ASIFormDataRequest in AFNetworking? - objective-c

Question

I have some code in ASIHTTP, but I want to move on AFNetworking.
I used ASIFormDataRequest for some POST requests and this code works fine:
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:#"http://someapiurl"];
ASIFormDataRequest *request = [ASIFormDataRequest requestWithURL:url];
[request setPostValue:#"123" forKey:#"phone_number"];
[request startSynchronous];
NSError *error = [request error];
if (!error) {
NSLog(#"Response: %#", [[request responseString] objectFromJSONString]);
}
but, when I tried to do the same with AFNetworking, I got in problem with content-type (I guess).
This is AFNetworking code, and it doesn't work:
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:#"http://dev.url"];
AFHTTPClient *httpClient = [[AFHTTPClient alloc] initWithBaseURL:url];
NSDictionary *params = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"123", #"phone_number",
nil];
NSMutableURLRequest *request = [httpClient requestWithMethod:#"POST" path:#"/api/get_archive" parameters:params];
[request setValue:#"application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF8" forHTTPHeaderField:#"Content-Type"];
AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation = [AFJSONRequestOperation JSONRequestOperationWithRequest:request success:^(NSURLRequest
*request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, id JSON) {
NSLog(#"Response: %#", JSON);
} failure:^(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, NSError *error, id JSON){
NSLog(#"Error: %#", error);
}];
[operation start];
URL is fine, this is checked.
I'm getting from server this:
{NSErrorFailingURLKey=http://dev.thisapiurl, NSLocalizedDescription=Expected content type {(
"text/json",
"application/json",
"text/javascript"
)}, got text/html}

Answer 1

The problem you're having is because you are instantiating an AFJSONRequestOperation, which by default expects a JSON-friendly response type. Are you expecting a JSON response? If not, you should use a less-specific Request class. For example, you could use HTTPRequestOperationWithRequest: .
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:#"http://dev.url"];
AFHTTPClient *httpClient = [[AFHTTPClient alloc] initWithBaseURL:url];
NSDictionary *params = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"123", #"phone_number",
nil];
NSMutableURLRequest *request = [httpClient requestWithMethod:#"POST" path:#"/api/get_archive" parameters:params];
[request setValue:#"application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF8" forHTTPHeaderField:#"Content-Type"];
//Notice the different method here!
AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation = [httpClient HTTPRequestOperationWithRequest:request
success:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
NSLog(#"Response: %#", responseObject);
}
failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error){
NSLog(#"Error: %#", error);
}];
//Enqueue it instead of just starting it.
[httpClient enqueueHTTPRequestOperation:operation];
If you have more specific request/response types (JSON, XML, etc), you can use those specific AFHTTPRequestOperation subclasses. Otherwise, just use the vanilla HTTP one.

