FBRequestConnection in a UIView does not link IBOutlets - xcode4.3

I have a ViewController with so many information and, to better read the code, I split parts of this VC in two Views. So, I initialize these Views, set frames and add them as subviews to the ViewController.
These Views have a .xib connected and I'm able to link to all my IBOutlets. Until here, all ok but..
..in one of these Views I need to query Facebook, to retrieve some information. So I use the code:
[FBRequestConnection startWithGraphPath:#"myGraphApiQuery"
parameters:nil
HTTPMethod:#"GET"
completionHandler:^(FBRequestConnection *connection, id result, NSError *error) {
[myOutlet setTitle:#"Test"]; // here's the issue
}];
With this code myOutlet never will be set with Test title, seems the outlet's not linked. I don't understand why I'm not able to link to my outlet from block code completionHandler of FBRequestConnection...
If I try to set the Title from a selector called from ViewController, it's all ok..
Can someone explain me the reason of it? I'm still a objective-c beginner.

The callback from FBRequestConnection is invoked on a background thread. UIKit calls must be made on the main thread. Try this:
[FBRequestConnection startWithGraphPath:#"myGraphApiQuery"
parameters:nil
HTTPMethod:#"GET"
completionHandler:^(FBRequestConnection *connection, id result, NSError *error) {
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[myOutlet setTitle:#"Test"];
});
}];

Related

NSURLSessionUploadTask originalRequest httpBody is Null

I am using NSURLSessionUploadTask to upload an image.
The upload works. The image is successfully posted to my server.
This is the method that is called creates a new NSURLSessionUploadTask. The NSData is the image in NSData format, and the withPostRequest: is a NSMutableRequest with all the junk that goes in that.
- (void) uploadImage:(NSData*)data withPostRequest:(NSMutableURLRequest*)postRequest {
NSURLSessionUploadTask * uploadTask = [_session uploadTaskWithRequest:postRequest fromData:data completionHandler:^(NSData *data,NSURLResponse *response,NSError *error) {
//MAIN THREAD ACCESS UPDATE TO THE GUI OR DISPLAY ERRORS
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
//UPDATE THE GUI ON COMPLETION
});
}];
// START THE TASK
[uploadTask resume];
}
This delegate method gets called with the upload to show the progress. This method IS called upon ever successful byte sent.
- (void)URLSession:(NSURLSession *)session task:(NSURLSessionTask *)task didSendBodyData:(int64_t)bytesSent totalBytesSent:(int64_t)totalBytesSent totalBytesExpectedToSend:(int64_t)totalBytesExpectedToSend {
NSData * taskData = [task.originalRequest HTTPBody];
NSLog(#"Task Data: %#", taskData);
}
However, if I have multiple uploads, I need to be able to check which upload has the correct progress. I feel like you can do this by comparing the task.originalRequest NSData, with the known NSData of the passed Image.
However, when the above method is called, [task.originalRequest HTTPBody] is NULL
Does anyone know why that would be null?
You can subclass the NSSessionUploadTask and have an identifier assocciated with it.
#interface NSSessionUploadTaskId : NSObject {
NSUInteger taskIdentifier;
}
NSURLSessionTask also has taskIdentifier property but I'm not sure how to use that.
#property(readonly) NSUInteger taskIdentifier;
An identifier uniquely identifies the task within a given session.

