Split NSString multiple times on the same separator

Question

I am currently receiving a string like this:

@"Sam|26,Hannah|22,Adam|30,Carlie|32,Jan|54"

And I am splitting it like this:

testArray = [[NSArray alloc] init];
NSString *testString = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"Sam|26,Hannah|22,Adam|30,Carlie|32,Jan|54,Steve|56,Matty|24,Bill|30,Rob|30,Jason|33,Mark|22,Stuart|54,Kevin|30"];
testArray = [testString componentsSeparatedByString:@","];

dict = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
for (NSString *s in testArray) {

    testArray2 = [s componentsSeparatedByString:@"|"];
    [dict setObject:[testArray2 objectAtIndex:1] forKey:[testArray2 objectAtIndex:0]];
}

I will now be receiving a string like this:

@"Sam|26|Developer,Hannah|22|Team Leader,Adam|30|Director,Carlie|32|PA,Jan|54|Cleaner"

Can I (and how) use the same method as above to separate the string more than once using the "|" separator?

Solution 1

The following line...

testArray2 = [s componentsSeparatedByString:@"|"];

will cause the array to now contain 3 items, instead of 2..... no need to split again!

Solution 2

do like this.

NSString *testString = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"Sam|26,Hannah|22,Adam|30,Carlie|32,Jan|54,Steve|56,Matty|24,Bill|30,Rob|30,Jason|33,Mark|22,Stuart|54,Kevin|30"];
    NSArray *testArray = [testString componentsSeparatedByString:@","];
    NSLog(@"%@",testArray);
    for(int i=0;i<[testArray count];i++){
        NSString *str=[testArray objectAtIndex:i];
    NSArray *aa=[str componentsSeparatedByString:@"|"];
    NSLog(@"%@",aa);
    }

No need of retain the array.

Comments

[Mark Amery]

Somehow I suspect that almost all of the viewers and upvoters on this question and its answer were people simply looking for NSString's 'split' method, and discovering the answer here incidentally.

[boxed]

The first line is just creating an NSArray that you throw away at line 3.

[Sam Parrish]

great thanks! just need to figure out how to create and show the UITableViewCell with 3 labels...

[Simon Lee]

You can either subclass UITableViewCell and do everything manually OR you can use one of the preset table view cell styles and use the content view to add an extra label. The apple guide details it all....

[Simon Lee]

developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/userexperienc‌​e/…

[Simon Lee]

Check out the 'Customizing Cells' part in 'A closer look at table view cells' section

[Tendulkar]

Why I have written the code is In his code he has written the retain statement.No need of it.

[Sam Parrish]

I have created the custom tableviewcell and used the same code, but when i configure the cell, what do i put for the third label?

[pfrank]

don't use initWithFormat if not using a format? just: NSString *testString = @"blahblah";