Block a for loop until a delegate method gets fired - ios

I'm currently working with CBPeripheralDelegate to exchange messages between an iOS device and a Bluetooth Low Energy USB dongle. I have to implement the sendMessage: method that writes data bytes using a serial emulation service. This method has to send a frame of 15 bytes (or less) at the time, waiting for an ack from dongle before sending the next one.
Below is my code:
- (void)sendMessage:(NSData *)message {
NSArray *chuncks = [self splitMessage:message];
for (NSUInteger i = 0; i < chunks.count; i++) {
NSData *chunk = [chunks objectAtIndex:i];
[self sendChunk:chunk withId:i ofChunks:chances.count];
// Wait for the ack to be received
}
}
- (void)sendChunk:(NSData *)chunk withId:(NSInteger)id ofChunks:(NSInteger)count {
NSMutableData *frame = [NSMutableData new];
// Here I build my frame, adding header, current chunk ID and total number of chunks, then I call...
[serialEmulationService writeValue:frame forCharacteristic:serialEmulationServiceCharacteristic type:CBCharacteristicWriteWithResponse];
}
Now the issue: the for loop within the sendMessage: method has to be blocked until the peripheral won't receive the ack, possibly with a timeout. This ack is received inside the delegate method - (void)peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:(nonnull CBCharacteristic *)characteristic error:(nullable NSError *)error, so here I have to restart the for loop previously blocked.
What's the best practice for this particular situation? I'd like to use GCD's semaphores, but I cannot figure out how to implement synchronous calls and cannot manage to understand any of the many online examples that explain this technique.
Could someone please give me a hand?

How about skipping the for loop entirely…
#property (nonatomic) NSMutableArray *chunks;
#property (nonatomic) NSInteger chunkId;
- (void)sendMessage:(NSData *)message {
self.chunks = [[self splitMessage:message] mutableCopy];
self.chunkId = 0;
[self sendNextChunk];
}
- (void sendNextChunk {
NSData * chunk = self.chunks.firstObject;
if chunk == nil {
return
}
[self.chunks removeObjectAtIndex: 0];
[self sendChunk:chunk withId:chunkId++ ofChunks:chances.count];
}
- (void)sendChunk:(NSData *)chunk withId:(NSInteger)id ofChunks:(NSInteger)count {
NSMutableData *frame = [NSMutableData new];
// Here I build my frame, adding header, current chunk ID and total number of chunks, then I call...
[serialEmulationService writeValue:frame forCharacteristic:serialEmulationServiceCharacteristic type:CBCharacteristicWriteWithResponse];
}
- (void)peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:(nonnull CBCharacteristic *)characteristic error:(nullable NSError *)error {
[self sendNextChunk];
}

The approach would be to use the Notification. Create separate method to run your for loop. This method will observer for the Notification, inside the delegate method post the Notification. In the sendMessage: keep adding the message to a property.

