Parsing simple XML in Objective-C

I have the following very simple XML returned from a webserver which I use ASIHttpRequest to connect to:

<element1>something</element1>
<element2>somethingelse</element2>
<element3>anotherthing</element3>

ASIHttpRequest can return i开发者_StackOverflow社区t as NSData or NSString. I need to parse the information, what is the easiest way to do so?

Thanks

There are some XML parsers available for iOS NSXMLParser, libxml2 (DOM and SAX),TBXML,KissXML. You can refer http://www.raywenderlich.com/553/how-to-chose-the-best-xml-parser-for-your-iphone-project to choose best XML Parser (Speed and memory footprint). Easiest would be TBXML. NSXMLParser is easy as well.

NSXMLParser* xmlParser = [[NSXMLParser alloc] initWithData:receivedXMLData];//init NSXMLParser with receivedXMLData
[xmlParser setDelegate:self]; // Set delegate for NSXMLParser
[xmlParser parse]; //Start parsing
[xmlParser release];

//Delegate Methods
//Have a instance variable NSMutableString* currentString; to hold data between elements and NSMutableArray* elementsArray; to hold parsed data

- (void)parserDidStartDocument:(NSXMLParser *)parser
{
    elementsArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}

//store all found characters between elements in currentString mutable string
- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser foundCharacters:(NSString *)string
{
    if(!currentString)
    {
        currentString = [[NSMutableString alloc] init];
    }
    [currentString appendString:string];    
}

//When end of XML tag is found this method gets notified
- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser didEndElement:(NSString *)elementName namespaceURI:(NSString *)namespaceURI qualifiedName:(NSString *)qName
{
    if([elementName isEqualToString:@"element1"])
    {
        [elementsArray addObject:currentString];
        [currentString release],currentString=nil;
        return;
    }
    if([elementName isEqualToString:@"element2"])
    {
        [elementsArray addObject:currentString];
        [currentString release],currentString=nil;
        return;
    }
    if([elementName isEqualToString:@"element3"])
    {
        [elementsArray addObject:currentString];
        [currentString release],currentString=nil;
        return;
    }
    [currentString release],currentString =nil;
}

//Parsing has ended
- (void)parserDidEndDocument:(NSXMLParser *)parser
{
    NSLog(@"Content of Elements Array: %@",elementsArray);
        [elementsArray release],elementsArray=nil;
}

- (void)parser:(NSXMLParser *)parser parseErrorOccurred:(NSError *)parseError
{
    UIAlertView* parseErrorAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Parse Error" message:[NString stringWithFormat:"%@",[parseError localizedDescription]] delegate:nil cancelButtonTitle:@"Ok" otherButtonTitles:nil];
    [parseErrorAlert show];
    [parseErrorAlert release];
}

You have other delegate methods too like parseErrorOccured. Refer http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Classes/NSXMLParser_Class/Reference/Reference.html

For TBXML : http://tbxml.co.uk/TBXML/API.html Updated: Implemented parseError delegate method and valid xml example XML You posted in code is not a valid XML (You can check XML validation online: http://validator.w3.org/#validate_by_input) so it will throw an parseError. Here is valid XML for XML you posted in question:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<root>
 <element1>something</element1>
 <element2>somethingelse</element2>
 <element3>anotherthing</element3>
</root>

Try also XMLObject. This may helps if you want to keep your cocoa style in your project.