Block and Wait for Asynchronous Operations in Objective-C

When I want to get userID from Facebook, I need to wait the API "startWithCompletionHandler" to send me back the userID, then I continue my task. Just like the code listed below.
But I can not use dispatch_semaphore or dispatch_group to wait for the api to callback. Except for completionHandler, any other solution like "blockAndWait" in MagicalRecord that can help me solve question like this?
Also, the solution listed below isn't working. It seems blocked the main thread, so it'll keep logging "WAITING" and can not pop up the Facebook login view.
-(void)getAccountIDAndWait{
__block BOOL isFinish = NO;
[[FBRequest requestForMe] startWithCompletionHandler:
^(FBRequestConnection *connection, NSDictionary<FBGraphUser> *aUser, NSError *error) {
if (error) {
NSLog(#"bug in getAccountIDAndWait");
return;
}
self.accountID = [aUser objectForKey:#"id"];
isFinish = YES;
}];
while(isFinish==NO){
sleep(0.1);
NSLog(#"WAITING");
}
}
Expanding on what Chuck said I've slightly modified your code to allow the getAccountIdAndWait function to finish (and thus the main thread to idle) and when the completionHandler is called it will call the doTheNextThing function.
-(void)getAccountIDAndWait{
[[FBRequest requestForMe] startWithCompletionHandler:
^(FBRequestConnection *connection, NSDictionary<FBGraphUser> *aUser, NSError *error) {
if (error) {
NSLog(#"bug in getAccountIDAndWait");
return;
}
self.accountID = [aUser objectForKey:#"id"];
[self doTheNextThing];
}];
}
The approach you are using there is blocking. As you correctly observe, this is not really what you want. The design intent here is for you to put things that you want to happen after the request completes in the completion handler.

How do you verify that NSURLConnection was successful

[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:mutURLRequest queue:opQueue completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *error)
{
NSHTTPURLResponse *httpResponse = (NSHTTPURLResponse *)response;
if(httpResponse.statusCode ==200)
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"MUITCheckinPostSucceeded" object:self userInfo:postDictionary];
}
}];
This is my NSURLConnection and I'm not sure how to check if it was successful. I tried a simple flag but that did not work because the boolean didn't retain the "YES" value outside of the NSURLConnection. This is a school assignment so don't post the correct code I'd just like to know the method I need to implement or how I can tackle this problem in a way I haven't tried yet. Thanks in advance.
Try something like this:
[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest: myURLRequest
queue: [NSOperationQueue mainQueue]
completionHandler: ^(NSURLResponse *urlResponse, NSData *responseData, NSError *requestError) {
// Check for Errors
if (requestError || !responseData) {
// jump back to the main thread to update the UI
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[myLabel setText: #"Something went wrong..."];
});
} else {
// jump back to the main thread to update the UI
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[myLabel setText: #"All going well..."];
});
}
}
];
You can update your class properties from the completion block. In this case, if flag was atomic, you can just update it. But if you're setting anything else (e.g. any object properties updated from the resulting data object), you might want to dispatch that back to the main queue to avoid synchronization issues:
self.flag = NO;
[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:mutURLRequest queue:opQueue completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *error)
{
NSInteger statusCode = -1;
// to be safe, you should make sure `response` is `NSHTTPURLResponse`
if ([response isKindOfClass:[NSHTTPURLResponse class]])
{
NSHTTPURLResponse *httpResponse = (NSHTTPURLResponse *)response;
statusCode = httpResponse.statusCode;
}
if (error)
{
// for diagnostic purposes only
NSLog(#"%s: sendAsynchronousRequest error: %#", __FUNCTION__, error);
}
if (error == nil && statusCode == 200)
{
[[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperationWithBlock:^{
self.flag = YES;
// set any other class properties here
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"MUITCheckinPostSucceeded" object:self userInfo:postDictionary];
}];
}
}];
I notice that you're posting a notification. If you have multiple view controllers or model objects listening for that notification, that's fine and a notification makes sense. But if this code was in the view controller and that controller is the only thing that cares about the results, you generally forego the notification and just initiate the update the UI right from the code that's dispatched back to the main queue in that completion block.
One final caveat. Any references to self (or ivars, which have an implicit reference to self) will maintain a strong reference to the object for the duration of the operation (i.e. it will retain it). For example, if you dismiss the view controller while the network operation is in progress, the view controller won't be released until after the network operation is done. That's often fine (as it's just for the duration of the connection ... it's not the dreaded strong reference cycle), especially for a school assignment. But if that's an issue, there are techniques to only use a weak reference to the view controller inside the completion block, thus preventing the retaining of the view controller for the duration of the network operation. But that's beyond the scope of your original question (esp since it leads to a bunch of other questions about whether you want to cancel the network operation or not, when you dismiss the view controller), so I'll leave it at here.

