How to update the whole UI according to the configuration the user selects

Question

I have a configfile1.plist file in my app bundle that includes all the required settings for the UI of the app, i.e. the background images, the animations, the sounds, database, and anything else. I have used a ConfigFileManager class in which there's this method as follows:

-(void) loadConfigFile
{
    configFile = [[NSBundle  mainBundle] pathForResource:@"ConfigFile1"
                                              ofType:@"plist"];
rootDictionary = [[NSDictionary alloc]initWithContentsOfFile:configFile];

//__ settings
settings = [rootDictionary objectForKey:@"settings"];
timerMode = [settings objectForKey:@"timerMode"];
timePerQuestion = [settings objectForKey:@"timePerQuestion"];
if (timerMode.intValue == 1) {
    //__time is fixed.
}
else
{
    //time is not fixed, there's an initialTime to begin with, and it increases if the answer is correct (timePerQuestion), and doesn't change if it's wrong.
    initialTime = [settings objectForKey:@"initialTime"];
}

//__ Textures
textures = [rootDictionary objectForKey:@"textures"];

//__ buttons
buttons = [textures objectForKey:@"buttons"];
buttonBackground = [buttons objectForKey:@"buttonBG"];
buttonBackgroundSelected = [buttons objectForKey:@"buttonBGSelected"];
mainMenuPlayButton = [buttons objectForKey:@"mainMenu.playButton"];
.
.
.
}

This is the default configuration for the app for which the method is called in the app delegate while the app is being opened. Now let's say I have configfile2.plist, configfile3.plist, and so on. I have a UIViewController for this, too, that must display the available config files in a table view. What should I do this, so that the user can select one of the config files, and that gets applied to the whole app?

Any detailed response will be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Why not store user's choice, and whenever loadConfigFile is called, load user's choice from what's stored rather than "ConfigFile1"? — BabyPanda, Jan 15 '13 at 09:11
@TonyMkenu Have upvoted the answers, already, shall I do anything else? :-/ — Neeku, Jan 15 '13 at 09:30
@Neeku You accept the answer by clicking on the checkmark icon. — Peter Warbo, Jan 15 '13 at 09:34
@TonyMkenu Thank you for letting me know about this. Had never noticed or knew I should do so. : ) — Neeku, Jan 15 '13 at 09:49
check this answer http://stackoverflow.com/a/8919422/1702413 — TonyMkenu, Jan 15 '13 at 10:05
Yes! Have been reading it, while still being surprised at how he's explained everything so nicely! but to be honest I didn't get how it will be selected/applied upon the user's choice. — Neeku, Jan 15 '13 at 10:17
Ah! I see! Thought it was you TonyMkenu. Thanks to @PeterWarbo, too. — Neeku, Jan 15 '13 at 10:20

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jan 15 '13 at 10:37

The general idea is like this:

a .plist stores possible options
shows the options to user
save the selected options to somewhere
refresh UI based on saved options

You have done step 1 and 2. So you have to decide where to store the options for later retrieval.

One option is to use [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] to save selected options. You may check out InAppSettingsKit and its sample app to see how the whole thing work.

How to update the whole UI according to the configuration the user selects

1 Answers1