SQLite Tutorial Selecting Data

Introduction
Like any other applications you may have the need to store data in some kind of a database. For iPhone applications, we can use SQLite for free. SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, serverless, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine. Note: iPhone applications cannot work with remote databases. In this tutorial, I will discuss how to create a new SQLite database and use it in a iPhone application. This is how the application will look like

SQLite Manager
To use SQLite in your application, you do not have to install any new software on your mac. You can either use the command line to create a new SQL database or use SQLite Manager for Firefox add-on, which is what I use. The screenshots below shows you the database schema used, which is very simple.

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iPhone App
Create a new project by selecting Navigation-based application. The name of the project used for this tutorial is SQL. We first need to add a library which understands how to communicate with the SQLite database. In Xcode select Frameworks folder and click on the Action dropdown and select Add -> Existing Frameworks and browse to /Developer/Platforms/iPhoneOS.platform/Developer/SDKs/iPhoneOS2.1.sdk/usr/lib and select libsqlite3.0.dylib file and it will be added in the Frameworks folder. Now add the SQLite database file to the Resources folder in Xcode. Next we need to create a data structure to hold the data from the database. Create a new class and name it Coffee. This is how the class looks like.
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #import <sqlite3.h>

@interface Coffee : NSObject { NSInteger coffeeID; NSString *coffeeName; NSDecimalNumber *price; //Intrnal variables to keep track of the state of the object. BOOL isDirty; BOOL isDetailViewHydrated; } @property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger coffeeID; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *coffeeName; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSDecimalNumber *price; @property (nonatomic, readwrite) BOOL isDirty; @property (nonatomic, readwrite) BOOL isDetailViewHydrated;
@end

Note that in the Coffee class the price variable is declared as NSDecimalNumber because in the database its corresponding column is of type REAL. Note: Although SQLite does not enforce data type constraints, it is good practice to enforce data type constraints at the application level. The two boolean variables keep track of the state of the object. The boolean isDirty tells us if the object was changed in memory or not and isDetailViewHydrated tell us, if the data which shows up on the detail view is fetched from the database or not. NOTE: It is good practice to fetch only the data required to show on the screen, which makes the application load faster. So in our case, we will only get the primary key and the name of the coffee from the database as the price is only shown in the detail view.
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Synthesize the properties and release price and coffeeName in the dealloc method. This is how the implementation file of class Coffee looks like
#import "Coffee.h"

@implementation Coffee @synthesize coffeeID, coffeeName, price, isDirty, isDetailViewHydrated; - (void) dealloc { [price release]; [coffeeName release]; [super dealloc]; }
@end

Copying the database

The first thing we need to do when the application loads is to check whether the users phone has the database or not, if not then we copy it to the users phone. We will create two methods which will help us in copying the database to the users phone. This is how SQLAppDelegate header file will look like
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@class Coffee; @interface SQLAppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate> { UIWindow *window; UINavigationController *navigationController; //To hold a list of Coffee objects NSMutableArray *coffeeArray; } @property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UIWindow *window; @property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UINavigationController *navigationController; @property (nonatomic, retain) NSMutableArray *coffeeArray; - (void) copyDatabaseIfNeeded; - (NSString *) getDBPath;
@end

coffeeArray is the array used to hold all the Coffee objects. It is declared in the application delegate file and not anywhere else is because the object lives in memory as long as the application is running and it also gets a notification when the application is being terminated. The method copyDatabaseIfNeeded is used to copy the database on the users phone when the application is finished launching. Another method used with copyDatabaseIfNeeded is getDBPath which gets the database location on the users phone. This is how copyDatabaseIfNeeded method looks like
- (void) copyDatabaseIfNeeded {

//Using NSFileManager we can perform many file system operations. NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager]; NSError *error; NSString *dbPath = [self getDBPath]; BOOL success = [fileManager fileExistsAtPath:dbPath]; if(!success) { NSString *defaultDBPath = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"SQL.sqlite"]; success = [fileManager copyItemAtPath:defaultDBPath toPath:dbPath error:&error];
if (!success) NSAssert1(0, @"Failed to create writable database file with message '%@'.", [error localizedDescription]); } }

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and this is how the getDBPath method looks like

- (NSString *) getDBPath { //Search for standard documents using NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains //First Param = Searching the documents directory //Second Param = Searching the Users directory and not the System //Expand any tildes and identify home directories. NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory , NSUserDomainMask, YES); NSString *documentsDir = [paths objectAtIndex:0]; return [documentsDir stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"SQL.sqlite"]; }

In copyDatabaseIfNeeded method we get the NSFileManager object with which we can perform some basic file management tasks. The method getDBPath gives us the database location on the users phone. Method NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains is used to find documents in the users documents directory expanding the tildes so we get the whole path. Using the fileManager object we check if the database exists or not, if it doesnt exists then we copy it to the users phone from the application bundle. Method copyDatabaseIfNeeded is called from applicationDidFinishLaunching. Once the database is copied to the users phone, we need to display a list of coffees from the database on the UITableView.

Getting data from the database

The approach that I have taken here to get the data from the database is a little clean, as I have all my database operations in the Coffee Class. I have declared a class method in the Coffee class which is responsible to get the data from the database and fill the coffeeArray which is declared in the application delegate object (SQLAppDelegate). This is how the header file of the Coffee class will look like after the method decelerations are added.
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #import <sqlite3.h>

@interface Coffee : NSObject { NSInteger coffeeID; NSString *coffeeName; NSDecimalNumber *price; //Intrnal variables to keep track of the state of the object. BOOL isDirty; BOOL isDetailViewHydrated; } @property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger coffeeID; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *coffeeName; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSDecimalNumber *price; @property (nonatomic, readwrite) BOOL isDetailViewHydrated; //Static methods. + (void) getInitialDataToDisplay:(NSString *)dbPath; + (void) finalizeStatements; //Instance methods. - (id) initWithPrimaryKey:(NSInteger)pk;
@end

The method getInitialDataToDisplay gets the data from the database and creates Coffee objects using initWithPrimaryKey method and fills the objects in the coffeeArray which is declared in SQLAppDelegate.

