NSMutableDictionary(FSNSMutableDictionary)

The FSNSMutableDictionary category adds class methods to NSMutableDictionary that make it easier to create dictionaries from arrays

Extends Class: NSMutableDictionary
Declared In: FSNSMutableDictionary.h

Methods

+dictionaryWithFlatPairs:
+dictionaryWithPairs:

dictionaryWithFlatPairs:

+ (NSMutableDictionary*) dictionaryWithFlatPairs:(NSArray*)flatPairs;

Discussion

Like dictionaryWithPairs:, but assumes that flatPairs is a one-dimensional array that holds alternating keys and values. The following (contrived) code is equivalent to the example for dictionaryWithPairs::

configDataString := '.......'

"Split configuration apart on either newline or delimiter "
keysAndValues := configDataString split:' += +|\n'. 

config := NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithFlatPairs:keysAndValues.

This method is similar to NSDictionary dictionaryWithKeysAndObjects:, except that that method uses C variadic argument lists rather than an NSArray.

dictionaryWithPairs:

+ (NSMutableDictionary*) dictionaryWithPairs:(NSArray*)pairs;

Discussion

Creates a dictionary from pairs, which must be an array of arrays, each second-level array containing exactly two elements (the key and value). For example, say that you need to read a configuration file that is in the format keyName = value. The following code will create a dictionary that holds the configuration:

file := FSFile open:'....'.

lines := [ :line | line split:' += +' ] value: (file readlines).

config := NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithPairs:lines.