How do I use a Plist file with a UITableView / UICollectionView?

Question

I used to use the view controller as my data model also.

Your Plist should be structured like so.

root (Array)
- Album one (NSDictionary)
  - Album Image (NSString)
  - Album Label (NSString)
  - Album Tracklist (NSString)
- Album two (NSDictionary)
  - Album Image (NSString)
  - Album Label (NSString)
  - Album Tracklist (NSString)
- Album three (NSDictionary)
  - Album Image (NSString)
  - Album Label (NSString)
  - Album Tracklist (NSString)
- Album four (NSDictionary)
  - Album Image (NSString)
  - Album Label (NSString)
  - Album Tracklist (NSString)

The Code:

CollectionViewController.h : Empty it.

CollectionViewController.m:

    #import "CollectionViewController.h"
#import "Cell.h"
#import "ImageDetailViewController.h"

@interface CollectionViewController ()
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSArray *albums;
@end

@implementation CollectionViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];


    //You dont want this.
    /*self.albumImages = @[@"1998_Yellow.png",@"1998_WoM",@"2000_PoTY",@"2001_SFA",@"2003_MFZB",@"2004_WoMFZB",@"2006_BttW",@"2008_NtnA",@"2008_Phoenix",@"2009_PantyRaid",@"2011_GetNice",@"2013_CyF"];
    self. albumDescriptions = @[@"Yellow [1998]",@"Waste of Mind [1998]",@"Playmate of the Year [2000]",@"Stupid Fat Americans - EP [2001]",@"MFZB [2003]",@"Waste of MFZB [2004]",@"Broadcast to the World [2006]",@"Not the New Album - EP [2008]",@"Phoenix [2008]",@"Panty Raid [2009]",@"Get Nice! [2011]",@"Call Your Friends [2013]" ];*/


    //Do this if you are using a plist

    //Makes everything thread happy (maximal responsiveness)
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
        NSError *error;
        NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES); //Get path of application
        NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0]; //Get documents path
        NSString *path = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"data.plist"]; //Get path to dictionary

        NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];

        if (![fileManager fileExistsAtPath: path]) //Check if file exists
        {
            NSString *bundle = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"data" ofType:@"plist"]; //Locate file in bundle
            [fileManager copyItemAtPath:bundle toPath: path error:&error]; //Copy file over
        }

        self.albums = [[NSArray alloc] initWithContentsOfFile: path]; //Initalize dictionary from plist
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [self.collectionView reloadData]; //Reload your data
        });
    });
}



- (NSInteger)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView numberOfItemsInSection:(NSInteger)section

{
    return [self.albums count];
}



- (UICollectionViewCell *)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView cellForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    Cell *cell = [collectionView dequeueReusableCellWithReuseIdentifier:@"MY_CELL" forIndexPath:indexPath];
    UIImage *albumImage = [[UIImage alloc] init];
    albumImage = [UIImage imageNamed:[[self.albums objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] objectForKey:@"Album Image"]];
    cell.imageView.image = albumImage;
    return cell;
    NSLog(@"Cellule cliquée");
}



#pragma mark - Prepare for Segue
-(void)prepareForSegue:(UIStoryboardSegue *)segue sender:(id)sender
{
    UICollectionViewCell *cell = (UICollectionViewCell *)sender;
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.collectionView indexPathForCell:cell];
    NSLog(@"Segue versDetails");

    ImageDetailViewController *imageDetailViewController = (ImageDetailViewController *)segue.destinationViewController;
    imageDetailViewController.album = [self.albums objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
}


- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{

    [self.navigationController setNavigationBarHidden:YES animated:animated];
    [super viewWillAppear:animated];
}

- (void)viewDidDisappear: (BOOL)animated
{
    [self.navigationController setNavigationBarHidden:NO animated:animated];
    [super viewDidDisappear:animated];
}


- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

@end

ImageDetailViewController.h:

@interface ImageDetailViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate>

@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIImageView *albumImageView;
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *albumDetailLabel;
/*@property (strong, nonatomic) UIImage *albumImage;
@property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *albumLabelText;*/

@property (nonatomic, strong) NSDictionary *album;

/*@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_Y;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_WoM;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_PotY;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_SFA;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_MFZB;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_WoMFZB;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_BttW;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_NtnA;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_Ph;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_PR;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_GN;
@property (strong,nonatomic) NSArray *tracklist_CyF;*/


@end

ImageDetailViewController.m

#import "ImageDetailViewController.h"

@interface ImageDetailViewController ()
@end

@implementation ImageDetailViewController

- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
    self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
    if (self) {
        // Custom initialization
    }
    return self;
}


-(NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView {
    return 1;
}

-(NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    return [[self.album objectForKey:@"Album Tracklist"] count];
    //return [self.tracklist_Y count];
}

-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    //Liste des chansons (Tracklist)


    //http://blog.safaribooksonline.com/2013/02/26/objective-c-how-to-populate-data-in-uitableviewcontroller/


    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"TrackCell"];

    if(cell == nil){
        cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:@"TrackCell"];
    }

    cell.textLabel.text = [[self.album objectForKey:@"Album Tracklist"] objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    return cell;
}

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];

    self.navigationController.navigationBar.hidden = NO;
    self.albumDetailLabel = [self.album objectForKey:@"Album Label"];
}

- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
    [super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

@end

So basically here, you have an array of your albums, and you are extracting the image, label, and track list when you do the object for key thing. I tried my best to make your code plist friendly, but it may not be perfect...