Answer 2

I recently went through the same thing as you. Here is a custom class I wrote to handle pretty much any network request.
NetworkClient.h:
//
// NetworkClient.h
//
// Created by LJ Wilson on 3/8/12.
// Copyright (c) 2012 LJ Wilson. All rights reserved.
//
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
extern NSString * const ACHAPIKey;
#interface NetworkClient : NSObject
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
block:(void (^)(id obj))block;
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
syncRequest:(BOOL)syncRequest
block:(void (^)(id obj))block;
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
syncRequest:(BOOL)syncRequest
alertUserOnFailure:(BOOL)alertUserOnFailure
block:(void (^)(id obj))block;
+(void)handleNetworkErrorWithError:(NSError *)error;
+(void)handleNoAccessWithReason:(NSString *)reason;
#end
NetworkClient.m:
//
// NetworkClient.m
//
// Created by LJ Wilson on 3/8/12.
// Copyright (c) 2012 LJ Wilson. All rights reserved.
//
#import "NetworkClient.h"
#import "AFHTTPClient.h"
#import "AFHTTPRequestOperation.h"
#import "SBJson.h"
NSString * const APIKey = #"APIKeyIfYouSoDesire";
#implementation NetworkClient
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
block:(void (^)(id obj))block {
[self processURLRequestWithURL:url andParams:params syncRequest:NO alertUserOnFailure:NO block:^(id obj) {
block(obj);
}];
}
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
syncRequest:(BOOL)syncRequest
block:(void (^)(id obj))block {
if (syncRequest) {
[self processURLRequestWithURL:url andParams:params syncRequest:YES alertUserOnFailure:NO block:^(id obj) {
block(obj);
}];
} else {
[self processURLRequestWithURL:url andParams:params syncRequest:NO alertUserOnFailure:NO block:^(id obj) {
block(obj);
}];
}
}
+(void)processURLRequestWithURL:(NSString *)url
andParams:(NSDictionary *)params
syncRequest:(BOOL)syncRequest
alertUserOnFailure:(BOOL)alertUserOnFailure
block:(void (^)(id obj))block {
// Default url goes here, pass in a nil to use it
if (url == nil) {
url = #"MyDefaultURLGoesHere";
}
NSMutableDictionary *dict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithDictionary:params];
[dict setValue:APIKey forKey:#"APIKey"];
NSDictionary *newParams = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithDictionary:dict];
NSURL *requestURL;
AFHTTPClient *httpClient = [[AFHTTPClient alloc] initWithBaseURL:requestURL];
NSMutableURLRequest *theRequest = [httpClient requestWithMethod:#"POST" path:url parameters:newParams];
__block NSString *responseString = [NSString stringWithString:#""];
AFHTTPRequestOperation *_operation = [[AFHTTPRequestOperation alloc] initWithRequest:theRequest];
__weak AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation = _operation;
[operation setCompletionBlockWithSuccess:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, id responseObject) {
responseString = [operation responseString];
id retObj = [responseString JSONValue];
// Check for invalid response (No Access)
if ([retObj isKindOfClass:[NSDictionary class]]) {
if ([[(NSDictionary *)retObj valueForKey:#"Message"] isEqualToString:#"No Access"]) {
block(nil);
[self handleNoAccessWithReason:[(NSDictionary *)retObj valueForKey:#"Reason"]];
}
} else if ([retObj isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
NSDictionary *dict = [(NSArray *)retObj objectAtIndex:0];
if ([[dict valueForKey:#"Message"] isEqualToString:#"No Access"]) {
block(nil);
[self handleNoAccessWithReason:[(NSDictionary *)retObj valueForKey:#"Reason"]];
}
}
block(retObj);
}
failure:^(AFHTTPRequestOperation *operation, NSError *error) {
NSLog(#"Failed with error = %#", [NSString stringWithFormat:#"[Error]:%#",error]);
block(nil);
if (alertUserOnFailure) {
[self handleNetworkErrorWithError:operation.error];
}
}];
[operation start];
if (syncRequest) {
// Only fires if Syncronous was passed in as YES. Default is NO
[operation waitUntilFinished];
}
}
+(void)handleNetworkErrorWithError:(NSError *)error {
NSString *errorString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"[Error]:%#",error];
// Standard UIAlert Syntax
UIAlertView *myAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc]
initWithTitle:#"Connection Error"
message:errorString
delegate:nil
cancelButtonTitle:#"OK"
otherButtonTitles:nil, nil];
[myAlert show];
}
+(void)handleNoAccessWithReason:(NSString *)reason {
// Standard UIAlert Syntax
UIAlertView *myAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc]
initWithTitle:#"No Access"
message:reason
delegate:nil
cancelButtonTitle:#"OK"
otherButtonTitles:nil, nil];
[myAlert show];
}
#end
This adds in a couple of features you may not need or want, feel free to modify it as you need as long as the Copyright section stays in place. I use that APIKey to validate the request came from my app and not someone trying to hack things.
Calling it (assuming you have included NetworkClient.h:
NSDictionary *params = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"ParamValue1", #"ParamName1",
#"ParamValue2", #"ParamName2",
nil];
[NetworkClient processURLRequestWithURL:nil andParams:params block:^(id obj) {
if ([obj isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
// Do whatever you want with the object. In this case, I knew I was expecting an Array, but it will return a Dictionary if that is what the web-service responds with.
}
}];
Also can:
NSDictionary *params = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"ParamValue1", #"ParamName1",
nil];
NSString *urlString = #"https://SuppliedURLOverridesDefault";
[NetworkClient processURLRequestWithURL:urlString
andParams:params
syncRequest:YES
alertUserOnFailure:NO
block:^(id obj) {
if ([obj isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
// Do stuff
}
}];
So it will take in any number of parameters, inject an APIKey or anything else if you want and return back either a Dictionary or an Array depending on the web-service. This does expect SBJson BTW.