iOS objective-c - JSON String to NSDictionary Exception

Question

I'm relatively new to Objective-C, and followed a tutorial on an introduction to MapKit (located here). I've been trying to debug an issue with a JSON string being passed to an NSDictionary. I'm getting the following error:

2012-08-13 11:18:30.370 ArrestsPlotter[76578:c07] -[__NSCFString JSONValue]: unrecognized
selector sent to instance 0x73a6400
2012-08-13 11:18:30.372 ArrestsPlotter[76578:c07] *** Terminating app due to uncaught 
exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason: '-[__NSCFString JSONValue]: unrecognized 
selector sent to instance 0x73a6400'
*** First throw call stack:
(0x17b4022 0x131bcd6 0x17b5cbd 0x171aed0 0x171acb2 0x34782 0x35351 0x1c65e 0x17b5e42 
0xda49df 0x178894f 0x16ebb43 0x16eb424 0x16ead84 0x16eac9b 0x1ddd7d8 0x1ddd88a 0x47e626 
0x3403d 0x20f5)
terminate called throwing an exception

I've narrowed it down to this line that's giving me the issue:

NSDictionary * root = [responseString JSONValue];

According to the SBJSON library documentation, this is possible. I'm thinking it has something to do with the string that I'm passing to the NSDictionary. Here is the code that creates the JSON string:

// 1
MKCoordinateRegion mapRegion = [_mapView region];
CLLocationCoordinate2D centerLocation = mapRegion.center;

// 2
NSString *jsonFile = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"command" ofType:@"json"];
NSString *formatString = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:jsonFile encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:nil];
NSString *json = [NSString stringWithFormat:formatString,
                  centerLocation.latitude, centerLocation.longitude, 0.5*METERS_PER_MILE];

// 3
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://data.baltimorecity.gov/api/views/INLINE/rows.json?method=index"];

// 4
ASIHTTPRequest *_request = [ASIHTTPRequest requestWithURL:url];
__weak ASIHTTPRequest *request = _request;

request.requestMethod = @"POST";
[request addRequestHeader:@"Content-Type" value:@"application/json"];
[request appendPostData:[json dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
// 5
[request setDelegate:self];
[request setCompletionBlock:^{
    NSString *responseString = [request responseString];
    NSLog(@"Response: %@", responseString);
    [self plotCrimePositions:responseString];

The string is getting populated correctly, and in the terminal it is showing like this (The whole thing is huge, so I'll only post a small amount):

2012-08-13 11:18:30.210 ArrestsPlotter[76578:c07] Response: {
"meta" : {
"view" : {
  "id" : "zzzz-zzzz",
  "name" : "Inline View",
  "attribution" : "Baltimore Police Department",
  "attributionLink" : "http://www.baltimorepolice.org/",
  "averageRating" : 0,
  "category" : "Crime",
  "licenseId" : "CC_30_BY",
  "numberOfComments" : 0,
  "oid" : 0,
  "publicationAppendEnabled" : false,
  "publicationStage" : "unpublished",
  "rowsUpdatedAt" : 1338813661,
  "rowsUpdatedBy" : "n22b-663u",
  "signed" : false,
  "tableId" : 354024,
  "totalTimesRated" : 0,
  "viewType" : "tabular",
  "columns" : [ {
    "id" : -1,
    "name" : "sid",
    "dataTypeName" : "meta_data",
    "fieldName" : ":sid",
    "position" : 0,
    "renderTypeName" : "meta_data",
    "format" : {
    }
  }, {
    "id" : -1,
    "name" : "id",
    "dataTypeName" : "meta_data",
    "fieldName" : ":id",
    "position" : 0,
    "renderTypeName" : "meta_data",
    "format" : {
    }
  }

Any help would be appreciated. I realize the tutorial I'm using is a little outdated, but I've never worked with JSON before, so I'm not really sure what the issue is.

Answer 1

The issue is caused by trying to send the message JSONValue to an instance in NSString, which doesn't support this method. try the following code instead

SBJsonParser *jsonParser = [[SBJsonParser alloc] init];
NSError *error = nil;
NSArray *jsonObjects = [jsonParser objectWithString:responseString error:&error];

This should give you an NSArray of NSDictionaries containing the response data.

You can also try copying and pasting your entire JSON response here to check it valid

http://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/

EDIT: Although as some of the other answers point out, #importing SBJSON.h should add the JSONValue method to NSString class dynamically by using a category. Explained here

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/cocoa/conceptual/objectivec/chapters/occategories.html

Answer 2

Actually the problem is not missing the header import (well, that might be part of the problem), but missing the implementation .m file. You need to make sure that NSObject+SBJson.m is included in your project, either stand alone or as part of a library.

Answer 3

The error indicates that the JSONValue method is unknown. Have you added the #import "SBJSON.h" into your class?

Answer 4

The issue here is the fact that you have not properly imported SBJSON into your project. Have a look and make sure you have included the import statement with the correct header at the top of the source file.