How to get permission with NSSavePanel in sandbox environment - objective-c

There is a project with sandbox environment, right now i want to let users choose a dir to save files. For example, when user choose "Desktop" in the save panel, then i will save file to the dir "~/Desktop".
The code is as below:
NSSavePanel *savePanel = [NSSavePanel savePanel];
NSInteger result = [savePanel runModal];
if(result == NSFileHandlingPanelOKButton)
{
NSString *dir = [savePanel.URL.path.stringByDeletingLastPathComponent stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"2.txt"];
NSError *err;
NSLog(#"%#",dir);
[#"asasasa" writeToFile:dir atomically:YES encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&err];
NSLog(#"%#",err);
}
The error happens that Code=513 "You don’t have permission to save the file “2.txt” in the folder “Desktop”.
I have already enable Read/Write of User Selected File in the Capabilities settings. Anybody can tell me what should i do right now ?
Thanks in advance.

You are not saving the file to the URL you got permission for, you changed the URL. This is not allowed.
Specify 2.txt in the save panel so the URL you get back is ~/Desktop/2.txt. Then saving will work.
Side note: There is also an URL related API like writeToURL:atomically:encoding:error and URLByAppendingPathComponent:

Related

My OSX app is sandboxed and I am not able to read data from file by specifying the absolute path

I am completely new to objective C and currently I am trying to advance the functionality of an already existing project.
There is a finder extension in the project which on getting clicked performs an action inside (IBAction) Share(id) sender.
Inside this action , I want to read a file from a particular location (the file contains the port number) and using that port I want to connect to the server.
But what I found was when I click on this extension , nothing happens because it tries to go and read data from the file and is not able to read anything.
I tried to debug this by printing out whatever it has read to some other file but all it printed was blank confirming that it is not able to read the data. Below is my code trying to read the port from a temporary location :
- (IBAction)privateShareAction:(id)sender {
NSFileManager *filemgr;
filemgr = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
if ([filemgr fileExistsAtPath: #"/var/folders/y3/jv117_75505fnk8htdrs0qm40000gr/T/com.aprivacy.xmlCorePort.properties" ] == YES)
{
//create file handle
NSFileHandle *file;
file = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForReadingAtPath:#"/var/folders/y3/jv117_75505fnk8htdrs0qm40000gr/T/com.aprivacy.xmlCorePort.properties"];
//read data into file in NSData format
NSData *filedata;
filedata = [file readDataToEndOfFile];
NSLog(#"fileDATA = %#", filedata);
//convert NSData to NSString
NSString *string;
string = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:filedata encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
NSMutableString *directoryPath1 = [NSMutableString stringWithString: #"share1>"];
[directoryPath1 appendString: string];
NSData *dataToWrite3 = [directoryPath1 dataUsingEncoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSFileHandle* outputFile = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForWritingAtPath:#"/Users/yp/Downloads/a.txt"];
[outputFile seekToEndOfFile];
[outputFile writeData:dataToWrite3];
//convert from string to array
NSArray *lines = [string componentsSeparatedByString:#"="];
NSLog(#"arrau = %#", lines);
//take one of the string and store it in sword
NSString *sword = [lines objectAtIndex:1];
NSLog(#"port : %#", sword);
int port1=[sword intValue];
Communicator *c = [[Communicator alloc ]init];
c.host=#"http:127.0.0.1";
c.port=port1;
[c setup];
}
else
{
NSAlert *alert = [[NSAlert alloc] init];
[alert setMessageText:#"Error"];
[alert setInformativeText:#"You are not logged in.Kindly login to start performing the operations"];
[alert setAlertStyle:NSWarningAlertStyle];
[alert runModal];
}
}
The above code, on the action performed first tries to check if the file is present at the /var/folders/y3/jv117_75505fnk8htdrs0qm40000gr/T/com.aprivacy.xmlCorePort.properties location or not.
This works perfectly fine , If the file is present , it shows a popup alert (which happens).
But if the file is present , it goes inside the if condition and tries to read the file where it fails .It always prints a blank string showing that nothing is being read.
So then I went and checked the entitlements in App Sandbox.
I tried to add an entitlement named com.apple.security.temporary-exception.files.absolute-path.read-only with a string value set to /var/folders/y3/jv117_75505fnk8htdrs0qm40000gr/T/com.aprivacy.xmlCorePort.properties so that it gets the permission to read the file from this location but still it doesn't solve my problem.
Could anyone please suggest how to get this file reading permission accessible in my app because the same code works completely fine in a newly created test project.
Following steps : Original client app running -login with user name and password Once logged in -it writes the port in a file At the same time ,once you are logged in with your application , if now you right click on any file in your system you will see certain extra extensions like share ,grant access etc. (This is because a finder project used to add extensions is merged with the original client) Now when I click on say share (on right clicking a file) , I want an action to be performed.The logic for action is written in (IBAction)Share (id) sender method This app used to add extensions is sandboxed because of which the permissions are restricted. So while I clicked on share , my logic was to read that file ,get the port and then connect to server using that port. I want to do everything inside action but I am unable to do so . It is not able to find the file data from /var/folder/y3/jv117_755fdlvfldsvgr/T/com.aprivacy.xmlcorePort.properties
Sandboxed apps (all in iOS) are only allowed access to specific directories. Use NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomainsto obtain paths to available directories.
Ex:
Objective-C:
NSArray *documentDirectoryPath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) firstObject];
NSString *filePath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:fileName];
NSError *error;
BOOL status = [string writeToFile:filePath atomically:YES encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&error];
if (status == NSError) {
NSLog(#"error: %#", error)
}
Swift:
let filePath = "path/file.txt";
let documentDirectoryPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true).first as! String
let path = documentDirectoryPath + filePath
Note: Sandboxed paths is not consistent across clean builds.
Don't use absolute paths in sandboxed applications.
In OS X there is the NSTemporaryDirectory() function to have access to the temporary directory for this specific application in the container. Entitlements are not needed.
From the documentation
Some path-finding APIs (above the POSIX layer) refer to app-specific
locations outside of the user’s home directory. In a sandboxed app,
for example, the NSTemporaryDirectory function provides a path to a
directory that is outside of the user’s home directory but specific to
your app and within your sandbox; you have unrestricted read/write
access to it for the current user. The behavior of these path-finding
APIs is suitably adjusted for App Sandbox and no code change is
needed.
Source: App Sandbox in Depth

