Retrieving from (and sorting) an NSMutable Array

Question

I have been struggling with what should be a fairly simple task.

In viewController.h I have:

@interface MoviesList : NSObject {    
}
@property NSString *aTitle;
@property NSDate *aReleaseYear;
@property NSString *aCharacter;
@end

In viewController.m (fetchedData contains a JSON response, movieCount is already determined) I have:

NSMutableArray *moviesArray;

MoviesList *movieDetails = [[MoviesList alloc] init];

int myCount = 0;

while (myCount < movieCount) {     
        MoviesList *movieDetails = [[MoviesList alloc] init];
        // Insert character played into array.
        movieDetails.aCharacter = fetchedData[@"cast"][myCount][@"character"];

        // Insert movie title and release date into array.
        movieDetails.aTitle = fetchedData[@"cast"][myCount][@"title"];
        movieDetails.aReleaseYear = fetchedData[@"cast"][myCount][@"release_date"];

        [moviesArray addObject:movieDetails];

        NSLog(@"Title: %@",movieDetails.aTitle);
        NSLog(@"Release date: %@",movieDetails.aReleaseYear);
        NSLog(@"Character: %@",movieDetails.aCharacter);

        myCount++;

}
NSLog(@"moviesArray: %@",moviesArray);

When I run with breakpoints and hover over 'moviesArray' in the last line above, I can see it gets populated with correct information:

@"58 objects"
[0] = (MoviesList *) 0x7962b650
> NsObject
> _aTitle = blah blah
> _aReleaseYear = blah blah
> _aCharacter = blah blah...

So it appears the array is being populated correctly. The issues now are how to sort this information by release date (I have been combing this forum all day and seen various sorting answers which I have had little success with) and then display the sorted array via NSLOG.

Any help is appreciated, there does seem a wealth of knowledge in this forum and always someone willing to offer assistance. Thank you.

Update your question with what you have attempted. Explain what issues you've had. — rmaddy
– rmaddy, Commented Nov 22, 2015 at 16:41

Jose · Accepted Answer · 2015-11-22 16:30:40Z

1

This snippet of code will sort the contents of moviesArray by aReleaseYear, in ascending order:

NSSortDescriptor *ageDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:@"aReleaseYear" ascending:YES];
NSArray *sortDescriptors = @[ageDescriptor];
NSArray *sortedArrayByReleaseYear = [moviesArray sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:sortDescriptors];

If you want them in descending order, change ascending to NO.

answered Nov 22, 2015 at 16:30

Jose

1064 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

3 Comments

Lee Over a year ago

Thanks Jose, I appreciate the quick response.

Lee Over a year ago

Why is it not as easy as using NSLog(@"Sorted Array: %@",sortedArrayByReleaseYear); What would be the correct code to pull (for example) the first title out of sortedArrayByReleaseYear and display it via NSLOG?

Jose Over a year ago

If you want the first object, you can do NSLog(@"First object: %@", [sortedArrayByReleaseYear firstObject]);

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Retrieving from (and sorting) an NSMutable Array

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

1 Answer 1

3 Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related