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This is how the getInitialDataToDisplay method looks like

+ (void) getInitialDataToDisplay:(NSString *)dbPath {

SQLAppDelegate *appDelegate = (SQLAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate]; if (sqlite3_open([dbPath UTF8String], &database) == SQLITE_OK) { const char *sql = "select coffeeID, coffeeName from coffee"; sqlite3_stmt *selectstmt; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &selectstmt, NULL) == SQLITE_OK) { while(sqlite3_step(selectstmt) == SQLITE_ROW) { NSInteger primaryKey = sqlite3_column_int(selectstmt, 0); Coffee *coffeeObj = [[Coffee alloc] initWithPrimaryKey:primaryKey]; coffeeObj.coffeeName = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:(char *)sqlite3_column_text(selectstmt, 1)]; coffeeObj.isDirty = NO;
[appDelegate.coffeeArray addObject:coffeeObj]; [coffeeObj release]; } } } else sqlite3_close(database); //Even though the open call failed, close the database connection to release all the memory. }

initWithPrimaryKey method is very simple and it looks like this

- (id) initWithPrimaryKey:(NSInteger) pk {

[super init]; coffeeID = pk; isDetailViewHydrated = NO;

return self; }

In getInitialDataToDisplay method we first get a reference to the application delegate because that is where the coffeeArray is declared. We open the database using sqlite3_open method which takes the database path and a database object. The database object is declared as static in the Coffee.m file.
#import "Coffee.h"

static sqlite3 *database = nil;

@implementation Coffee ...

After we open the connection to the database we create a select statement and if that returns SQLITE_OK we execute the select statement using sqlite3_step method, which will return SQLITE_ROW if the operation is a success and it has one or more rows to return. To get a full list of return codes click here. We then get the coffeeID, coffeename and create Coffee objects using initWithPrimaryKey method. When reading data from the database, the column index starts from zero instead of one. The coffee object is added to the array and we do this for n number of rows. If the connection to the database fails, only then we close the connection and release any resources associated with the connection object. The static database connection is left open to be used by the Coffee class. We close the database connection in the finalizeStatements method which is called from applicationWillTerminate which is in SQLAppDelegate.m file.
+ (void) finalizeStatements { if(database) sqlite3_close(database); }

Now all we have to do is call the right methods from applicationDidFinishLaunching method in SQLAppDelegate.m file.
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This is how the code looks like

- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication *)application {

//Copy database to the user's phone if needed. [self copyDatabaseIfNeeded]; //Initialize the coffee array. NSMutableArray *tempArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; self.coffeeArray = tempArray; [tempArray release]; //Once the db is copied, get the initial data to display on the screen. [Coffee getInitialDataToDisplay:[self getDBPath]];
// Configure and show the window [window addSubview:[navigationController view]]; [window makeKeyAndVisible]; }

To recap, we first copy the database to the users phone if it does not exists, then we initialize the coffee array and get the initial data to display on the UITableView.

Display data in the UITableView

Since the Coffee Array is in the application delegate file (SQLAppDelegate), for simplicity I am going to add the SQLAppDelegate.h header file in SQL_Prefix.pch file so that the file is added to all the files in the project. This is how the file should look like
#ifdef __OBJC__ #import <Foundation/Foundation.h> #import <UIKit/UIKit.h> #import "SQLAppDelegate.h" #endif

Open RootViewController.h file and create a variable of type SQLAppDelegate like this
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@class Coffee; @interface RootViewController : UITableViewController { SQLAppDelegate *appDelegate; }

@end

We are able to do the above because SQLAppDelegate.h file is added as a header file to all the files in the project. Open RootViewController.m and import Coffee.h file, change the viewDidLoad method like this
- (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad];

self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem; appDelegate = (SQLAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];

self.title = @"Coffee List"; }

We get a reference to the application delegate in the second line and everything is self explanatory. Using the appDelegate we can access the array. Now all we have to do is tell the table view how many rows to expect and set the text property of the UITableViewCell which is returned in cellForRowAtIndexPath method. Method numberOfRowsInSection returns the number of rows UITableView should expect in a section. By default numberOfSectionsInTableView returns 1, so the UITableView looks like a regular table. Below is a code snippet of numberOfRowsInSection
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { return [appDelegate.coffeeArray count]; }

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and cellForRowAtIndexPath
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } //Get the object from the array. Coffee *coffeeObj = [appDelegate.coffeeArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; //Set the coffename. cell.text = coffeeObj.coffeeName;
// Set up the cell return cell; }

cellForRowAtIndexPat is called n number of times, where n is the total number of objects in the coffeeArray which is returned in numberOfRowsInSection method. We get the Coffee object from the array using objectAtIndex method and set the coffeeName as the text of the UITableViewCell.

Conclusion
This concludes part one of the SQLite Tuturial, where we learn how easy it is to manage databases using SQLite Manager and using it in your iPhone applications. Overall SQLite is FREE for all to use. You also learn how to copy database to the users phone and perform select operations on the database. The next tutorial will show you how to delete data. Happy Programming, iPhone SDK Articles
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SQLite Tutorial Loading data as required.

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Introduction
In this tutorial, I will show you how to select a row and load the Coffee class details in a detail view. According to the design of this app, we only load data when we need it. Now we load the price of coffee from the SQLite database, when a row is selected. This is the fourth tutorial in SQLite tutorial series and it borrows its source code from the previous tutorials. This is how the detail view looks like

Selecting data from database

Since we need to get the price of a coffee from the database and show it on the detail view, lets declare a method called hydrateDetailViewData in Coffee class and this is how the method deceleration looks like in Coffee.h File
- (void) hydrateDetailViewData; //Complete code listing not shown.

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and the method is implemented in Coffee.m, this is how the source code looks like
- (void) hydrateDetailViewData {

//If the detail view is hydrated then do not get it from the database. if(isDetailViewHydrated) return; if(detailStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "Select price from Coffee Where CoffeeID = ?"; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &detailStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating detail view statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } sqlite3_bind_int(detailStmt, 1, coffeeID); if(SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(detailStmt)) { //Get the price in a temporary variable. NSDecimalNumber *priceDN = [[NSDecimalNumber alloc] initWithDouble:sqlite3_column_double(detailStmt, 0)]; //Assign the price. The price value will be copied, since the property is declared with "copy" attribute. self.price = priceDN; //Release the temporary variable. Since we created it using alloc, we have own it. [priceDN release]; } else NSAssert1(0, @"Error while getting the price of coffee. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); //Reset the detail statement. sqlite3_reset(detailStmt);
//Set isDetailViewHydrated as YES, so we do not get it again from the database. isDetailViewHydrated = YES; }

As always, detailStmt is declared as static and is of type sqlite3_stmt, this is the code
static sqlite3_stmt *addStmt = nil; static sqlite3_stmt *detailStmt = nil; @implementation Coffee //Complete code listing not shown.

