Convert NSCFString to NSString

Question

I am getting a dictionary from server

myDictionary = 
{
"rank":"1",
"color":"red",
"position":"middle"
}

Now I want to check the value of key "position" in if condition

I am doing it like this

if ([[myDictionary valueForKey:@"position"] isEqualToString:@"middle"]) {
        //do Some stuff
} else{
        //do some other stuff
}

but data type of [myDictionary valueForKey:@"position"] is _NSCFString , so it does not compare value properly and never goes in if loop even the value is correct.

how do I convert it into NSString so that I could compare it in if condition ?

I have seen these questions..

NSString instance reports its class as NSCFString

Getting an NSString from an NSCFString

NSString or NSCFString in xcode?

from these question I just came to know that NSString is really a container class for different types of string objects. Generally an NSString constructor does return an object that is actually of type NSCFString , which is a thin wrapper around the Core Foundation CFString struct .

but they didn't help me..and no one actually telling how to convert in into NSString, so please don't mark it as duplicate.

Answer 1

You don't need to convert _NSCFString to NSString . As a subclass of NSString it's guaranteed to respond to -isEqualToString: (and every other method in NSString ). Your issue is not coming from the string, likely it is coming from myDictionary . Try logging all the keys in the dictionary and make sure it is behaving as expected.

Answer 2

CFString s can be cast to NSString s as per the docs

NSString is “toll-free bridged” with its Core Foundation counterpart, CFStringRef . See “Toll-Free Bridging” for more information on toll-free bridging.

NSString *nsString = @"Hello";
CFStringRef cfString = (CFStringRef) nsString;

You really want to work out why the values aren't being equal. Separate out your method calls:

NSString *positionValue = myDictionary[@"position"];
NSLog(@"Position value: %@", positionValue);
if ([positionValue isEqualToString:@"middle"]) {
    // do Some stuff
} else{
    // do some other stuff
}