On Jul 11, 2012, at 6:34 AM, Motti Shneor wrote:
> Hi. I guess many have already stumped into this one, but my wildest phrasing
> attempts in web-searches didn't yield.
>
> I'd like to have a "data" object, similar to (but much simpler than) CoreData
> entity, which only exports a bunch of properties. Something like
>
> @interface MSPersonalData :NSObject
> {
> }
> -(id) initWithData:(NSDictionary*)initialData;
> -(id) init;
> @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString* firstName;
> @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString* lastName;
> @property (nonatomic, retain) NSDate* birthDate;
> @property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber* salary;
> @end
>
> I'd like this object to have NO ivars, and NO property implementations, not
> even synthesized. Instead I'd like the object to either inherit from
> NSMutableDictionary or own a single NSMutableDictionary ivar, and I'd like
> any access to my object to be transparently translated to internal dictionary
> valueForKey: and setValue:forKey:.
>
> Simply put, I'd like code like this:
>
> MSPersonalData *myDataObject = ;[MSPersonalData alloc] init];
> myDataObject.firstName = @"Motti";
>
> to actually perform
>
> [self setValue:@"Motti" forKey: @"firstName"]; // if MSPersonalData
> inherits NSMutableDictionary
> or
> [internalDictionary setValue:@"Motti" forKey: @"firstName"]; // if
> MSPersonalData owns NSMutableDictionary.
>
> Such object can be very useful for UI binding, and as self-documented API
> for a sub-system. Instead of declaring a set of static keys as string, just
> behave as if there were iVars per each key of the object. I think CoreData
> NSManagedObjects do this, in their "primitive" implementation.
>
> I tried several schemes for implementation, but all became cumbersome, and I
> had to do much trickery, and in the end it looked ugly. I strongly feel there
> must be a simple and elegant way to do this. To have a mutable dictionary
> react to the "syntactic sugar" of dot notation.
>
> Is there a good, general solution for this?
What is hampering you, it seems to me, is your requirement to use dot syntax.
At least, to use dot syntax and not get a bunch of compiler warnings. Even Core
Data still requires you to declare properties to avoid compiler warnings, which
is a good sign that what you are after is not "cleanly" possible.
HTH,
Keary Suska
Esoteritech, Inc.
"Demystifying technology for your home or business"
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