Related

Write to multiple bluetooth Peripherals from Central

I've searched SO for help on this and haven't found anything that will answer, address or get me pointed in the right direction so I've decided to post my issue.
I have a BT Central app running on an Apple TV. I have a peripheral app running on an iPhone and iPad.
The central app is able to connect to both peripheral devices just fine. I'm able to transfer all kinds of data to the central app and have control over all of the phases of the session (didDiscoverPeripheral, didDiscoverServices, didDiscoverChracteristics, etc.) All the delegate methods on both central and peripheral sides are behaving exactly as they should.
When the central app connects to a peripheral and it discovers the "writable" characteristic it sends (writes) an NSString to the peripheral with something like "Hi iPad, you've connected to central" or "Hi iPhone you've connected to central". In doing this I know that everyone is connected, discovered, processed and a reference to the peripherals is saved. None of this is an issue and behaves exactly as is documented by Apple.
On the central app I have a UIButton that performs a write to all of the connected peripherals. I attempt to loop through the connected peripherals and write something to each one inside the loop. Unfortunately only the last connected peripheral receives the written data.
I have a nice NSDictionary of all of the peripheral information and object that I enumerate through. I've even based the loop on the
retrieveConnectedPeripheralsWithServices method. My peripherals all use a custom class for their delegate so I know I'm not crossing the same delegate with multiple peripherals.
Inside the loop I can see that the peripheral is connected, the characteristic I'm targeting has writeWithResponse properties and write permissions. No reference to the peripheral has been lost or released. Everything maps out and looks great.
I just can't write to all the connected peripherals from inside a loop. I've tried queuing up the writes in an NSOperation and or dispatch_async in case it's a timing thing but nothing is working.
If the iPad is the last connect peripheral it gets the write. If the iPhone connect last then it gets the write. The last connected peripheral is the only clue I've got to go on but I'm just not seeing the problem.
At this point I'm out of sticks and carrots and several days of googling and SO searching. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to explain and also show that I'm not just asking out of laziness but have sincerely tried everything I know.
Thanks for any help.
Added relevant code:
-(void)centralManager:(CBCentralManager *)central didDiscoverPeripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral advertisementData:(NSDictionary *) advertisementData RSSI:(NSNumber *)RSSI {
//it's in range - have we already seen it?
if([self findPeripheralMatching:peripheral.identifier] == nil) {
//hack if the advertisingData local name or the peripheral GATT name is NULL
NSDictionary *dict = [self cleanupAdvertisementData:peripheral advertisementData:advertisementData];
if(dict == nil) {
[self stop];
[self start];
return;
}
//save a local copy of the peripheral, so CoreBluetooth doesn't get rid of it
XCBluetoothPeripheralDictionary *obj = [[XCBluetoothPeripheralDictionary alloc] init];
obj.peripheral = peripheral;
obj.advertisementData = dict;
[self.peripheralDictionary setObject:obj forKey:[peripheral.identifier UUIDString]];
//and connect is not connected...
if(peripheral.state == CBPeripheralStateDisconnected) {
[self.centralManager connectPeripheral:peripheral options:nil];
}
} //findPeripheralMatching
} //didDiscoverPeripheral
-(void)centralManager:(CBCentralManager *)central didConnectPeripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral {
//make sure we get the discovery callbacks
XCBluetoothPeripheral *pd = [[XCBluetoothPeripheral alloc] initWithDelegate:self];
pd.subscriptionDictionary = self.subscriptionDictionary;
peripheral.delegate = pd;
//save a copy of the XCPeripheral object
[self.peripheralDictionary objectForKey:[peripheral.identifier UUIDString]].delegate = pd;
//discover and search only for services that match our service UUID
[peripheral discoverServices:#[[CBUUID UUIDWithString:self.serviceUUID]]];
