All the code necessary to find a Category object by name in Objective C

Category.h

#import <CoreData/CoreData.h>
#import "FindableData.h"

@interface Category :  FindableData
{
}

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSString *name;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSSet *auctions;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *auctionCount;

@end

@interface Category (CoreDataGeneratedAccessors)
+ (NSArray *)findByName:(NSString *)name fromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context;
@end

Category.m

#import "Category.h"

@implementation Category 

@dynamic name;
@dynamic auctions;
@dynamic auctionCount;

+ (NSArray *)findByName:(NSString *)name fromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context {
  NSArray *fetchResults = nil;
  NSPredicate *predicate = nil;
  
  if (name != nil) {
    predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:@"name = %@",name];
  }
  fetchResults = [super findFromContext:context withEntity:@"Category" andPredicate:predicate];
  return fetchResults;
}

@end

FindableData.h

#import <CoreData/CoreData.h>

@interface FindableData : NSManagedObject {
}

+ (NSArray *)findFromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context withEntity:(NSString *)entityName andPredicate:(NSPredicate *)pred;
+ (NSArray *)findFromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context withEntity:(NSString *)entityName;
@end

FindableData.m

#import "FindableData.h"

@implementation FindableData

+ (NSArray *)findFromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context withEntity:(NSString *)entityName andPredicate:(NSPredicate *)pred {
  NSError *fetchError = nil;
  NSArray *fetchResults;
  NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [[NSFetchRequest alloc] init];
  
  NSEntityDescription *entity = [NSEntityDescription entityForName:entityName inManagedObjectContext:context];
  [fetchRequest setEntity:entity];
  if (pred != nil) [fetchRequest setPredicate:pred];
  fetchResults = [context executeFetchRequest:fetchRequest error:&fetchError];
  [fetchRequest release];
  if (fetchResults != nil && ([fetchResults count] > 0) && fetchError == nil) {
    return fetchResults;
  }

  if (fetchError != nil) {
    NSLog(@"find error: %@", fetchError);
  } else {
    //  Could not fetch any results; that's not really an error, though.
    if(pred != nil) {
      NSLog(@"No results searching for: %@", pred);
    } else {
      NSLog(@"No %@ data.", entityName);
    }
  }

  return nil;  
}

+ (NSArray *)findFromContext:(NSManagedObjectContext *)context withEntity:(NSString *)entityName {
  return [FindableData findFromContext:context withEntity:entityName andPredicate:nil];
}
@end