Lets see what happens in hydrateDetailViewData, the first thing we check is if detailStmt is nil or not, if it is then we prepare the statement using sqlite3_prepare_v2 function with the correct SQL query. The query Select price from Coffee Where CoffeeID = ? takes one parameter represented by one ?. Parameters are assigned to the statement using the function sqlite3_bind_int, since the parameter is going to be the type of int. Notice, that the index is represented as 1 and not 0, this is because when assigning parameters the index starts from 1. The statement is executed using sqlite3_step method and SQLITE_DONE is returned on success. We get the price in a temporary variable priceDN, using the function sqlite3_column_double, then our temporary variable is initialized using initWithDouble method. We assign the temporary variable to the price variable and then release it, which we have to do since the object was created using the alloc method. Remember price property is declared in the Coffee class using the copy attribute and not retain, this way we do not increment the count on priceDN but copy it to the price variable. The statement is reset using sqlite3_reset, so it can be used again without preparing the statement again.

Creating the detail view

Now that we have a routine to get the price of a coffee, lets create the detail view and the detail view controller. First lets create the UIViewController, in Xcode (Select the Classes Folder) create a new file which inherits from UIViewController (File -> New File -> Select UIViewController SubClass) and name it DetailViewController.
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Lets add some variables and properties to it, coffeeObj to hold the Coffee object and tableView which will be placed on the Detail View (to be created in IB). This is how the header file looks like
@class Coffee;

@interface DetailViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate> { IBOutlet UITableView *tableView; Coffee *coffeeObj; } @property (nonatomic, retain) Coffee *coffeeObj;
@end

In the implementation file of the DetailViewController, the property is synthesized and both the variables are released in the dealloc method. Lets see what happens in IB. Create a new view in IB and name it DetailView. Place a UITableView on the view and change the style property to Grouped. Since I always have a hard time explaining what goes in IB, here are the screen shots of the connections. Class Identity for Files Owner Object

Controller Connections for Files Owner

Table View Connections

Selecting a row
We are doing all this work to display the detail view when a row is selected, lets look at the code on how to do that
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- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Navigation logic -- create and push a new view controller

if(dvController == nil) dvController = [[DetailViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"DetailView" bundle:nil]; Coffee *coffeeObj = [appDelegate.coffeeArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; //Get the detail view data if it does not exists. //We only load the data we initially want and keep on loading as we need. [coffeeObj hydrateDetailViewData]; dvController.coffeeObj = coffeeObj; [self.navigationController pushViewController:dvController animated:YES];
}

We have a new variable defined here called dvController and it is defined in the header file like this and it is also released in the dealloc method.
//Complete code listing not shown DetailViewController *dvController; ...

Coming back to didSelectRowAtIndexPath method, the first thing we do is check if dvController is nil or not, if it is we initialize it. We then get the coffee object from the array and send hydrateDetailViewData message to get the price of the coffee. The coffee object is assigned to the detail view controller so it is available to the detail view. The detail view is shown to the user using pushViewController method. Now that a row can be selected, we have to let the user know that it can be done. We can do that by setting the accessoryType property of the cell in cellForRowAtIndexPath, this is how the code looks like now
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } //Get the object from the array. Coffee *coffeeObj = [appDelegate.coffeeArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; //Set the coffename. cell.text = coffeeObj.coffeeName; //Set the accessory type. cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator;
// Set up the cell return cell; }

Displaying data in the detail view

Lets see what we have to do in the detail view. From the detail view image (at the top), we can tell that coffeeName and price shows up in a table view with Coffee Name and Price as the title of the section name. The first thing we will do is, set the title of the view with the coffee name and we do this in viewWillAppear method, this is how the source code looks like, which is pretty self explanatory.
- (void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {

[super viewWillAppear:animated]; self.title = coffeeObj.coffeeName;

[tableView reloadData]; }

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Since we only have to show two fields on the view, we will return 2 in numberOfSectionsInTableView method and as only one coffee data will be displayed, we return 1 in numberOfRowsInSection method. This is how the source code looks like
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tblView { return 2; } - (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section { return 1; }

Next thing we have to do is give names to our section, which is set in titleForHeaderInSection method. It gets called n number of times, where n is the number returned in numberOfSectionsInTableView. This is how the source code looks like
- (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {

NSString *sectionName = nil; switch (section) { case 0: sectionName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Coffee Name"]; break; case 1: sectionName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Price"]; break; }
return sectionName; }

Now we set the text of the cell which is returned in cellForRowAtIndexPath, which gets called n number of times where n is the number returned in numberOfRowsInSection. I would like to mention one thing here, for example if your table view can only show 4 rows and we return 10 in numberOfRowsInSection then, cellForRowAtIndexPath is only called 4 times because that is what the user sees. When the user scrolls to see more data, it is then cellForRowAtIndexPath is called again to display additional data. This is how cellForRowAtIndexPath method looks like
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell";

UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } switch(indexPath.section) { case 0: cell.text = coffeeObj.coffeeName; break; case 1: cell.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", coffeeObj.price]; break; }
return cell; }

NOTE: When this post was published, I had a error in case 1. I had earlier set the price of the coffee by passing stringValue message to the receiver, which works now but gives an error in the next tutorial.
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In this method, after getting UITableViewCell, we find out the index of the section from indexPath object. If it is 0 then we set the coffeeName property, if it is 1 then we set the price property. Price of the coffee is set as string to the text property of the cell.

Conclusion
By following this design pattern, where we only load the data we need to show to the user and loading additional data as required, we adhere to the Apples recommended way of accessing data.

SQLite Tutorial Adding data

Introduction
Adding data into the database is very simple using the SQLite library, although there are some tweaks we have to perform if we want the application to behave in a certain way. This tutorial picks up its source code from the last tutorial in this series. This is how the AddView looks like

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The work flow is as following, a user will click on the Add button on the left hand bar button item and the AddView will be presented to him. The user will enter the coffee name and price and click on Save on the navigation item on the right hand side to save it. Internally, it will call save_Clicked method which will create a Coffee object and set all the right properties. We then call add_Coffee method on SQLAppDelegate which will call add_Coffee method on the Coffee class and then it will add the object to the array. We then dismiss the add view controller and reload data on the table view in viewWillAppear method implemented in RootViewController.m.

