Uploading an Image with Firebase & Swift (iOS) - ios

Question

Before I start, I would just like to pre-warn that my code is most likely not correct due to me being a beginner at coding with Swift.
I am creating an app for a university project, it is the first large app that I have created and I haven't been coding for very long.
I am having a problem when trying to upload an image whilst creating an account with firebase, I have had the code working previously but I was writing to the database with 'childByAutoId()' which was working fine, however I realised that I needed to be writing to the database and saving it by the users ID instead. After I changed 'childByAutoId()' to 'child(uid)' which is my prefixed variable for the users ID it stopped uploading the images and I can't figure out why. I have tried to go back to when it was working with childByAutoId() but now that isn't working either.
My code:
import UIKit
import Firebase
import FirebaseStorage
class RegisterViewController: UIViewController, UIImagePickerControllerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {
#IBOutlet weak var profileImage: UIImageView!
#IBOutlet weak var usernameField: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var emailField: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var passwordField: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var dobField: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var selectImageButton: UIButton!
var imageFileName = ""
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
self.view.addGestureRecognizer(UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self.view, action: #selector(UIView.endEditing(_:))))
let datePicker = UIDatePicker()
datePicker.datePickerMode = UIDatePickerMode.date
datePicker.addTarget(self, action: #selector(RegisterViewController.datePickerValueChanged(sender:)), for: UIControlEvents.valueChanged)
dobField.inputView = datePicker
self.profileImage.layer.cornerRadius = self.profileImage.frame.size.width / 2;
self.profileImage.clipsToBounds = true;
}
#objc func datePickerValueChanged(sender: UIDatePicker) {
let formatter = DateFormatter()
formatter.dateStyle = DateFormatter.Style.medium
formatter.timeStyle = DateFormatter.Style.none
dobField.text = formatter.string(from: sender.date)
}
#IBAction func selectImageTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
let picker = UIImagePickerController()
picker.delegate = self
self.present(picker, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
func uploadImage(image: UIImage) {
let randomName = randomStringWithLength(length: 10)
let imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(image, 1.0)
let uploadRef = Storage.storage().reference().child("images/profimg/\(randomName).jpg")
let uploadTask = uploadRef.putData(imageData!, metadata: nil) { metadata,
error in
if error == nil {
//success
print("success")
self.imageFileName = "\(randomName as String).jpg"
} else {
//error
print("error uploading image")
}
}
}
func randomStringWithLength(length: Int) -> NSString {
let characters: NSString = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ0123456789"
let randomString: NSMutableString = NSMutableString(capacity: length)
for i in 0..<length {
var len = UInt32(characters.length)
var rand = arc4random_uniform(len)
randomString.appendFormat("%C", characters.character(at: Int(rand)))
}
return randomString
}
func imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_ picker: UIImagePickerController) {
// will run if the user hits cancel
picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}
#objc func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String : Any]) {
// will run when the user finishes picking an image from the library
if let pickedImage = info[UIImagePickerControllerOriginalImage] as? UIImage {
self.profileImage.image = pickedImage
self.selectImageButton.isEnabled = false
self.selectImageButton.isHidden = true
uploadImage(image: pickedImage)
picker.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#IBAction func registerTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
let username = usernameField.text
let email = emailField.text
let password = passwordField.text
let dob = dobField.text
Auth.auth().createUser(withEmail: email!, password: password!) { (user, error) in
if error != nil {
//error creating account
let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Error", message: "An error occurred when creating your account, please try again.", preferredStyle: .alert)
alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
self.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
}else {
//account created
if (self.imageFileName != "") {
if let uid = Auth.auth().currentUser?.uid {
let regObject: Dictionary<String, Any> = [
"uid" : uid,
"username" : username,
"dateofbirth" : dob,
"profimage" : self.imageFileName
]
Database.database().reference().child("posts").child(uid).setValue(regObject)
let vc = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "LoggedInVC")
self.present(vc!, animated: true, completion: nil)
}else {
//image hasnt finished uploading
let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Please wait", message: "Your image has not finished uploading yet, please wait...", preferredStyle: .alert)
alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
self.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}
//let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Success!", message: "Account has been created...", preferredStyle: .alert)
//alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil))
//self.present(alert, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}
}
/*
// MARK: - Navigation
// In a storyboard-based application, you will often want to do a little preparation before navigation
override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
// Get the new view controller using segue.destinationViewController.
// Pass the selected object to the new view controller.
}
*/
}
If any of you can point me in the right direction or be able to show me where I have gone wrong within my code that would be great. I am not expected a direct solution to my problem so anything will help.
Thank you!

Answer 1

To upload img on firebase storage
func uploadImagePic(img1 :UIImage){
var data = NSData()
data = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(img1!, 0.8)! as NSData
// set upload path
let filePath = "\(userid)" // path where you wanted to store img in storage
let metaData = FIRStorageMetadata()
metaData.contentType = "image/jpg"
self.storageRef = FIRStorage.storage().reference()
self.storageRef.child(filePath).put(data as Data, metadata: metaData){(metaData,error) in
if let error = error {
print(error.localizedDescription)
return
}else{
//store downloadURL
let downloadURL = metaData!.downloadURL()!.absoluteString
}
}
}

Answer 2

In order to get the download url from the uploaded file, based on the answer, downloadURL from metaData is now deprecated, so this is the proper way:
storageRef.downloadURL(completion: { (url: URL?, error: Error?) in
print(url?.absoluteString) // <- Your url
})
You should get the download url from the reference that you just created, where you can find the downloadURL with a completion handler.
This is an updated Swift 5 answer:
func uploadImagePic(image: UIImage, name: String, filePath: String) {
guard let imageData: Data = image.jpegData(compressionQuality: 0.1) else {
return
}
let metaDataConfig = StorageMetadata()
metaDataConfig.contentType = "image/jpg"
let storageRef = Storage.storage().reference(withPath: filePath)
storageRef.putData(imageData, metadata: metaDataConfig){ (metaData, error) in
if let error = error {
print(error.localizedDescription)
return
}
storageRef.downloadURL(completion: { (url: URL?, error: Error?) in
print(url?.absoluteString) // <- Download URL
})
}
}