OSX application loses permissions to read a directory after app re-start

My OSX application is intended to monitor a folder on the computer which the user has selected. Very simply, I have a function which scans the directory:
- (NSError*)scan:(NSString*)dir {
NSError *err = nil;
NSArray *filenames = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:dir error:&err];
for(NSString* fn in filenames) {
NSString *fp = [dir stringByAppendingPathComponent:fn];
BOOL isDir;
BOOL exists = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:fp isDirectory:&isDir];
if(exists && isDir) {
[self scan:fp];
}
else {
[self handleFile:fp];
}
}
NSLog(#"Scanning %#: %#",dir,err);
return err;
}
When I first start the application, I present a UI to select the folder and then immediately scan it. The operation works great (no errors).
When I restart the application, I attempt to scan the directory again, but this time the NSLog spits out an error:
Scanning /Users/zane/Dropbox/Gifs: Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=257 "The file “Gifs” couldn’t be opened because you don’t have permission to view it." UserInfo=0x608000476d40 {NSFilePath=/Users/zane/Dropbox/Gifs, NSUserStringVariant=(
Folder
), NSUnderlyingError=0x60800005d3d0 "The operation couldn’t be completed. (OSStatus error -5000.)"}
Note that the path has not changed.
I suspect that the problem has to do with .entitlements. Here's what I've got:
If you are going to use the same file or folder the user already selected, then you need to save the path as a security-scoped bookmark when the user selects that path. Read its bookmark data when the user restarts the application in order to use the saved path. There's a description of security-scoped bookmark at the middle of this page. Use the URLByResolvingBookmarkData method of NSURL to return a security-scoped bookmark. Use the bookmarkDataWithOptions method or equivalent of NSURL to resume the security-scoped bookmark.

Cocoa saving text files when distributing

In the app I'm designing I have a couple text fields that each save to a .txt file when the app is closed, and then read back in when the app opens up; however, when I try to distribute the app (just exporting it as an application and dropboxing it to some friends) the people I'm sending it to don't have the file locations that I'm saving to on their computers, so the text fields don't save. Is there a way I can create the .txt files on their computers when the app downloads? or is there a better way to save when distributing than doing .txt files? Thanks.
Why not just use NSUserDefaults and store the (hopefully fairly small) text in the app's preferences database? It's guaranteed to exist and be accessible without running afoul of sandbox restrictions or nonstandard storage locations.
Beyond that, you'll need to provide more information if you want a direct answer to your question. Specifically, what is the exact path you're using and what is the exact error you're receiving? Why do you feel you need to bundle empty text files when all it takes is creating the file(s) at runtime?
I would just package the initial .txt file in your application bundle. Check if the file exists on your user's local file system. If not, read your bundle's .txt file into a string, then save that string to the user's file system in the correct place.
NSError *fileError = nil;
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:filePath]) {
//Read the file
NSString *fileContents = [[NSString alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:filePath encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&fileError];
if (fileError) {
//Handle the error
}
} else {
NSString *bundlePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"initialFile" ofType:#"txt"];
NSString *initialFileContents = [[NSString alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:bundlePath encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&fileError];
if (!fileError) {
[initialFileContents writeToFile:filePath atomically:YES encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding error:&fileError];
if (fileError) {
//Handle the error
}
}
}