Creating the addCoffee Method

First thing we do is create the addCoffee method in the Coffee class which is responsible for inserting data in the database. This is how the header file looks like (Complete code not shown)
- (void) addCoffee;

and the method is implemented in Coffee.m file

- (void) addCoffee {

if(addStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "insert into Coffee(CoffeeName, Price) Values(?, ?)"; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &addStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating add statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } sqlite3_bind_text(addStmt, 1, [coffeeName UTF8String], -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT); sqlite3_bind_double(addStmt, 2, [price doubleValue]); if(SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(addStmt)) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while inserting data. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); else //SQLite provides a method to get the last primary key inserted by using sqlite3_last_insert_rowid coffeeID = sqlite3_last_insert_rowid(database);
//Reset the add statement. sqlite3_reset(addStmt); }

The add_Stmt is declared as static sqlite3_stmt variable. It is finalized in finalizeStatements and this is how the code looks like
//Complete code listing not shown #import "Coffee.h"

static sqlite3 *database = nil; static sqlite3_stmt *deleteStmt = nil; static sqlite3_stmt *addStmt = nil;
@implementation Coffee ... + (void) finalizeStatements { if(database) sqlite3_close(database); if(deleteStmt) sqlite3_finalize(deleteStmt); if(addStmt) sqlite3_finalize(addStmt); }

Coming back to addCoffee method, add_Stmt is built using the appropriate insert SQL code. To bind the coffee name the following method sqlite3_bind_text is used and sqlite3_bind_double is used to bind the price variable to the insert statement. Since the method only accepts a value of datatype double, we send doubleValue message to the receiver. Execute the statement using sqlite_step method and if it returns SQLITE_DONE then the row was successfully added to the database. We still do not have the primary key for the row which was inserted, which we can get by calling sqlite3_last_insert_rowid method and passing the database object. The rowid is only returned on column of type INTEGER PRIMARY KEY.
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After adding the data in the database, we have to add the coffee object to the coffeeArray declared in SQLAppDelegate class. To do this we will declare a method called add_Coffee which will take a parameter of type Coffee and this method is called from save_Clicked method, which is called when the user clicks on the save button. This is how the header file changes (Full code not shown)
//FileName: SQLAppDelegate.h - (void) addCoffee:(Coffee *)coffeeObj; ...

addCoffee is implemented in SQLAppDelegate.m file and this is the code listing

- (void) addCoffee:(Coffee *)coffeeObj {

//Add it to the database. [coffeeObj addCoffee];

//Add it to the coffee array. [coffeeArray addObject:coffeeObj]; }

The first line calls the addCoffee method on the coffee object which we just created. The second line adds the object in the array. Now we have to work with the Add View and its associated view controller.

Adding new UIView

Create a new view using the Interface Builder, I have named the view AddView. Add two labels and two text boxes as shown in the figure below. For the text fields, Capitalize is set to Words, Return Key is set to Done and set the Placeholder as Coffee Name and Price for the two respective text fields. You would set the properties in Text Field Attributes (Tools -> Inspector) using IB. Open Connections Inspector and create a connection from the delegate property to Files Owner object, do the same for both the text boxes. I find it hard to explain what goes in IB, so here is a screen shot of how it should look like. The Text Field Connections applies to both the text boxes.

Creating a UIViewController
Create a new view controller (using Xcode), the name of my file is AddViewController. Create two variables of type UITextField with IBOutlet attribute so the variables show up in IB and create two methods called save_Clicked and cancel_Clicked.

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This is how the header file should look like

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@class Coffee; @interface AddViewController : UIViewController { IBOutlet UITextField *txtCoffeeName; IBOutlet UITextField *txtPrice; }
@end

Now that we have defined AddViewController set the Files Owner class as AddViewController in Controller Identity, below is a screen shot of that.

Also link the text fields declared in the view controller to the objects on the AddView, below is a screen shot of that

We are done with using Interface builder, feels good now that we can concentrate on code. We now have to add two buttons Cancel and Save on the UINavigationItem of the AddView. Let us do this in viewDidLoad method and this how the code looks like
- (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad];

self.title = @"Add Coffee"; self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemCancel target:self action:@selector(cancel_Clicked:)] autorelease]; self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = [[[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemSave target:self action:@selector(save_Clicked:)] autorelease];
self.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor groupTableViewBackgroundColor]; }

Everything is self explanatory, we set the title, add two buttons and set the background of the view by passing groupTableViewBackgroundColor message to UIColor. Since the view has only two text fields, it will be easier if the keypad is presented to the user when the view is loaded. Lets do this in viewWillAppear method and this is how the code looks like
- (void) viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated { [super viewWillAppear:animated];

//Set the textboxes to empty string. txtCoffeeName.text = @""; txtPrice.text = @"";

//Make the coffe name textfield to be the first responder. [txtCoffeeName becomeFirstResponder]; }

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Here we always set the text property of the text fields to empty string and we make the keypad show up for the coffeeName text field by passing becomeFirstResponder message. Since the user can click Done the keyboard should be hidden and the method which gets called is textFieldShouldReturn and this is how the code looks like
- (BOOL)textFieldShouldReturn:(UITextField *)theTextField { [theTextField resignFirstResponder]; return YES; }

Please note that, I send resignFirstResponder message to the text field without finding out which textbox should be hidden. I do this because, the actual save happens in save_clicked method. Before we look at save_Clicked method, this is how cancel_Clicked method looks like
- (void) cancel_Clicked:(id)sender { //Dismiss the controller. [self.navigationController dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; }

and this is how the save_Clicked method looks like

- (void) save_Clicked:(id)sender {

SQLAppDelegate *appDelegate = (SQLAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate]; //Create a Coffee Object. Coffee *coffeeObj = [[Coffee alloc] initWithPrimaryKey:0]; coffeeObj.coffeeName = txtCoffeeName.text; NSDecimalNumber *temp = [[NSDecimalNumber alloc] initWithString:txtPrice.text]; coffeeObj.price = temp; [temp release]; coffeeObj.isDirty = NO; coffeeObj.isDetailViewHydrated = YES; //Add the object [appDelegate addCoffee:coffeeObj];
//Dismiss the controller. [self.navigationController dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; }

We create a new coffee class and set all the properties, isDetailViewHydrated is set as YES because all the data is in memory and isDirty is set as NO because the row will be inserted in the database after setting all the properties. The view is dismissed by passing dismissModalViewControllerAnimated message to the receiver. We still have to add the Add button to the RootViewController and add the code to show the AddView. This is how the header file changes for RootViewController
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@class Coffee, AddViewController; @interface RootViewController : UITableViewController { SQLAppDelegate *appDelegate; AddViewController *avController; UINavigationController *addNavigationController; }
@end

