 

[Erel]

After you parse the XML file you can go over the items in the list and add them to a list view.

 

[sanjibnanda]

listview with plist overlapping

After you parse the XML file you can go over the items in the list and add them to a list view.

thanks Erel for your help, i tried but the all list elements are overlapping.
Could you see where i am wrong in the attached zip file

Sub Parser_EndElement (Uri As String, Name As String, Text As StringBuilder)
   ListView1.Initialize("ListView1")
   ListView1.SingleLineLayout.ItemHeight = 60dip
   Activity.AddView(ListView1, 0, 0, 100%x, 100%y)
    If Name = "key" Then
        key = Text.ToString
    Else If Name = "string" Then
        Dim i As Item
        i = Items.Get(Items.Size - 1) 'get the last added item
        Select key
            Case "title"
                i.Title = Text.ToString
            Title = i.Title
            
            Case "link"
                i.Link = Text.ToString
            Link = i.Link
        End Select
    End If
   
   ListView1.AddTwoLines(Title,Link) 'add the title as the text and the link as the value
End Sub

regards,
sanjib

 

[Erel]

Please use File - Export as zip when uploading projects. You should not initialize ListView1 for every item. You should only initialize it once and add it to the activity once. Your code creates a new ListView for every item.

 

[sanjibnanda]

saxparser creates additional blank record with plist

Please use File - Export as zip when uploading projects. You should not initialize ListView1 for every item. You should only initialize it once and add it to the activity once. Your code creates a new ListView for every item.

Thanks Erel, I realized my mistake and now it loads, but the parser creates an additional null array at the begining and all records are loaded but one less.

Moreover, how could i load the bitmap with 'AddTwoLinesAndBitmap' from remote server?
regards,
sanjib

 

[Erel]

You are adding the item before you parsed the title and link. I recommend you to first parse the text and then go over the items in the list and add them to the ListView.

See this example about the images: Download list of images with HttpUtils2 and CustomListView