//notify the delegate we connected
XC_SelectorAssert(#selector(bluetoothCentralDidConnect:), self.delegate)
if (self.delegate && [self.delegate respondsToSelector:#selector(bluetoothCentralDidConnect:)]) {
XCBluetoothPeripheralDictionary *dict = [self.peripheralDictionary objectForKey:[peripheral.identifier UUIDString]];
[self.delegate bluetoothCentralDidConnect:dict];
} else {
NSAssert(NO, XCMissingSelectorForProtocol);
}
} //didConnectPeripheral
-(void)peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didDiscoverCharacteristicsForService:(CBService *)service error:(NSError *)error {
if(error) {
[self callbackError:error];
return;
}
//again, we loop through the array, and if the characteristic matches
//whats in the subscriptionDictionary then we subscribe to it
for (CBCharacteristic *characteristic in service.characteristics) {
if([self isDesiredCharachteristic:characteristic.UUID]) {
[peripheral discoverDescriptorsForCharacteristic:characteristic];
if(characteristic.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyNotify) {
[peripheral setNotifyValue:YES forCharacteristic:characteristic];
}
if(characteristic.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyRead) {
}
if(characteristic.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyWrite) {
NSLog(#"Writing value to %# - %#", peripheral.identifier, peripheral.name);
NSString *string = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%# connected to %#",
peripheral.name,
[XCUtilities deviceName]];
[peripheral writeValue:[string dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]
forCharacteristic:characteristic
type:CBCharacteristicWriteWithResponse];
}
if(characteristic.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyWriteWithoutResponse) {
}
[self.subscriptionDictionary objectForKey:(NSString *)characteristic.UUID].characteristic = characteristic;
} //if isMatching
} //for CBCharacteristic
} //didDiscoverCharacteristicsForService
The following method is called from an IBAction
-(void)writeValueToCharacteristic:(CBUUID *)cbuuid value:(NSString *)string {
//get a reference to the characteristic we specified
CBCharacteristic *chr = [self findCharacteristicMatching:cbuuid];
XC_CBCharacteristicAssert(chr)
//enumerate through the discovered peripherals
[self.peripheralDictionary enumerateKeysAndObjectsUsingBlock:^(NSString *key, XCBluetoothPeripheralDictionary *obj, BOOL *stop){
XC_CBPeripheralAssert(obj.peripheral)
if(obj.peripheral.state == CBPeripheralStateConnected) {
//check the properties
if(chr.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyWriteWithoutResponse ||
chr.properties & CBCharacteristicPropertyWrite) {
NSLog(#"Writing value to:\n%#\n%#\n%#\n%#\n%#",
key,
obj.advertisementData,
obj.peripheral.name,
obj.peripheral.delegate,
obj.peripheral);
NSData *data = [string dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[obj.peripheral writeValue:data forCharacteristic:chr
type:CBCharacteristicWriteWithResponse];
} else {
[self localError:XC_BTErrorPermissionWritable description:XCErrorWritingCharacteristic];
}
} //is connected
}];
} //writeValueToCharacteristic
I would think that if something were wrong with the way I'm saving the peripherals or my custom dictionary or the way I'm using this stuff then my writes would fail for all peripherals and not just one of the two I'm testing with from inside a loop. And I know I'm connected and discovered and all is well because when central initially processes these peripherals it writes to each one as sort of a confirmation that they are indeed ready to go.
- (void)peripheralManager:(CBPeripheralManager *)peripheral didReceiveWriteRequests:(NSArray *)requests {
[peripheral respondToRequest:[requests objectAtIndex:0] withResult:CBATTErrorSuccess];
CBATTRequest *aRequest = requests[0];
NSData *aData = aRequest.value;
NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:aData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[self logToDelegate:string];
}
-(void)peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didWriteValueForCharacteristic:(CBCharacteristic *)characteristic
error:(NSError *)error {
if(error) {
[self callbackError:error];
return;
}
[self logToDelegate:#"didWriteValueForCharacteristic"];
} //didWriteValueForCharacteristic

