[DaGuy]

Before I write a bunch of code, I must ask if there's a straightforward way to do the following data load.

I have a flat file which is comma delimited and has a CR for end of line. Pretty standard.

I would like to use NSScanner to figure out how many columns are present in a row. This can be done by simply counting the commas until the CR is encountered.

This is the first time that I use NSScanner and I haven't found anything half decent on it. I could do this by some brute force approach but I'll float this around and see what neat suggestions I get.

Thanks in advance.

[disco_stu]

This seems to do the trick - you might be able to find a faster/easier/better way, but this is what I came up w/:

- (int)numberOfColumns
{
int numberOfColumns;
NSString *firstLine;
NSScanner *scanner = [[NSScanner alloc] initWithString:@"this,is,a,test,of,the,emergency,b roadcast,system\nthis,is,only,a,test."];
if ( [scanner scanUpToString:@"\n" intoString:&firstLine] )
numberOfColumns = [[firstLine componentsSeparatedByString:@","] count];
else
numberOfColumns = -1; // error
return numberOfColumns;
}

[DaGuy]

Yup that looks a whole lot more straightforward then what I was thinking. Appreciate your assistance, thanks very much.

[disco_stu]

Glad I could help