Do not forget to import AddViewController.h in RootViewController.m file. The Add button is added in the viewDidLoad method and this is how the code changes

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- (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad];

self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem; self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithBarButtonSystemItem:UIBarButtonSystemItemAdd target:self action:@selector(add_Clicked:)]; appDelegate = (SQLAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];
self.title = @"Coffee List"; }

When Add is clicked add_Clicked method is called and this is how the code looks like
- (void) add_Clicked:(id)sender {

if(avController == nil) avController = [[AddViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"AddView" bundle:nil]; if(addNavigationController == nil) addNavigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:avController];
[self.navigationController presentModalViewController:addNavigationController animated:YES]; }

The reason we present the AddView using addNavigationController because when we want a custom UINavigationItem to show up on the AddView and that is why we initialize addNavigationController with avController and present it using presentModalViewController. Run your application to insert data in the database. There is however a problem with the design here, a User can click on Edit and nothing restricts him/her from clicking the add button. The code below fixes the issue
- (void)setEditing:(BOOL)editing animated:(BOOL)animated {

[super setEditing:editing animated:animated]; [self.tableView setEditing:editing animated:YES];

//Do not let the user add if the app is in edit mode. if(editing) self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.enabled = NO; else self.navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem.enabled = YES; }

The method setEditing is called when the edit button is clicked. We send the same message to the parent class and the tableview, also disable or enable the leftBarButtonItem if the tableview is in edit mode.

Conclusion
As we can see inserting data in SQLite databases is very easy to do.

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SQLite Tutorial Updating data

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Introduction
In the detail view, the user will be able to edit the fields by clicking the edit button and selecting a row at a time to load the edit view. When the data is updated in the edit view, we will mark the object as dirty. Data will only be saved in the database when the application is being terminated or when it receives a memory warning.

Editing Data
First thing we have to do is, place the edit button on the left bar. We add the button in viewDidLoad method and this is how the source code looks like for DetailViewController.m
- (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem; }

When the edit button is clicked, we will hide the back button and let the user know that the row can be selected to edit. This is how the code is going to look like
- (void)setEditing:(BOOL)editing animated:(BOOL)animated { [super setEditing:editing animated:animated]; [self.navigationItem setHidesBackButton:editing animated:animated]; [tableView reloadData]; }

The method setEditing is called when the user clicks on the edit button and it is where we hide or show the back button. The table view is also refreshed, so we can set the accessory type. To hide the back button use setHidesBackButton message. This is how the code looks like
- (UITableViewCellAccessoryType)tableView:(UITableView *)tv accessoryTypeForRowWithIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Show the disclosure indicator if editing. return (self.editing) ? UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator : UITableViewCellAccessoryNone; }

accessoryTypeForRowWithIndexPath gets called to use a disclosure control for the specified row. Based on the editing variable status, an indicator is set. You may have noticed that, the row can be selected even if the user did not click on the edit view. The following code takes care of that
- (NSIndexPath *)tableView:(UITableView *)tv willSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { // Only allow selection if editing. return (self.editing) ? indexPath : nil; }

willSelectRowAtIndexPath tells the delegate that a specified row is about to be selected and is called before didSelectRowAtIndexPath. Return the indexPath selected if the user clicks on edit and nil if the done button is clicked. Now we handle the event didSelectRowAtIndexPath, which is called when a row is selected. The user will select a row to load the edit view where a value can be changed.

Creating the edit view

Create a new view in Interface Builder and name it EditView. Place a text field on the view and set the property capitalize to Words and uncheck Clear when editing begings field. leave all the other properties as default. Then add UINavigationBar from the library to the EditView nib file and place two bar button items on the right and left bar button items. Set the style of the left button item to Cancel and the right one to Save.

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Creating the edit view controller

In Xcode create a new UIViewController and name it EditViewController. This is how the header file looks like
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h> @interface EditViewController : UIViewController {

IBOutlet UITextField *txtField; NSString *keyOfTheFieldToEdit; NSString *editValue; id objectToEdit; } @property (nonatomic, retain) id objectToEdit; @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *keyOfTheFieldToEdit; @property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *editValue; - (IBAction) save_Clicked:(id)sender; - (IBAction) cancel_Clicked:(id)sender;
@end

Lets finish working with the Interface Builder first, by making all the right connections. Text Field Properties

Files Owner Class Identity

Edit View Nib File

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Navigation Bar with two buttons

Files Owner Connections

Coming back to the EditViewController header file, notice that we do not have a reference to the Coffee class any where, the edit view controller does not know anything about what object it is going to edit and we want to keep it this way. Lets look at the properties defined in the header file and see what they are meant to to. txtField is a reference to the text field placed on the view, keyOfTheFieldToEdit is the key of the field we are going to edit or the property name as string, editValue is going to be the value we are about to edit (this is the value which will be displayed on the text field) and objectToEdit declared as type id which is going to be the Coffee object itself. save_Clicked and cancel_Clicked handle the events when save or cancel are clicked.

Selecting a row to edit

Lets go back to the Detail view controller and look at what goes on in didSelectRowAtIndexPath method. This is how the code looks like
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

//Keep track of the row selected. selectedIndexPath = indexPath; if(evController == nil) evController = [[EditViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"EditView" bundle:nil]; //Find out which field is being edited. switch(indexPath.section) { case 0: evController.keyOfTheFieldToEdit = @"coffeeName"; evController.editValue = coffeeObj.coffeeName; break; case 1: evController.keyOfTheFieldToEdit = @"price"; evController.editValue = [coffeeObj.price stringValue]; break; }

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//Object being edited. evController.objectToEdit = coffeeObj; //Push the edit view controller on top of the stack. [self.navigationController pushViewController:evController animated:YES];
}

selectedIndexPath is a new variable declared in the Coffee header file, which is of type NSIndexPath. The variable is used to keep track of which row was selected, so we can deselect it when the detail view is shown. evController is declared in the header file and is of type EditViewController. This is how the code looks like in the DetailViewController header file
@class Coffee, EditViewController;

@interface DetailViewController : UIViewController <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate> { IBOutlet UITableView *tableView; Coffee *coffeeObj; NSIndexPath *selectedIndexPath; EditViewController *evController; } @property (nonatomic, retain) Coffee *coffeeObj;
@end

Coming back to didSelectRowAtIndexPath, first thing we do is keep track of the row selected then initialize the controller if it is nil. We then find out which row to edit and assign keyOfTheFieldToEdit, editValue and objectToEdit properties. keyOfTheFieldToEdit takes the name of the property, edit value takes the value to edit and objectToEdit takes the coffee object. Since objectToEdit is declared as id and not Coffee, this view can be used to edit any object. We will see how to edit the coffee object soon. At last, the edit view controller is pushed to the top of the stack.

