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Answer 1

A:

Like the commenter above implied, I don't know what you are trying to achieve. This code is just refactored to minimize duplication, without any real insight into your problem-space.

-(NSMutableArray *) arrayWithSchedule:(NSArray *) schedule
{
    NSMutableArray *toReturn = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    [toReturn addObject:@"Before School"];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:0]]];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:1]]];
    [toReturn addObject:@"Break"];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:2]]];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:3]]];
    [toReturn addObject:@"Lunch"];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:4]]];
    [toReturn addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [schedule objectAtIndex:5]]];
    [toReturn addObject:@"After School"];

    return toReturn;
}

monArrayA = [self arrayWithSchedule:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:monP1A, monP2A, monP3A, monP4A, monP5A, monP6A, nil]];
monArrayB = [self arrayWithSchedule:[NSArray arrayWithObjects:monP1B, monP2B, monP3B, monP4B, monP5B, monP6B, nil]];

Steve Goodman 2010-09-09 14:36:55

Answer 2

+2 A:

Try this:

NSMutableArray* helper(id a, id b, id c, id d, id e, id f) {
    NSMutableArray* arr = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    [arr addObject:@"Before School"];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", a]];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", b]];
    [arr addObject:@"Break"];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", c]];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", d]];
    [arr addObject:@"Lunch"];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", e]];
    [arr addObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", f]];
    [arr addObject:@"After School"];
    return arr;
}

...

monArrayA = helper(monP1A, monP2A, monP3A, monP4A, monP5A, monP6A);
monArrayB = helper(monP1B, monP2B, monP3B, monP4B, monP5B, monP6B);

tueArrayA = helper(tueP1A, ...);
tueArrayB = helper(monP1B, ...);

...

You could probably condense it even more if your objects were in arrays instead of a constellation of discrete variables.

Marcelo Cantos 2010-09-09 14:37:28

2 problems: You never declare `arr`'s type. Also, since you're returning an object with a +1 retain count, you should either rename the function to include the word `create` or autorelease `arr` before returning it (to follow proper naming and memory management rules).

Dave DeLong 2010-09-09 16:08:18

That's odd. Maybe `helper` is too common and conflicting with something else. Try a different name (clutching at straws).

Marcelo Cantos 2010-09-09 16:28:37

Haha, don't worry its working fine now. Turns out I just needed to place the function above the monArrayA = helper... code. My mistake. Thanks, its works a charm!

Josh Kahane 2010-09-09 16:43:55

Answer 3

+2 A:

This kind of structured data is often easier to create and maintain in an external text or XML file, such as a plist. Here's a method that will read all the lesson plan info into an NSDictionary that contains nested sub dictionaries and arrays:

- (NSDictionary *)lessonPlanDictionary
{
    NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"LessonPlans" ofType:@"plist"];
    NSDictionary *lessonPlanDict = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithContentsOfFile:path];

    NSLog(@"%@", lessonPlanDict);

    return lessonPlanDict;
}

The plist file could look something like this (if you want to use the text plist format; otherwise you can use the XML plist format):

{
    "Monday" = {
        "Before School" = (
            "Lesson 1",
            "Lesson 2"
        );
        "Break" = (
            "Lesson 3",
            "Lesson 4"
        );
        "Lunch" = (
            "Lesson 5",
            "Lesson 6"
        );
        "After School" = (
        );
    };
    "Tuesday" = {
        "Before School" = (
            "Lesson 1",
            "Lesson 2"
        );
        "Break" = (
            "Lesson 3",
            "Lesson 4"
        );
        "Lunch" = (
            "Lesson 5",
            "Lesson 6"
        );
        "After School" = (
        );
    };
    "Wednesday" = {
        "Before School" = (
            "Lesson 1",
            "Lesson 2"
        );
        "Break" = (
            "Lesson 3",
            "Lesson 4"
        );
        "Lunch" = (
            "Lesson 5",
            "Lesson 6"
        );
        "After School" = (
        );
    };
    "Thursday" = {
        "Before School" = (
            "Lesson 1",
            "Lesson 2"
        );
        "Break" = (
            "Lesson 3",
            "Lesson 4"
        );
        "Lunch" = (
            "Lesson 5",
            "Lesson 6"
        );
        "After School" = (
        );
    };
    "Friday" = {
        "Before School" = (
            "Lesson 1",
            "Lesson 2"
        );
        "Break" = (
            "Lesson 3",
            "Lesson 4"
        );
        "Lunch" = (
            "Lesson 5",
            "Lesson 6"
        );
        "After School" = (
        );
    };
}

You can even use Xcode's spiffy graphical plist editor to create and modify the plist as necessary. If you need to modify the lesson plan strings. However, I'm still not sure how your app uses this data, so I'm not sure if the structure of the plist lends itself best to what your app needs to do.

EDIT

Since Marcelo's approach apparently was more along the lines of what you were looking for, let me suggest a slightly more streamlined implementation of his solution:

NSMutableArray *lessonPlans(NSString *lesson1, NSString *lesson2,
                            NSString *lesson3, NSString *lesson4,
                            NSString *lesson5, NSString *lesson6)
{
    return [NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects:
            @"Before School", lesson1, lesson2,
            @"Break",         lesson3, lesson4,
            @"Lunch",         lesson5, lesson6,
            @"After School",
            nil];
}

jlehr 2010-09-09 19:34:59

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