How to assign a managed object context to the application delegate in iOS?

Question

I created an iOS project and a managed object model (Model.xcdatamodeld) with one entity. In application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: I want to test if the managed object model exists, however I am getting nil. Do I have to do something special to create the managed object context after I create the managed object model?

Any suggestions on what I may be doing wrong?

This is the interface

@interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate>
{

}

@property (nonatomic, strong, readonly) NSManagedObjectContext *managedObjectContext;
@property (nonatomic, strong, readonly) NSManagedObjectModel *managedObjectModel;
@property (nonatomic, strong, readonly) NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *persistentStoreCoordinator;

@end

This is the implementation file

#import "AppDelegate.h"
#import "RootViewController.h"

@implementation AppDelegate

@synthesize window = _window;
@synthesize managedObjectContext = _managedObjectContext;
@synthesize managedObjectModel = _managedObjectModel;
@synthesize persistentStoreCoordinator = _persistentStoreCoordinator;
@synthesize navigationController = _navigationController;


- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
    if (![self managedObjectContext]) 
    {
        NSLog(@"Does not exist");
    }

    return YES;
}

Varela

Answer 1

Old Xcode generated appropriate code for CoreData by itself. Posting it below:

#pragma mark - Core Data stack

/**
 Returns the managed object context for the application.
 If the context doesn't already exist, it is created and bound to the persistent store coordinator for the application.
 */
- (NSManagedObjectContext *)managedObjectContext
{
    if (__managedObjectContext != nil)
    {
        return __managedObjectContext;
    }

    NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *coordinator = [self persistentStoreCoordinator];
    if (coordinator != nil)
    {
        __managedObjectContext = [[NSManagedObjectContext alloc] init];
        [__managedObjectContext setPersistentStoreCoordinator:coordinator];
    }
    return __managedObjectContext;
}

/**
 Returns the managed object model for the application.
 If the model doesn't already exist, it is created from the application's model.
 */
- (NSManagedObjectModel *)managedObjectModel
{
    if (__managedObjectModel != nil)
    {
        return __managedObjectModel;
    }
    NSURL *modelURL = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:@"iDocs" withExtension:@"momd"];
    __managedObjectModel = [[NSManagedObjectModel alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:modelURL];    
    return __managedObjectModel;
}

/**
 Returns the persistent store coordinator for the application.
 If the coordinator doesn't already exist, it is created and the application's store added to it.
 */
- (NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *)persistentStoreCoordinator
{
    if (__persistentStoreCoordinator != nil)
    {
        return __persistentStoreCoordinator;
    }

    NSURL *storeURL = [[self applicationDocumentsDirectory] URLByAppendingPathComponent:@"iDocs.sqlite"];

    NSError *error = nil;
    __persistentStoreCoordinator = [[NSPersistentStoreCoordinator alloc] initWithManagedObjectModel:[self managedObjectModel]];
    if (![__persistentStoreCoordinator addPersistentStoreWithType:NSSQLiteStoreType configuration:nil URL:storeURL options:nil error:&error])
    {
        /*
         Replace this implementation with code to handle the error appropriately.

         abort() causes the application to generate a crash log and terminate. You should not use this function in a shipping application, although it may be useful during development. If it is not possible to recover from the error, display an alert panel that instructs the user to quit the application by pressing the Home button.

         Typical reasons for an error here include:
         * The persistent store is not accessible;
         * The schema for the persistent store is incompatible with current managed object model.
         Check the error message to determine what the actual problem was.


         If the persistent store is not accessible, there is typically something wrong with the file path. Often, a file URL is pointing into the application's resources directory instead of a writeable directory.

         If you encounter schema incompatibility errors during development, you can reduce their frequency by:
         * Simply deleting the existing store:
         [[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtURL:storeURL error:nil]

         * Performing automatic lightweight migration by passing the following dictionary as the options parameter: 
         [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:[NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], NSMigratePersistentStoresAutomaticallyOption, [NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], NSInferMappingModelAutomaticallyOption, nil];

         Lightweight migration will only work for a limited set of schema changes; consult "Core Data Model Versioning and Data Migration Programming Guide" for details.

         */
        NSLog(@"Unresolved error %@, %@", error, [error userInfo]);
        abort();
    }    

    return __persistentStoreCoordinator;
}

Fireplug

Ah ok. I started with a non core data project so those methods were never created for me. I just thought creating the managed object model was sufficient. Thanks. – Varela

You defined properties in your class which could be used to refer to managed object model/context/store-coordinator objects, but you did not create any actual objects. – Terza