Display data in edit view

To make the edit view look pretty, lets give it a background color. In viewDidLoad method, set the views background color to groupTableViewBackgroundColor, and this is how the code looks like
- (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; self.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor groupTableViewBackgroundColor]; }

Back to EditViewController, in viewWillAppear method, we are going to set the text of the text field and also the title of the view. The title of the view is going to be the property we are about to edit, which we get it from keyOfTheFieldToEdit variable, this also becomes the placeholder text for the text field. Since, we are only going to edit one field in this view, it makes sense to have the keyboard show up when the view is loaded. This way the user does not have to tap the text field. We do this by passing the message becomeFirstResponder to text field. This is how the code looks like
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {

[super viewWillAppear:YES]; self.title = [self.keyOfTheFieldToEdit capitalizedString]; txtField.placeholder = [self.keyOfTheFieldToEdit capitalizedString]; txtField.text = self.editValue;
[txtField becomeFirstResponder]; }

The code is pretty self explanatory, we get the property name as capitalized string by passing the message capitalizedString and show the text field by passing becomeFirstResponder to the text field.
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Now we have to handle save_Clicked and cancel_Clicked methods. This is how the code looks like for the cancel method
- (IBAction) cancel_Clicked:(id)sender { [self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES]; }

We simply pop the present view controller from the stack to show the detail view controller, by passing popViewControllerAnimated message. This is how the save_Clicked method looks like
- (IBAction) save_Clicked:(id)sender {

//Update the value. //Invokes the set<key> method defined in the Coffee Class. [objectToEdit setValue:txtField.text forKey:self.keyOfTheFieldToEdit];
//Pop back to the detail view. [self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES]; }

Two lines, without any comments. This is what I love about iPhone programming, we can update any object by just passing a message to the object and asking it to change some properties. setValue does all the tricks, which will set the property of the receiver specified by a given key to a given value (text borrowed from documentation). However, I found out that I was not able to set the value of boolean property isDirty to YES using setValue:forKey and that is why I had to write my own version of setCoffeeName and setPrice. According to the design of this app, we will only save data which has been changed in memory, to the database when the application is terminated or the app receives a memory warning. This way we reduce the round trip from the app to the database, making it a little faster. This is how the setCoffeeName and setPrice methods look like
- (void) setCoffeeName:(NSString *)newValue {

self.isDirty = YES; [coffeeName release]; coffeeName = [newValue copy]; } - (void) setPrice:(NSDecimalNumber *)newNumber {
self.isDirty = YES; [price release]; price = [newNumber copy]; }

Since the property is declared with copy attribute, we get the copy of the newValue and assign it to the local variable. The isDirty property is also set to YES. When the user clicks on save, the detail view is shown but the row which was selected is still highlighted. To deselect the row, pass deselectRowAtIndexPath message to the table view, the message is passed in viewWillDisappear method and this how the code looks like. You can call this method in viewWillAppear method too
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated { [tableView deselectRowAtIndexPath:selectedIndexPath animated:YES]; }

We still have to update the data in the SQLite database and write code for it. Data is only updated when the app is about to be terminated or when a memory warning is received. applicationWillTerminate method is called when the app is shutting down, which is declared in SQLAppDelegate.m file. This is how the code will change
- (void)applicationWillTerminate:(UIApplication *)application { // Save data if appropriate

//Save all the dirty coffee objects and free memory. [self.coffeeArray makeObjectsPerformSelector:@selector(saveAllData)];
[Coffee finalizeStatements]; }

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The method makeObjectsPerformSelector sends saveAllData message to each object in the array. So we are going to declare a method in the Coffee class header file called saveAllData and write the implementation in the implementation file (Coffee.m file)
//Complete code listing not shown - (void) hydrateDetailViewData; - (void) saveAllData; ...

Code in Coffee.m file looks like this

- (void) saveAllData {

if(isDirty) { if(updateStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "update Coffee Set CoffeeName = ?, Price = ? Where CoffeeID = ?"; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &updateStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating update statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } sqlite3_bind_text(updateStmt, 1, [coffeeName UTF8String], -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT); sqlite3_bind_double(updateStmt, 2, [price doubleValue]); sqlite3_bind_int(updateStmt, 3, coffeeID); if(SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(updateStmt)) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while updating. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); sqlite3_reset(updateStmt); isDirty = NO; } //Reclaim all memory here. [coffeeName release]; coffeeName = nil; [price release]; price = nil;
isDetailViewHydrated = NO; }

We only save the data of the objects which has been changed in memory. updatestmt is declared as static and is of type sqlite3_stmt.
//Complete code listing now shown. static sqlite3_stmt *detailStmt = nil; static sqlite3_stmt *updateStmt = nil; @implementation Coffee ...

We prepare the update statement if it is nil, then assign the variables to the update statement where the index starts from 1 and not 0. The method sqlite3_step is called and if it returns SQLITE_DONE then we know that the update was a success. Finally we reset the updatestmt so it can be reused later. The update statement like any other statement is finalized in finalizeStatements method which looks like this, which is implemented in Coffee.m file.
+ (void) finalizeStatements { if (database) sqlite3_close(database); if (deleteStmt) sqlite3_finalize(deleteStmt); if (addStmt) sqlite3_finalize(addStmt); if (detailStmt) sqlite3_finalize(detailStmt); if (updateStmt) sqlite3_finalize(updateStmt); }

When the application receives a memory warning, applicationDidReceiveMemoryWarning is called which is implemented in SQLAppDelegate.m file and this is how the source code looks like
- (void)applicationDidReceiveMemoryWarning:(UIApplication *)application { //Save all the dirty coffee objects and free memory. [self.coffeeArray makeObjectsPerformSelector:@selector(saveAllData)]; }

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Here the message finalizeStatements is not passed to the Coffee class because the application is not shutting down.

Conclusion
This tutorial shows how to save data in a edit view by passing the setValue message, shows how to save dirty data to the database when the application is terminated or when it receives a memory warning. This also concludes the SQLite tutorial series.

