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iosobjective-cios7xml-parsingnsxmlparser

Problems with NSXMLParser

I am using NSXMLParser to parse an XML file so that I can display data from an RSS feed in table view. However, title data is correctly parsed and passed to the appropriate array, but upon passing the value to the cell title, three periods appear after every title. I log the value to the console before its passed to the cell and there are no periods in the line of text. In addition, the publish date returns null no matter what.

FeedContoller.m:

@interface FeedController2 ()

@property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray* profileImages;

@end

@implementation FeedController2

- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
    self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
    if (self) {
        // Custom initialization
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];


    titarry=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    linkarray=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    NSString *rssaddr=@"http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/?feed=rss2";
    NSURL *url=[NSURL URLWithString:rssaddr];
    xmlparser =[[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:url];
    [xmlparser setDelegate:self];
    [xmlparser parse];

    NSString* boldFontName = @"GillSans-Bold";
    [self styleNavigationBarWithFontName:boldFontName];
    self.title = @"Blog Feed";

    self.feedTableView.dataSource = self;
    self.feedTableView.delegate = self;
    self.feedTableView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    self.feedTableView.separatorColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.9 alpha:0.6];
}

/*
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView {
    return 1;
}
*/

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section{
    //return [titarry count];
    if(titarry.count <= 5){
        return titarry.count;
    }else{
        return 5;
    }
}

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{

    static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"FeedCell2";

    FeedCell2* cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"FeedCell2"];

    if (cell == nil) {
        cell = [[FeedCell2 alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] ;
    }

    cell.nameLabel.text=[titarry objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    NSLog(@"Title: %@", [titarry objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]); //Log title from array
    NSLog(@"Date Posted: %@", [datearray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]); //Log date posted
    NSLog(@"Link Address: %@", [linkarray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]); //Log link address
    //cell.accessoryType=UITableViewCellSelectionStyleBlue;
    return cell;
}


- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {


    XMLViewController *second = [[XMLViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"XMLViewController" bundle:nil];
    [self.navigationController pushViewController:second animated:YES];
    NSURL *url=[NSURL URLWithString:[linkarray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]];
    NSURLRequest *req=[NSURLRequest requestWithURL:url];
    second.XMLWebView.scalesPageToFit=YES;
    [second.XMLWebView loadRequest:req];//here we have to perform changes try to do some things here

}


-(CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{

    return 200;
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didStartElement:(NSString *)elementName namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName attributes:(NSDictionary *)attributeDict;
{

    classelement=elementName;

    if([elementName isEqualToString:@"item"])
    {
        itemselected=YES;
        mutttitle=[[NSMutableString alloc] init];
        mutstrlink=[[NSMutableString alloc] init];
        mutstrdate=[[NSMutableString alloc] init];
    }
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didEndElement:(NSString *)elementName namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName;
{
    if([elementName isEqualToString:@"item"])
    {
        itemselected=NO;

        [titarry addObject:mutttitle];
        [linkarray addObject:mutstrlink];
        [datearray addObject:mutstrdate];

    }

}


- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser foundCharacters:(NSString *)string;
{
    if (itemselected)
    {
        if ([classelement isEqualToString:@"title"])
        {
            [mutttitle appendString:string];
        }
        else if ([classelement isEqualToString:@"link"])
        {
            [mutstrlink appendString:string];
        }else if ([classelement isEqualToString:@"pubDate"])
        {
            [mutstrdate appendString:string];
        }
    }
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser parseErrorOccurred:(NSError *)parseError;
{
    UIAlertView *alt=[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"RSS Reader"
                                                message:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",parseError]
                                               delegate:nil
                                      cancelButtonTitle:@"Close"
                                      otherButtonTitles:nil];

    [alt show];


}

- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

-(void)styleNavigationBarWithFontName:(NSString*)navigationTitleFont{

    UIImageView* searchView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"search.png"]];
    searchView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 20, 20);

    UIBarButtonItem* searchItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithCustomView:searchView];

    self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = searchItem;
}

-(IBAction)dismissView:(id)sender{
    [self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}

@end

XML:

<item>
<title>Back-to-school issue of Blue and Gold in the mail</title>
<link>http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/?p=2896</link>
<comments>http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/?p=2896#comments</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 29 Aug 2013 12:35:40 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>...</dc:creator>
<category>...</category>
<category>...</category>
<category>...</category>
<guid isPermaLink="false">http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/?p=2896</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[
<img width="150" height="150" src="http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BluGold_BacktoSchool2013_cover-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Blue and Gold (Back to School 2013)" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;" />Be on the lookout for the September 2013 edition of the Blue and Gold newsletter, which should be arriving in the mail soon.  Included in the newsletter are district policies and notifications that we urge you to review, become familiar with and keep for your reference throughout the school year. The issue also provides some [&#8230;]
]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[
<img width="150" height="150" src="http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BluGold_BacktoSchool2013_cover-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail wp-post-image" alt="Blue and Gold (Back to School 2013)" style="display: block; margin-bottom: 5px; clear:both;" /><div id="attachment_2898" style="width: 241px" class="wp-caption alignright"><a href="http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/wp-file-browser-top/blueandgold/Blue%20and%20Gold%20(September%202013)"><img class="size-medium wp-image-2898 " alt="Blue and Gold (Back to School 2013)" src="http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/BluGold_BacktoSchool2013_cover-231x300.jpg" width="231" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Blue and Gold (Back to School 2013)</p></div> <p itemprop="name"><span style="font-size: 13px;">Be on the lookout for the September 2013 edition of the Blue and Gold newsletter, which should be arriving in the mail soon. </span></p> <div itemprop="description articleBody"> <p>Included in the newsletter are district policies and notifications that we urge you to review, become familiar with and keep for your reference throughout the school year.</p> <p>The issue also provides some updates on work undertaken in Cazenovia schools — on everything from curricula to facilities — over the summer break, as well as &#8220;welcome back&#8221; messages from Superintendent of Schools Robert S. Dubik, Cazenovia High School Principal Eric Schnabl and Assistant Principal Susan Vickers, Cazenovia Middle School Principal Jean Regan and Burton Street Elementary Principal Mary-Ann MacIntosh.</p> <p>If you have questions related to the policies or notifications included in the newsletter, please call the district office at (315) 655-1317.</p> <p>The newsletter is also <span style="color: #000080;"><a title="link to Blue and Gold (September 2013)" href="http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/wp-file-browser-top/blueandgold/Blue%20and%20Gold%20(September%202013)" target="_blank"><span style="color: #000080;"><b>available online</b></span></a></span>.</p> </div>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<wfw:commentRss>http://cazhigh.com/caz/gold/?feed=rss2&p=2896</wfw:commentRss>
<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
</item>

Debug: enter image description here

Solution

  • However I have not figured out what initially causes the "..." after each title or how to fix it, I have come to a simple work around that does the job just fine. It takes the string, and subtracts the last three characters from the string, which I then output to the table as follows:

    NSString *RSSTitle = nil;
RSSTitle = [titarry objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
RSSTitle = [RSSTitle substringToIndex:[RSSTitle length] - 3];
cell.nameLabel.text= RSSTitle;