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/*

 NSArray toSentence

 ------------------

 If we have an array of strings like

 

 NSArray *myArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects: @"home", @"work", @"holiday", @"unknown", nil];

 

 using this category, you can output it in a nice format using a single call.

 

 NSString *output = [myArray toSentence:];

 

 The default call with no options (toSentence:) will return this string:

 "home, work, holiday and unknown"

 

 The default word connector being "," and the last word connector being "and". We can override these

 default connectors by passing a dictionary to the toSentence call.

 

 NSDictionary *outputOptions = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:

 @" or ", @"wordConnector",

 @" then ", @"lastWordConnector", nil];

 NSString *output = [myArray toSentence: outputOptions];

 

 This call with options (toSentence: outputOptions) will return this string:

 "home or work or holiday then unknown"

 */

@interface NSArray(mutableArrayExtensions)

-(id)toSentence:(NSDictionary *)options;

@end

 

#import "NSArray+outputHelpers.h"

//see header file for usage

 

@implementation NSArray(mutableArrayExtensions)

-(id)toSentence:(NSDictionary *)options{       

        //initialize the temp string with the first string object in self

        NSMutableString *tempString = [NSMutableString stringWithFormat:@"%@", [self objectAtIndex:0]];

       

        //get our options or set the defaults

        NSString *lastWordConnector = [options objectForKey:@"lastWordConnector"] ? [options objectForKey:@"lastWordConnector"] : @" and ";

        NSString *wordConnector = [options objectForKey:@"wordConnector"] ? [options objectForKey:@"wordConnector"] : @", ";

       

        //connect the first upto but not-including the last object

        int i;

        for(i=1;i<self.count-1;i++){

                [tempString appendFormat:@"%@%@", wordConnector, [self objectAtIndex:i]];

        }

        //now append the last object

        [tempString appendFormat:@"%@%@", lastWordConnector, [self lastObject]];

        return tempString;

}

@end