NSSavePanel not saving on desktop?

can i use NSSavePanel with a sandboxed OS X app to let user save on desktop? i gave user read/write entitlements for downloads and user selected folder, for some reason my app saves in downloads folder fine but when i change directory and select desktop it doesnt save at all.
here is the code am using for NSSavePanel
if([self.mActiveQRFileName isEqualToString:kQR_DEFAULT_FILE_NAME])
{
NSSavePanel *savePanel = [NSSavePanel savePanel];
//[savePanel setDirectoryURL:[NSURL URLWithString:[Utilities getQRDefaultDirectoryPath]]];
[savePanel setNameFieldStringValue:kQR_DEFAULT_FILE_NAME];
[savePanel beginSheetModalForWindow:[self window] completionHandler:^(NSInteger result) {
if (result == NSFileHandlingPanelOKButton) {
NSString *qrFilePath = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#.%#",[[savePanel URL] path],kQR_FILE_EXT];
[qrd saveQRFile:qrFilePath];
self.mActiveQRFileName = [NSString stringWithString:qrFilePath];
blnChangesSaved = YES;
}
}];
}
else
{
[qrd saveQRFile:self.mActiveQRFileName];
blnChangesSaved = YES;
}
Any help would be greatly appreciated :)
A NSSavePanel will give you the user selected path for a file in it's URL property. The sandbox will only grant you access to this file, with the name specified by the user.
In your example code this line possibly modifies the selected path by giving it a different file extension:
NSString *qrFilePath = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#.%#",[[savePanel URL] path],kQR_FILE_EXT];
Which could result in a filename different from the originally selected file for which you don't have access in the sandbox. Try logging the qrFilePath and see if it still equals the path for the selected URL. Also check your sandbox exceptions to see what the exact error is.
If you want to restrict the NSSavePanel to let the user only specify files of a certain type use the setAllowedFileTypes: methos.
If you want the user to grant you access to a directory to write to where you can output any file, as opposed to a specific path: use a NSOpenPanel. This has the disadvantage that the user cannot specify a specific file name like in a NSSavePanel.

NSSavePanel is not saving a file after sandboxing an app

I'm having a problem saving a string file with NSSavePanel after sandboxing the app for the Mac App Store. I set com.apple.security.files.user-selected.read-write to YES and the NSOpenPanel is working as it should.
When I try to save a new file, though, it seems that everything is working fine but then there is no saved file where it should be....
This is the code I am using to save the file:
NSSavePanel *save = [NSSavePanel savePanel];
long int result = [save runModal];
if (result == NSOKButton)
{
NSString *selectedFile = [save filename];
NSString *fileName = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"%#.dat", selectedFile];
NSString *arrayCompleto = [[NSString alloc]initWithFormat:#"bla bla bla"];
[arrayCompleto writeToFile:fileName
atomically:NO
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:nil];
}
First of all, the -[NSSavePanel filename] selector has been deprecated. Use -[NSSavePanel URL] instead. Second, the way that the -[NSString writeToFile:atomically:encoding:error] tells you what you're doing wrong is with the error:(NSError**) argument.
You should also handle errors for file I/O in particular, because even if your code is 100% correct, there still might be errors on the user's system (insufficient privileges, etc.) and presenting the error to the user will allow them to see it failed (and have some idea why). Handling the error in code will also allow your app to recover. For instance, if you tried to read in the file below the code you pasted (after writing it to disk), but the user tried writing it to a network share they didn't have access to, your app might crash. If you know the write failed, you can proceed accordingly (perhaps prompting for a different save location).
In this case, though, I believe the following line is your problem:
NSString *fileName = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"%#.dat", selectedFile];
When your app is sandboxed, the user needs to give you permission for either a specific file or a specific directory through the open/save panels to bring them into your sandbox. What you're doing is taking the file the user gave you permission to write and saying "that's great, but I want to save a different file", which violates the sandbox. What you should do instead is set the extension in the Save Panel. The complete fixed solution would be:
NSSavePanel *save = [NSSavePanel savePanel];
[save setAllowedFileTypes:[NSArray arrayWithObject:#"dat"]];
[save setAllowsOtherFileTypes:NO];
NSInteger result = [save runModal];
if (result == NSOKButton)
{
NSString *selectedFile = [[save URL] path];
NSString *arrayCompleto = #"bla bla bla";
NSError *error = nil;
[arrayCompleto writeToFile:selectedFile
atomically:NO
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:&error];
}
if (error) {
// This is one way to handle the error, as an example
[NSApp presentError:error];
}
If in the future something else is wrong, you can check the value of error at runtime. While debugging, set a breakpoint inside the if (error) statement to check error object's value (do a po error in Xcode's debugger). That should help you figure out what's wrong.