objective c - What are the options for saving data in iOS?

Question

I'd like to serialize a bunch of data and save it to a file, then be able to load it (naturally) and play it back with a feature I have written. (Sorry if my terminology is off, I am a novice with this sort of thing.) What is the best way to do this with iOS? From looking at documentation here:

Standard Application Behaviors Guide

I've gathered that I should use NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains for finding the appropriate storage directory root (Documents?) and then use NSData to store these data buffers I create and write them to file. Am I spot on with that or have I got it wrong? Any other sage advice?

Answer 1

You can use plist.
It is very easy to save list of string or other data without using core data.
See Property List Programming Guide

For example, this code will save an object (rootObj) which can be an array or a dictionary:

NSString *error;
NSString *rootPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *plistPath = [rootPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"yourFile.plist"];
NSData *plistData = [NSPropertyListSerialization dataFromPropertyList:rootObj
                                                               format:NSPropertyListXMLFormat_v1_0
                                                     errorDescription:&error];
if(plistData) {
  [plistData writeToFile:plistPath atomically:YES];
}
else {
  NSLog(@"Error : %@",error);
  [error release];
}

There is some limitation on supported class (see the guide)