How to format list in PHP to be used as an NSArray in Objective C?

Question

So I am a totally new to PHP. In fact, I know nothing about it. I am developing an iPhone app and aiming to get a list of items from a server. My PHP script is literally just a "echo" command.

I was wondering what would be the best way to format my list on PHP so it will look as close as possible (if not identical) to an NSArray in objective C.

So for example if my list is: AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD

By running this in obj-C:

NSArray *myAwesomeArray = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects: @"AAA", @"BBB", @"CCC", @"DDD", nil];

I will get this, which is what I want:

myAwesomeArray IS (
AAA,
BBB,
CCC,
DDD
)

When doing this with PHP like this (again, probably the wrong formatting for that purpose):

echo "AAA, BBB, CCC, DDD"

And this on the objc side:

NSString *urlString =  @"http://......";

NSMutableURLRequest *request = [[NSMutableURLRequest alloc]init];
[request setTimeoutInterval:60.0];
[request setURL:[NSURL URLWithString:urlString]];
[request setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];

NSString *myPHPArray = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:[NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:request returningResponse:nil error:nil] encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];

NSArray *myArray = [myPHPArray componentsSeparatedByString:@","];

I am getting this in objc for myArray:

myArray is (
AAA,
" BBB",
" CCC",
" DDD "
)

which is kind of messed up...

Appreciate any help. thanks!

Answer 1

From your comment about knowing very little about PHP, this is a basic example of a webservice that can return either XML or JSON that connects to a MySQL Database. Again very basic but is a working example and should be easy enough to get you started.

• http://davidwalsh.name/web-service-php-mysql-xml-json

XML or JSON are supported in both iOS and PHP and you should have no problems finding examples on either. I would also suggest looking at Webservice Protocols to better understand the types of services available.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_web_service_protocols