在iOS应用程序包中包含数据

Question

So, I have a new requirement to include some data in my iOS app bundle (instead of having it downloaded via API call), because the data is quite large, and won't change often.

My current setup is:

• Upon user login, I download the data (in json format) from the back-end DB
• Load it into my object model
• NSArchive it.
• On the next login, I unarchive and use the data (without requiring to download the whole data set again. Well, actually I still download data, but only the changed/new records will get downloaded).

What I'm looking for is a best approach to bundle the data in my app (which will save me from having to download the "initial" data set which will be large in size).

I know, I have an option to include the initial data set in my bundle in a json file, then have this loaded into my object model and archived, but I was wondering if I can generate an NSArchive file (which contains my initial data set) and have it included in my app bundle?

Any recommendations are welcome.

Thanks.

Answer 1

If you are using NSCoding compliant classes for your objects, then I suggest writing and reading the data using [NSKeyedArchiver archiveRootObject:toFile:] and [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithFile:] , respectively. The data can be saved as an XML or a binary property list by using the setOutputFormat method.

For more info, check Apple's Archives and Serializations Programming Guide and NSHipster's article on NSCoding .