how to save and read array of array in NSUserdefaults in swift?

Question

I need create an array to add objects with this format like a dictionary in Swift : ["key1": "value1", "key2": "value2"]

When I try to save it with NSUserDefaults all is correct, but when read NSUserDefaults with the key this crashes. What type of data does my var obj need?

let def = NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults()
var key = "keySave"
var element: AnyObject!

var array1: [AnyObject!] = []
array1.append(["key1": "val1", "key2": "val2"])
array1.append(["key1": "val1", "key2": "val2"])

//save
var savestring : [AnyObject!]
savestring = array1
var defaults = NSUserDefaults.standardUserDefaults()
defaults.setObject(savestring, forKey: key)
defaults.synchronize()

//read
var obj: [AnyObject!] = []
if(obj != nil){
    print("size: ")
    print(obj.count) //vary long value confused..
    element = obj[0]  //crash
    print(element.objectForKey("key1"))
}

Answer 1

The question reads "array of array" but I think most people probably come here just wanting to know how to save an array to UserDefaults. For those people I will add a few common examples.

String array

Save array

let array = ["horse", "cow", "camel", "sheep", "goat"]

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
defaults.set(array, forKey: "SavedStringArray")

Retrieve array

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
let myarray = defaults.stringArray(forKey: "SavedStringArray") ?? [String]()

Int array

Save array

let array = [15, 33, 36, 723, 77, 4]

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
defaults.set(array, forKey: "SavedIntArray")

Retrieve array

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
let array = defaults.array(forKey: "SavedIntArray")  as? [Int] ?? [Int]()

Bool array

Save array

let array = [true, true, false, true, false]

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
defaults.set(array, forKey: "SavedBoolArray")

Retrieve array

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
let array = defaults.array(forKey: "SavedBoolArray")  as? [Bool] ?? [Bool]()

Date array

Save array

let array = [Date(), Date(), Date(), Date()]

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
defaults.set(array, forKey: "SavedDateArray")

Retrieve array

let defaults = UserDefaults.standard
let array = defaults.array(forKey: "SavedDateArray")  as? [Date] ?? [Date]()

Object array

Custom objects (and consequently arrays of objects) take a little more work to save to UserDefaults. See the following links for how to do it.

• Save custom objects into NSUserDefaults
• Docs for saving color to UserDefaults
• Attempt to set a non-property-list object as an NSUserDefaults

Notes

• The nil coalescing operator (??) allows you to return the saved array or an empty array without crashing. It means that if the object returns nil, then the value following the ?? operator will be used instead.
• As you can see, the basic setup was the same for Int, Bool, and Date. I also tested it with Double. As far as I know, anything that you can save in a property list will work like this.