Convert NSString data from sqlite to NSArray

Question

Here is the situation..

I've inserted a whole NSArray in one field of my SQLite table, now I retrieve the data and it becomes a string. How can I convert it into NSArray again?

This is the contents of my NSArray inserted in SQLite :

"<tbl_news:annyfksM8D:(null)> {\n    \"news_content\" = \"Lorem ipsum dolor sit\";\n    \"news_date\" = \"Sep 23, 2013\";\n    \"news_featuredimage\" = \"uploads/1373124691956-160x120.jpg\";\n    \"news_title\" = \"Lorem Ipsum2\";\n}",

    "<tbl_news:fEgOpdgflF:(null)> {\n    \"news_content\" = \"Lorem ipsum dolor sit.\";\n    \"news_date\" = \"Sep 23, 2013\";\n    \"news_featuredimage\" = \"uploads/2560x1440.jpg\";\n    \"news_title\" = \"Lorem Ipsum3\";\n}"

It is an array from parse. Can anyone know how will i be able to convert it to NSArray . I've already tried Convert NSString to NSArray but i think doing the solution there will no solve my problem.

Answer 1

Don't store your NSArray as a string into your database. Convert it to NSData, store it as a blob, retrieve it back as NSData, and then convert that back into an NSArray:

// Convert NSArray to NSData
NSData *data = [NSKeyedArchiver archivedDataWithRootObject:array];
...

// Store it as a blob in sqlite
sqlite3_bind_blob(insert_statement, 1, [data bytes], [data length], NULL);

...

// Get the bytes back fromthe database and convert it into an NSArray
NSArray *array = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:data]