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Store preferences in a file and import values to initialize variables

Answer 1

+1 A:

Sounds to me like NSUserDefaults is exactly what you need. It will let you store URLs (as strings) and other basic types of variables.

Why do you think NSUserDefaults is not the right solution here?

Give it a try! It's easy to use and reliable.

Toastor 2010-09-03 12:58:39

Because everywhere it is stated as user preference. I don't need a user preference. I need a system preference. But I think you're right. One thing I didn't find out yet: How can I create a NSUserDefaults "file"? Can I specify a certain plist as NSUSerDefaults, which I created before?

testing 2010-09-03 13:23:19

I thought I can simple edit the NSUserDefaults like a plist in Xcode. But it isn't that simple. You have to work with the command line tool ... You have to write "defaults write <domain> <key>". But what is the domain? The domain is the bundle identifier. How do I get the bundle identifier? I only have something like com.yourcompany.${PRODUCT_NAME:rfc1034identifier}. So I have to change the identifier. What do I type for product name? What for rfc1034identifier? Why can't that read out my project name? Questions over questions ... Info: http://www.cocoadev.com/index.pl?WorkingWithUserDefaults

testing 2010-09-03 13:55:22

Answer 2

A:

Use a plist. You can load it with -[NSDictionary initWithContentsOfFile:] (you can save a dictionary to a plist just as easily with -[NSDictionary writeToFile:atomically:], though it doesn't sound like you need to do that).

Brian 2010-09-03 13:31:42

I also thought about a plist. The problem is that I want to access the values from different classes. This means that either I alloc the plist every time or I write a wrapper class which I have to include in every class. So plists wouldn't the best choice.

testing 2010-09-03 13:39:54

It wouldn't be that different than using NSUserDefaults (which is basically a wrapper around a plist - you can see the file it creates under `Library/Preferences/{bundleID}.plist`). And as far as including settings with the app bundle, plist is the standard.

Brian 2010-09-03 13:58:36

Thanks for the info. I'll use plist and NSUserDefaults.

testing 2010-09-03 14:55:28

Answer 3

A:

So the solution I'll use is that I load a plist file as default value for my NSUserDefaults:

NSString *filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"Settings" ofType:@"plist"];
NSDictionary *settingsDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] registerDefaults:settingsDict];
NSUserDefaults *settings = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];

NSString *serverURL = [settings stringForKey:@"ServerURL"];
NSLog(@"%@", serverURL);

Taken from http://stackoverflow.com/questions/789397/iphone-app-where-do-i-put-a-config-file

So I'll use both plists and NSUserDefaults. settings I'll define as global variable in the main.m. One problem remains:

How to differentiate between user defaults and system defaults?

testing 2010-09-03 14:52:18

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Store preferences in a file and import values to initialize variables

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