Objective-C: __block not working

I could not figure out how to change the value of results inside the success block. I use __block like some post suggests but results is forever nil. I set breakpoint inside of block and make sure that JSON is not nil, which download data as I expected.
I am using AFNetworking library if that's relevant.
+(NSArray *)eventsByCityID:(NSString *)cityID startIndex:(NSUInteger)start count:(NSUInteger)count
{
__block NSArray *results = nil;
[[DoubanHTTPClient sharedClient] getPath:#"event/list" parameters:#{#"loc":dataSingleton.cityID} success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id JSON) {
results = [JSON valueForKey:#"events"];
} failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
NSLog(#"download events error: %# \n\n",error);
}];
return results;
}
More likely than not, that [very poorly named] method getPath:parameters:success:failure: is asynchronous.
Thus, you need to tell something in the success block that the value has changed. I.e.
^{
[something yoManGotEvents:[JSON valueForKey:#"events"]];
}
(Methods shouldn't be prefixed with get outside of very special circumstances. Third party libraries with lots of API using that prefix outside of said circumstances raise question as to what other system specific patterns they may not be following.)

UIManagedDocument insert objects in background thread

This is my first question on Stack Overflow, so please excuse me if I'm breaking any etiquette. I'm also fairly new to Objective-C/app creation.
I have been following the CS193P Stanford course, in particular, the CoreData lectures/demos. In Paul Hegarty's Photomania app, he starts with a table view, and populates the data in the background, without any interruption to the UI flow. I have been creating an application which lists businesses in the local area (from an api that returns JSON data).
I have created the categories as per Paul's photo/photographer classes. The creation of the classes themselves is not an issue, it's where they are being created.
A simplified data structure:
- Section
- Sub-section
- business
- business
- business
- business
- business
- business
My application starts with a UIViewController with several buttons, each of which opens a tableview for the corresponding section (these all work fine, I'm trying to provide enough information so that my question makes sense). I call a helper method to create/open the URL for the UIManagedDocument, which was based on this question. This is called as soon as the application runs, and it loads up quickly.
I have a method very similar to Paul's fetchFlickrDataIntoDocument:
-(void)refreshBusinessesInDocument:(UIManagedDocument *)document
{
dispatch_queue_t refreshBusinessQ = dispatch_queue_create("Refresh Business Listing", NULL);
dispatch_async(refreshBusinessQ, ^{
// Get latest business listing
myFunctions *myFunctions = [[myFunctions alloc] init];
NSArray *businesses = [myFunctions arrayOfBusinesses];
// Run IN document's thread
[document.managedObjectContext performBlock:^{
// Loop through new businesses and insert
for (NSDictionary *businessData in businesses) {
[Business businessWithJSONInfo:businessData inManageObjectContext:document.managedObjectContext];
}
// Explicitly save the document.
[document saveToURL:document.fileURL
forSaveOperation:UIDocumentSaveForOverwriting
completionHandler:^(BOOL success){
if (!success) {
NSLog(#"Document save failed");
}
}];
NSLog(#"Inserted Businesses");
}];
});
dispatch_release(refreshBusinessQ);
}
[myFunctions arrayOfBusinesses] just parses the JSON data and returns an NSArray containing individual businessses.
I have run the code with an NSLog at the start and end of the business creation code. Each business is assigned a section, takes 0.006 seconds to create, and there are several hundred of these. The insert ends up taking about 2 seconds.
The Helper Method is here:
// The following typedef has been defined in the .h file
// typedef void (^completion_block_t)(UIManagedDocument *document);
#implementation ManagedDocumentHelper
+(void)openDocument:(NSString *)documentName UsingBlock:(completion_block_t)completionBlock
{
// Get URL for document -> "<Documents directory>/<documentName>"
NSURL *url = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] lastObject];
url = [url URLByAppendingPathComponent:documentName];
// Attempt retrieval of existing document
UIManagedDocument *doc = [managedDocumentDictionary objectForKey:documentName];
// If no UIManagedDocument, create
if (!doc)
{
// Create with document at URL