SQLite Tutorial Deleting Data

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Introduction
Sometimes we do need to delete data and this is what we will learn to do in this tutorial. If you havent read the part 1 of this tutorial you can read it here.

Deleting a row from UITableView

To delete data, we first need to delete the row from the table and then delete it from the UITableView, it is not necessary to do it in that order. Data can be deleted by using the edit button or by swiping your finger across the UITableViewCell. When a row is deleted from the UITableView commitEditingStyle method is called which can be found in RootViewController.m. This is how the source code looks like
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tv commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

if(editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) { //Get the object to delete from the array. Coffee *coffeeObj = [appDelegate.coffeeArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row]; [appDelegate removeCoffee:coffeeObj];
//Delete the object from the table. [self.tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade]; } }

We first check if the editingStyle is UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete or not, if it is then we first delete the row from the database and then from the UITableView using deleteRowsAtIndexPaths method. Since we have not yet implemented removeCoffee method, lets do that now.

Deleting rows from the database

Declare removeCoffee in SQLAppDelegate.h file which takes a Coffee object as a parameter and returns void, the code looks like this
//Complete code listing not shown - (void) removeCoffee:(Coffee *)coffeeObj;

The method does two things, sends a message to the Coffee Object to delete itself from the database and removes the object from the coffeeArray. The method is implemented in SQLAppDelegate.m file and looks like this
- (void) removeCoffee:(Coffee *)coffeeObj {

//Delete it from the database. [coffeeObj deleteCoffee];

//Remove it from the array. [coffeeArray removeObject:coffeeObj]; }

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The first line, it sends a deleteCoffee message to the coffee object, lets see how the code for that looks like
//Method is declared in the header file. //Full code listing not shown - (void) deleteCoffee;

deleteCoffee is implemented in SQLAppDelegate.m file.

- (void) deleteCoffee {

if(deleteStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "delete from Coffee where coffeeID = ?"; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &deleteStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating delete statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } //When binding parameters, index starts from 1 and not zero. sqlite3_bind_int(deleteStmt, 1, coffeeID); if (SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(deleteStmt)) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while deleting. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database));
sqlite3_reset(deleteStmt); }

The deleteStmt as a static variable whose type is sqlite3_stmt. Deceleration shown below
#import "Coffee.h"

static sqlite3 *database = nil; static sqlite3_stmt *deleteStmt = nil;

@implementation Coffee

We first prepare the delete statement with the sql query delete from Coffee where CoffeeID = ?. The ? specifies that we have to pass a parameter to the statement, we do this using sqlite3_bind_int method since the parameter we have to pass is an int. Note that the index is specified as 1 and not 0 because when assigining parameters the index starts from 1 and not 0. sqlite_step is called to execute the delete statement and if it returns SQLITE_DONE it means that the row is deleted successfully. Click here to get a list of complete return codes by SQLite. We then reset the delete statement so it can be reused later, without having the need to build it. Run your application and delete a row to test.

Conclusion
Deleting rows is very easy and straight forward. In my next tutorial, I will show you insert data in the database.

SQLite Tutorial Saving images in the database

Introduction
Using BLOB data type we can store an image in the SQLite database. The data that actually gets stored in the database is the bytes that make up an image or a file. The is the sixth tutorial in SQLite tutorial series and borrows its source code from the previous one. We will change the DetailView by adding a new section which will be used to display or change the image. The image can only be changed when the view is in the edit mode. We will use a UIImagePickerController to display the photo album and to select an image.

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Changing the database

Lets start by adding a new column to our Coffee database. Name the column CoffeeImage and set its data type to BLOB. This is how the database schema looks like in SQLite manager

Changing the Coffee Class

Add a new property to the Coffee class which will hold the image from the database. This is how the header and the implementation files look like
//Coffee.h //Complete code listing not shown @interface Coffee : NSObject { NSInteger coffeeID; NSString *coffeeName; NSDecimalNumber *price; UIImage *coffeeImage; //Complete Code listing not shown ... } @property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger coffeeID; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *coffeeName; @property (nonatomic, copy) NSDecimalNumber *price; @property (nonatomic, retain) UIImage *coffeeImage; //Complete Code listing not shown ...

The new property is synthesized and released in the dealloc method

//Coffee.m //Complete code listing now shown @synthesize coffeeID, coffeeName, price, isDirty, isDetailViewHydrated, coffeeImage; - (void)setCoffeeImage:(UIImage *)theCoffeeImage { self.isDirty = YES; [coffeeImage release]; coffeeImage = [theCoffeeImage retain]; } - (void) dealloc { [coffeeImage release]; [price release]; [coffeeName release]; [super dealloc]; }

Changing the Detail View

Lets add a new row to the detail view, which will be used to display the image or to change the image in edit mode. Since the style of the table view placed on the detail view is set to Grouped, we will return three sections in numberOfSectionsInTableView and this is how the source code looks like
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//DetailViewController.h - (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tblView { return 3; }

Lets also display a title for the new section in tableView:titleForHeaderInSection. The code changes like this
//DetailViewController.m - (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section { NSString *sectionName = nil; switch (section) { case 0: sectionName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Coffee Name"]; break; case 1: sectionName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Price"]; break; case 2: sectionName = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"Coffee Image"]; break; } return sectionName; }

Displaying the photo album

Now we need to display a photo album when the section is selected in edit mode. From this album we can select a image to be saved in the database. Using a UIImagePickerController we can capture an image from the camera or the photo library on the device. UIImagePickerController class manages all the user interactions and all we have to do is display and dismiss it. Before we can display the view, we need to check if the interface is supported by calling isSourceTypeAvailable class method. The delegate of the UIImagePickerController should also confirm to UINavigationControllerDelegate and UIImagePickerControllerDelegate. In this case we will set the delegate of UIImagePickerController to DetailViewController and this is how the header and implementation file changes
//DetailViewController.h @class Coffee, EditViewController; @interface DetailViewController : UIViewController &lt;UINavigationControllerDelegate, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate&gt; { IBOutlet UITableView *tableView; Coffee *coffeeObj; NSIndexPath *selectedIndexPath; EditViewController *evController; UIImagePickerController *imagePickerView; } @property (nonatomic, retain) Coffee *coffeeObj; @end

The variable imagePickerView is released in the dealloc method and the code listing is now shown here. We will initialize imagePickerView in viewDidLoad method and this is how the code changes
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//DetailViewController.m - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem; //Configure the UIImagePickerController imagePickerView = [[UIImagePickerController alloc] init]; imagePickerView.delegate = self; }

