iOS: Serialize/Deserialize complex JSON generically from NSObject class

Question

Anyone have idea how to serialize nested JSON based on NSObject class? There is a discussion to serialize simple JSON here , but it is not generic enough to cater complex n

Answer 1

Finally we can solve this problem easily using JSONModel. This is the best method so far. JSONModel is a library that generically serialize/deserialize your object based on Class. You can even use non-nsobject based for property like int, short and float. It can also cater nested-complex JSON.

1) Deserialize example. By referring to above example, in header file:

#import "JSONModel.h"

@interface Person : JSONModel 
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *firstName;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *lastName;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSNumber *age;
@end

@protocol Person;

@interface Department : JSONModel
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *accounting;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *sales;
@end

in implementation file:

#import "JSONModelLib.h"
#import "myJSONClass.h"

NSString *responseJSON = /*from example*/;
Department *department = [[Department alloc] initWithString:responseJSON error:&err];
if (!err)
{
    for (Person *person in department.accounting) {

        NSLog(@"%@", person.firstName);
        NSLog(@"%@", person.lastName);
        NSLog(@"%@", person.age);         
    }

    for (Person *person in department.sales) {

        NSLog(@"%@", person.firstName);
        NSLog(@"%@", person.lastName);
        NSLog(@"%@", person.age);         
    }
}

2) Serialize Example. In implementation file:

#import "JSONModelLib.h"
#import "myJSONClass.h"

Department *department = [[Department alloc] init];

Person *personAcc1 = [[Person alloc] init];
personAcc1.firstName = @"Uee";
personAcc1.lastName = @"Bae";
personAcc1.age = [NSNumber numberWithInt:22];
[department.accounting addOject:personAcc1];

Person *personSales1 = [[Person alloc] init];
personSales1.firstName = @"Sara";
personSales1.lastName = @"Jung";
personSales1.age = [NSNumber numberWithInt:20];
[department.sales addOject:personSales1];

NSLog(@"%@", [department toJSONString]);

And this is NSLog result from Serialize example:

{ "accounting" : [{ "firstName" : "Uee",  
                    "lastName"  : "Bae",
                    "age"       : 22 }
                 ],                            
  "sales"      : [{ "firstName" : "Sara", 
                    "lastName"  : "Jung",
                    "age"       : 20 }
                  ]}