doc = [[UIManagedDocument alloc] initWithFileURL:url];
// Save in managedDocumentDictionary
[managedDocumentDictionary setObject:doc forKey:documentName];
}
// If the document exists on disk
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:[url path]])
{
[doc openWithCompletionHandler:^(BOOL success)
{
// Run completion block
completionBlock(doc);
} ];
}
else
{
// Save temporary document to documents directory
[doc saveToURL:url
forSaveOperation:UIDocumentSaveForCreating
completionHandler:^(BOOL success)
{
// Run compeltion block
completionBlock(doc);
}];
}
}
And is called in viewDidLoad:
if (!self.lgtbDatabase) {
[ManagedDocumentHelper openDocument:#"DefaultLGTBDatabase" UsingBlock:^(UIManagedDocument *document){
[self useDocument:document];
}];
}
useDocument just sets self.document to the provided document.
I would like to alter this code to so that the data is inserted in another thread, and the user can still click a button to view a section, without the data import hanging the UI.
Any help would be appreciated I have worked on this issue for a couple of days and not been able to solve it, even with the other similar questions on here. If there's any other information you require, please let me know!
Thank you
EDIT:
So far this question has received one down vote. If there is a way I could improve this question, or someone knows of a question I've not been able to find, could you please comment as to how or where? If there is another reason you are downvoting, please let me know, as I'm not able to understand the negativity, and would love to learn how to contribute better.
There are a couple of ways to this.
Since you are using UIManagedDocument you could take advantage of NSPrivateQueueConcurrencyType for initialize a new NSManagedObjectContext and use performBlock to do your stuff. For example:
// create a context with a private queue so access happens on a separate thread.
NSManagedObjectContext *context = [[NSManagedObjectContext alloc] initWithConcurrencyType:NSPrivateQueueConcurrencyType];
// insert this context into the current context hierarchy
context.parentContext = parentContext;
// execute the block on the queue of the context
context.performBlock:^{
// do your stuff (e.g. a long import operation)
// save the context here
// with parent/child contexts saving a context push the changes out of the current context
NSError* error = nil;
[context save:&error];
}];
When you save from the context, data of the private context are pushed to the current context. The saving is only visible in memory, so you need to access the main context (the one linked to the UIDocument) and do a save there (take a look at does-a-core-data-parent-managedobjectcontext-need-to-share-a-concurrency-type-wi).
The other way (my favourite one) is to create a NSOperation subclass and do stuff there. For example, declare a NSOperation subclass like the following:
//.h
#interface MyOperation : NSOperation
- (id)initWithDocument:(UIManagedDocument*)document;
#end
//.m
#interface MyOperation()
#property (nonatomic, weak) UIManagedDocument *document;
#end
- (id)initWithDocument:(UIManagedDocument*)doc;
{
if (!(self = [super init])) return nil;
[self setDocument:doc];
return self;
}
- (void)main
{
NSManagedObjectContext *moc = [[NSManagedObjectContext alloc] init];
[moc setParentContext:[[self document] managedObjectContext]];
// do the long stuff here...
NSError *error = nil;
[moc save:&error];
NSManagedObjectContext *mainMOC = [[self document] managedObjectContext];
[mainMOC performBlock:^{
NSError *error = nil;
[mainMOC save:&error];
}];
// maybe you want to notify the main thread you have finished to import data, if you post a notification remember to deal with it in the main thread...
}
Now in the main thread you can provide that operation to a queue like the following:
MyOperation *op = [[MyOperation alloc] initWithDocument:[self document]];
[[self someQueue] addOperation:op];
P.S. You cannot start an async operation in the main method of a NSOperation. When the main finishes, delegates linked with that operations will not be called. To say the the truth you can but this involves to deal with run loop or concurrent behaviour.
Hope that helps.
Initially I was just going to leave a comment, but I guess I don't have the privileges for it. I just wanted to point out the UIDocument, beyond the change count offers
- (void)autosaveWithCompletionHandler:(void (^)(BOOL success))completionHandler
Which shouldn't have the delay I've experienced with updating the change count as it waits for a "convenient moment".