Storing NSMutableArray in Sqlite

Question

I have an NSMutableArray containing the coordinates and sizes of multiple CGRects. I want to store this into the sqlite. Is it possible to store the whole array? Or should I just store the CGRects manually in the database?

UPDATE:

This one is the data I retrieved from the database:

62706c69 73743030 d4010203 04050817 18542474 6f705824 6f626a65 63747358 24766572 
73696f6e 59246172 63686976 6572d106 0754726f 6f748001 a3090a0f 55246e75 6c6cd20b 
0c0d0e5a 4e532e6f 626a6563 74735624 636c6173 73a08002 d2101112 16582463 6c617373 
65735a24 636c6173 736e616d 65a31314 155e4e53 4d757461 626c6541 72726179 574e5341 
72726179 584e534f 626a6563 745e4e53 4d757461 626c6541 72726179 12000186 a05f100f 
4e534b65 79656441 72636869 76657208 11161f28 32353a3c 40464b56 5d5e6065 6e797d8c 
949dacb1 00000000 00000101 00000000 00000019 00000000 00000000 00000000 000000c3

It is exactly the same as the one before I put inside the database.

The Code:

This is the code I am using to check if the NSArray is being archived. I am not putting it in a database yet, because I just want to make sure that the NSKeyedUnarchive works. Here it is:

    NSData *toData = [NSKeyedArchiver archivedDataWithRootObject:rectsArray];
    NSLog(@"The data %@", toData);
    NSArray *fromData = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:toData];
    NSLog(@"The data %@", fromData);

The toData shows the archived form, but the fromData shows nothing at all. Why is this happening?

Here is a sample of rectsArray:

(
"NSRect: {{83.389008, 179.61432}, {8.775116, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{83.389008, 179.61432}, {8.775116, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{83.389008, 179.61432}, {8.775116, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{96.085426, 179.61432}, {5.2029028, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{101.28833, 179.61432}, {5.8532658, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{107.1416, 179.61432}, {4.5525398, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{115.61544, 179.61432}, {3.2518141, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{115.61544, 179.61432}, {3.2518141, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{118.86726, 179.61432}, {6.5036283, -10.616217}}",
"NSRect: {{118.86726, 179.61432}, {6.5036283, -10.616217}}"
)

As you can see, it is an array of CGRects.

Answer 1

Ok--this is a bit easier with Core Data, but the basics are the same. You need to store the array data into an NSData object using an archive:

NSData *dataFromArray = [NSKeyedArchiver archivedDataWithRootObject:myArray];

And then save that data as a blob in the database. Depending on the SQLite wrapper you use, it may have a method taking the NSData object and translating it into bytes for you, otherwise you can get the raw bytes with:

const char *arrayBytes = [dataFromArray bytes];

To get the data back out, you get the bytes from the database back into an NSData object and then unarchive it. Assuming that you can get your blob out of the database and into an NSData object called dataFromDB, you will do:

NSArray *myArrayFromDB = [NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchiveObjectWithData:dataFromDB];

And you'll have your array back!