Parsing JSON to a predefined class in Objective C

Question

I have a json string like:

{
  \"a\":\"val1\",
  \"b\":\"val2\",
  \"c\":\"val3\"
}

And I have an objective C header file like:

Answer 1

You have two solutions:

Manual

Write code to parse the JSON to a dictionary and after populate manually an instance of your target object

NSDictionary *jsonDictionary = //JSON parser

TestItem *ti = [TestItem new];
ti.a = [jsonDictionary objectForKey:@"a"];
ti.b = [jsonDictionary objectForKey:@"b"];
ti.c = [jsonDictionary objectForKey:@"c"];

iOS provides you a json parser. Look at this reply for more infos How do I deserialize a JSON string into an NSDictionary? (For iOS 5+)

(you should also check that the objects type match your expectations and eventually manage properly cases of error)

Mapping lib

Use a mapper library like JTObjectMapping that can help you to define how your object should be filled using the JSON. Usually I prefer this solution. It automatically checks for types and your code will be clearer.