Hi,
I have now solved my problem by writing a sample project. Here is the
solution:
//
// MyDocument.h
// Arrays
//
// Created by id on 06/09/2008.
// Copyright dreamcat7 2008 . All rights reserved.
//
#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
@interface MyDocument : NSDocument
{
NSMutableArray* items;
NSMutableArray* rep;
NSArrayController* arrayController;
}
@property (retain) NSMutableArray* items;
@property (retain) NSMutableArray* rep;
@property (retain) NSArrayController* arrayController;
@end
//
// MyDocument.m
// Arrays
//
// Created by id on 06/09/2008.
// Copyright dreamcat7 2008 . All rights reserved.
//
#import "MyDocument.h"
#import "Item.h"
@implementation MyDocument
@synthesize items;
@synthesize rep;
@synthesize arrayController;
- (id)init
{
self = [super init];
self.items = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:6];
self.rep = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:6];
int count = 0;
while(count < 6)
{
Item* newItem = [[Item alloc] initWithString:[NSString
stringWithFormat:@"Item %i", count]
integer:(NSUInteger)count number:[NSNumber numberWithInt:count]];
[items addObject:newItem];
count++;
}
self.arrayController = [[NSArrayController alloc]
initWithContent:self.items];
NSLog(@"%@:%s %@", [self class], _cmd,
arrayController.arrangedObjects);
NSLog(@"%@:%s Binding to arrayController.string:", [self class], _cmd);
[self bind:@"rep" toObject:arrayController
withKeyPath:@"arrangedObjects.string" options:nil];
NSLog(@"%@:%s %@", [self class], _cmd, rep);
[self unbind:@"rep"];
NSLog(@"%@:%s Binding to arrayController.integer:", [self class],
_cmd);
[self bind:@"rep" toObject:arrayController
withKeyPath:@"arrangedObjects.integer" options:nil];
NSLog(@"%@:%s %@", [self class], _cmd, rep);
[self unbind:@"rep"];
NSLog(@"%@:%s Binding to arrayController.number:", [self class], _cmd);
[self bind:@"rep" toObject:arrayController
withKeyPath:@"arrangedObjects.number" options:nil];
NSLog(@"%@:%s %@", [self class], _cmd, rep);
[self unbind:@"rep"];
return self;
}
//
// Item.h
// Arrays
//
// Created by id on 06/09/2008.
// Copyright 2008 dreamcat7. All rights reserved.
//
#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>
@interface Item : NSObject {
NSString* string;
NSUInteger integer;
NSNumber* number;
}
@property (copy) NSString* string;
@property (copy) NSNumber* number;
- (id)initWithString:(NSString*)aString integer:(NSUInteger)aUint
number:(NSNumber*)aNumber;
@end
//
// Item.m
// Arrays
//
// Created by id on 06/09/2008.
// Copyright 2008 dreamcat7. All rights reserved.
//
#import "Item.h"
@implementation Item
@synthesize string;
@synthesize number;
- (NSUInteger)integer
{
return integer;
}
- (void)setInteger:(NSUInteger)anInteger
{
integer = anInteger;
}
- (id)init
{
return [self initWithString:nil integer:0 number:nil];
}
- (id)initWithString:(NSString*)aString integer:(NSUInteger)aUint
number:(NSNumber*)aNumber
{
self = [super init];
self.string = aString;
self.integer = aUint;
self.number = aNumber;
return self;
}
- (void)dealloc
{
[string release];
[number release];
[super dealloc];
}
@end
On 6 Sep 2008, at 15:47, dreamcat7 wrote:
>
> Can i bind arrayController.contentArray to employees.name ?
> or bind arrayController.contentArray to employees and then bind an
> NSMutableArray to arrayController.arrangedObjects.name ?
>
> On 6 Sep 2008, at 14:03, dreamcat7 wrote:
>
>> Hi
>> I am extending a library class which is also one of my
>> application's model objects. The Library class contains an
>> NSMutableArray of NSData which it absolutely needs to perform its
>> tasks. To extend the class i must now also hold metadata about each
>> NSData object in the array (i.e. the <item> elements in the array
>> now becomes a pair or triple).
>>
>> Conveniently the Hillegass example is similar. In RaisMan the
>> person data is displayed in columns of TableView. (and i would like
>> to have a tableview maybe also but thats not the point). I should
>> create a new object called person.h that defines each element in
>> the array and provides the accessor methods for binding to
>> person.expectedRaise and person.Name. Then an NSArrayController can
>> give an array for each column of the data. Another common method is
>> to make an NSMutableArray of NSMutableDictionaries and then binding
>> the dictionary @"key" to the arrayController. Either way achieves
>> such a goal.
>>
>> But here is the crux of my problem:
>> The library object (which encloses these array) must keep its
>> interface which is a flat array of NSData (and as originally) is
>> used on the api side.
>>
>> Can i store internally the complicated array including the metadata
>> and use an NSArrayController to expose only the original NSData
>> part of each item?
>>
>> In other words;
>> This would be equivalent to saying that person.Name ==
>> persons.person and person.expectedRaise is a calculated metadata
>> about the person. If i wanted to use an array of persons in a
>> payroll department object then i would initialise the department
>> with an array of person names, and the payroll department would
>> take care of figuring out what the expectedRaise should be for each
>> person. Then the payroll department would need to have itself an
>> NSArrayController to map an array of string objects taken by the
>> initializer to the internal array of person objects.
>>
>> Is anything special required to use the NSArrayController
>> programmatically as i shall not be using Interface Builder?
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
