filter data from mediawiki api ios

Question

I used the "action=query&prop=revisions&rvprop=content&titles=%@&format=json&redirects" api for getting the details about Anil_Ambani. In response i got the following dictionary

<i> query =     {
    normalized =         (
                    {
            from = "Anil_Ambani";
            to = "Anil Ambani";
        }
    );
    pages =         {
        1222313 =             {
            ns = 0;
            pageid = 1222313;
            revisions =                 (
                                    {
                    "*" = "{{BLP sources|date=June 2012}}\n{{Infobox person\n| name                     = Anil Ambani \n| image            =AnilAmbani.jpg\n| image_size       = \n| caption              = Ambani in 2009\n| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1959|6|4|df=y}}\n| birth_place      = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]\n| nationality      = Indian\n| occupation       = Chairman of [[Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group]] \n| networth         = {{loss}} [[United States dollar|$]]5.2 billion (2012)<ref name=\"forbes.com\">[http://www.forbes.com/profile/anil-ambani/.] Forbes.com. Retrieved April 2013.</ref> \n| residence        = Mumbai, Maharashtra, India\n| alma_mater       = [[Warwick Business School]]<br />[[Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania|The Wharton School]]\n| parents          = [[Dhirubhai Ambani]]<br>Kokilaben Ambani\n| brother          = [[Mukesh Ambani]]\n| spouse           = [[Tina Ambani]]\n|

the value for "" here is a NSString. The value for "" is

<i>$3 = 0x0755bb50 {{BLP sources|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Anil Ambani 
| image            =AnilAmbani.jpg
| image_size       = 
| caption          = Ambani in 2009
| birth_date       = {{Birth date and age|1959|6|4|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
| nationality      = Indian</i>

now i want to filter the string to get the name, birth_date, etc. I tried

<i>NSArray *arr=[htmlSrc componentsSeparatedByString:@"|"]
for (int i=2; i<mutArr.count; i++)
{
 NSArray *DictKeyValueArray=[str componentsSeparatedByString:@"="];
 [mainDict setObject:[DictKeyValueArray objectAtIndex:1] forKey:[DictKeyValueArray    objectAtIndex:0]];
}

But it is crashing after birth_date. Because there is "|" after birth date and age. So I won't get any key value pair after birth_date.

Please suggest me some other way to filter the string.

Answer 1

The response you are getting is in dictionary form. You are then retrieving the value of key "*" which is basically a string. But, that string contains HTML value. This HTML is mainly to show content in UIWebView in our app.

Now, for your question to get value of particular key i.e name, birth_date, etc.:-
The HTML string that we are getting is not definite because it will be changed as you change the input word (searched word), Here, input word is Anil Ambani, but it could be anything and so the response and so the HTML value.
So, I don't think there would be any definite way to get the values of particular key.

Updated:-
To get a substring between two substring, you can use this:-

-(NSString*)useScannerToGetSubstring:(NSString*)strYourString StartString:(NSString*)startString  EndString:(NSString*)endString
{
    NSString * strTest = strYourString;
    NSMutableArray *substrings = [NSMutableArray new];
    NSScanner *scanner = [NSScanner scannerWithString:strTest];
    [scanner scanUpToString:startString intoString:nil]; 
    while(![scanner isAtEnd]) {
        NSString *substring = nil;
        [scanner scanString:startString intoString:nil]; 
        if([scanner scanUpToString:endString intoString:&substring]) {
            [substrings addObject:substring];
        }
        [scanner scanUpToString:startString intoString:nil];
    }
    if ([substrings count]>0) 
    {
        return [substrings objectAtIndex:0];
    }
    return nil;
}