From the above code, imagePickerView is initialized and its delegate is set to self. This way DetailViewController will be notified of all the user actions on the picker controller. First, we need to display the view and it is done in tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath and this is how the code looks like
//DetailViewController.m - (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { //Keep track of the row selected. selectedIndexPath = indexPath; if(evController == nil) evController = [[EditViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"EditView" bundle:nil]; //Find out which field is being edited. switch(indexPath.section) { case 0: evController.keyOfTheFieldToEdit = @"coffeeName"; evController.editValue = coffeeObj.coffeeName; //Object being edited. evController.objectToEdit = coffeeObj; //Push the edit view controller on top of the stack. [self.navigationController pushViewController:evController animated:YES]; break; case 1: evController.keyOfTheFieldToEdit = @"price"; evController.editValue = [coffeeObj.price stringValue]; //Object being edited. evController.objectToEdit = coffeeObj; //Push the edit view controller on top of the stack. [self.navigationController pushViewController:evController animated:YES]; break; case 2: if([UIImagePickerController isSourceTypeAvailable:UIImagePickerControllerSourceTypePhotoLibrary]) [self presentModalViewController:imagePickerView animated:YES]; break; } }

First confirm if the photo library is available on the device or not, if it is then present the view to the user. The method imagePickerController:didFinishPickingImage:editingInfo is called when an image is selected. This is how the code looks like

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//DetailViewController.m - (void)imagePickerController:(UIImagePickerController *)picker didFinishPickingImage:(UIImage *)image editingInfo:(NSDictionary *)dictionary { coffeeObj.coffeeImage = image; [tableView reloadData]; [picker dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES]; }

We get the selected image and set the coffeeImage property of the selected coffee. The table view is then reloaded and the picker view is dismissed.

Display the coffee image

We will display the coffee image in tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath and this is how the code looks like
//DetailViewController.m - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tblView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"Cell"; UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier]; if (cell == nil) { cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease]; } switch(indexPath.section) { case 0: cell.text = coffeeObj.coffeeName; break; case 1: cell.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@", coffeeObj.price]; break; case 2: cell.text = @"Change Image"; if(coffeeObj.coffeeImage != nil) cell.image = coffeeObj.coffeeImage; break; } return cell; }

If the index of the section is 2 then we set the title of the cell to Change Image and the image to the coffee image.

Saving image in the SQLite database

Until now we havent saved the image in the database because we only save data when the application is being terminated or if a memory warning is received. The data is saved in saveAllData method as seen in the previous tutorial. Lets change this method to save the image in the database which now has a new column called CoffeeImage to hold the image as bytes. This is how the code looks like
//Coffee.m - (void) saveAllData { if(isDirty) { if(updateStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "update Coffee Set CoffeeName = ?, Price = ?, CoffeeImage = ? Where CoffeeID = ?";

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if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &amp;updateStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating update statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } sqlite3_bind_text(updateStmt, 1, [coffeeName UTF8String], -1, SQLITE_TRANSIENT); sqlite3_bind_double(updateStmt, 2, [price doubleValue]); NSData *imgData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(self.coffeeImage); int returnValue = -1; if(self.coffeeImage != nil) returnValue = sqlite3_bind_blob(updateStmt, 3, [imgData bytes], [imgData length], NULL); else returnValue = sqlite3_bind_blob(updateStmt, 3, nil, -1, NULL); sqlite3_bind_int(updateStmt, 4, coffeeID); if(returnValue != SQLITE_OK) NSLog(@"Not OK!!!"); if(SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(updateStmt)) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while updating. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); sqlite3_reset(updateStmt); isDirty = NO; } //Reclaim all memory here. [coffeeName release]; coffeeName = nil; [price release]; price = nil; isDetailViewHydrated = NO; }

We first rewrite the update query to include the CoffeeImage column. We also need a way to get the image data as bytes and this is where UIImagePNGRepresentation method helps us. We then bind the BLOB parameter using sqlite3_bind_blob method. The first parameter takes the update statement, the second parameter takes the index of the parameter value, the third one is the actual data itself, the fourth one is the length of the data which is being saved, and a pointer to a method which is responsible to clean up the data. If sqlite3_bind_blob method does not return SQLITE_OK then we display an error in NSLog. If there is no error while saving the data then we have successfully saved the image in the SQLite database on the iPhone/iPod.

Getting an image from the SQLite database

We now have to get the data from the database when the detail view is loaded. This is done in hydrateDetailViewData method and this is how the code changes
//DetailViewController.m - (void) hydrateDetailViewData {

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//If the detail view is hydrated then do not get it from the database. if(isDetailViewHydrated) return; if(detailStmt == nil) { const char *sql = "Select price, CoffeeImage from Coffee Where CoffeeID = ?"; if(sqlite3_prepare_v2(database, sql, -1, &amp;detailStmt, NULL) != SQLITE_OK) NSAssert1(0, @"Error while creating detail view statement. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); } sqlite3_bind_int(detailStmt, 1, coffeeID); if(SQLITE_DONE != sqlite3_step(detailStmt)) { //Get the price in a temporary variable. NSDecimalNumber *priceDN = [[NSDecimalNumber alloc] initWithDouble:sqlite3_column_double(detailStmt, 0)]; //Assign the price. The price value will be copied, since the property is declared with "copy" attribute. self.price = priceDN; NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] initWithBytes:sqlite3_column_blob(detailStmt, 1) length:sqlite3_column_bytes(detailStmt, 1)]; if(data == nil) NSLog(@"No image found."); else self.coffeeImage = [UIImage imageWithData:data]; //Release the temporary variable. Since we created it using alloc, we have own it. [priceDN release]; } else NSAssert1(0, @"Error while getting the price of coffee. '%s'", sqlite3_errmsg(database)); //Reset the detail statement. sqlite3_reset(detailStmt); //Set isDetailViewHydrated as YES, so we do not get it again from the database. isDetailViewHydrated = YES; }

The select query is changed to include CoffeeImage column and we use sqlite3_column_blob method to load the BLOB data into variable of type NSData. WE create an image of type NSData from imageWithData class method. The rest of the code works as described above. This tutorial wasnt designed to display imags anywhere and is a direct result of all the emails I got asking, how to save images in the SQLite database. So if you choose an image which does not fit in the section, it will take up all the space on the view.

Conclusion
This tutorial explains how to save and read images from a SQLite database. We can use the same functionality to save files in the database. I hope you had fun and learnt something new with this tutorial.
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