I have a fairly simple iPhone application, consisting of many views containing a single-group table view. These views are combined in navigation controllers, which are grouped in a tab bar. Simple stuff.
My views in the table do a little more than the list text (for example, “Dog”, “Cat” and “Weasel”), and this data comes from the plists collection. It may also be worth mentioning that these tables are “static” in the sense that their data is predefined and will only ever change - and if so, very rarely - by the developer (in this case, moi).
This rudimentary approach has reached its limits, though, and I think that I will need something more relational. In the past, I worked with Core Data, but only with applications whose data is determined by user input.
I have four closely related questions:
- Is Core Data overkill for an application consisting mainly of a few simple table views?
- Do you recommend using Core Data to manage data that is predefined and is unlikely to ever change?
- Is it possible to lock Core Data so that its data cannot change, thereby relinquishing my responsibility as a developer to handle editing and save the context of a managed entity?
- How do I transfer my predefined data to Core Data, and in what format do I know what it can work with?
Thanks to the guys from the group.