BLE notify sometimes got wrong transfer data in iOS App

I use the CC2541 as the peripheral and iPad mini as the Central. I transfer the data every single second through serial port(the baud rate is 19200) from CC2541 as notify. (Also I tried to transfer data in every 100 ms.It seemed to be same in accuracy)
Here's my code:
- (void) peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:(CBCharacteristic *)characteristic error:(NSError *)error{
if (error)
{
NSLog(#"Error receiving notification for characteristic %#: %#", characteristic, error);
return;
}
//NSLog(#"Received data on a characteristic.");
if (characteristic == self.rxCharacteristic)
{
NSData *data = [characteristic value];
//NSString* string = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:data encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSString* string = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:data encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[self.delegate didReceiveData:string];
}
else if ([characteristic.UUID isEqual:self.class.hardwareRevisionStringUUID])
{
NSString *hwRevision = #"";
const uint8_t *bytes = characteristic.value.bytes;
for (int i = 0; i < characteristic.value.length; i++)
{
NSLog(#"%x", bytes[i]);
hwRevision = [hwRevision stringByAppendingFormat:#"0x%02x, ", bytes[i]];
}
//[self.delegate didReadHardwareRevisionString:[hwRevision substringToIndex:hwRevision.length-2]];
}
}
I tried single-step debug, but it seemed that this code was right. And it's wrong in the transmission from peripheral(because the "string" was wrong when I debugged this). I got about 85% the right data. And 15% data was wrong.
the right data(string) is "12399921" and it will notify as 0x3132333939393231. Often the wrong data will occurs continuously such as 0x31323339393932 and 0x3132E739393231 , 0x31323339393231 and 0x249ACACACA928AFE ...
Maybe it has a way to correct them because it seems that it has some regular there... Or is there any way to avoid the wrong data transmission from the peripheral. Either way will be OK.
Thanks in advance.
Sorry...
I think I found what's wrong by myself.
The accuracy will be much better when baud rate is set to 57600 not 19200.
But it seemed the same for the Android app(it still runs well even no matter the baud rate is 19200 or 57600).

Receive data packets via BLE Notifications

When receiving multiple packets via BLE notifications, iOS is only giving me access to the final packet sent. I am using YMSCoreBluetooth to connect to a BLE peripheral with multiple services, each of which has multiple characteristics. I connect to the peripheral, discover the services and discover the characteristics of those services without a problem. My goal is to subscribe to a certain characteristic's notifications and receive via the notifications a series of data packets. My subscription is successful and I can see through use of NSLogs within my code that I am receiving the notifications containing the data. The issue is that when I go to access the data from each notification as it comes in, every notification gives me only the data contained in the last packet sent.
My code for receiving notifications is as follows:
- (void)notifyCharacteristicHandler:(YMSCBCharacteristic *)characteristic error:(NSError *)error
{
if (error) {
NSLog(#"Error: Error in handling notification.\n%#", error);
}
else if ([characteristic.name isEqualToString:#"InterestingChar"]) {
if (self.firstNotify) {
self.mutableData = [[NSMutableData alloc] init];
self.firstNotify = NO;
}
NSData *data = [[NSData alloc] init];
data = characteristic.cbCharacteristic.value;
[self.mutableData appendData:data];
self.notifyCounter++;
NSLog(#"Notify received! Count: %ld \nData =%#",(long)self.notifyCounter,self.mutableData);
}
else NSLog(#"Other notification received");
}
For instance, if I receive 5 notifications with the following data:
1 ababababab
2 bcbcbcbcbc
3 cdcdcdcdcd
4 dedededede
5 efefefefef
My NSLog would print out efefefefef for the first notify data, efefefefef efefefefef for the second, and so on appending the last data value for each subsequent notify.
I am trying to send the notifications as quickly as possible from the peripheral using BLE. The connection interval is between 20ms and 40ms (iOS demands a range of at least 20ms) and three packets are being sent per connection interval.
EDIT:
Paulw11's suggestion worked beautifully. I fixed the issue by amending the YMSCB 'didUpdateValueForCharacteristic' method to obtain the value of the characteristic and pass it along with the pointer to the characteristic itself onto the 'notifyCharacteristicHandler' method. The amended method now looks as follows:
- (void)peripheral:(CBPeripheral *)peripheral didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:(CBCharacteristic *)characteristic error:(NSError *)error {
__weak YMSCBPeripheral *this = self;
NSData *value = characteristic.value;
_YMS_PERFORM_ON_MAIN_THREAD(^{
YMSCBService *btService = [this findService:characteristic.service];
YMSCBCharacteristic *yc = [btService findCharacteristic:characteristic];
if (yc.cbCharacteristic.isNotifying) {
[btService notifyCharacteristicHandler:yc value:value error:error];
} else {
if ([yc.readCallbacks count] > 0) {
[yc executeReadCallback:characteristic.value error:error];
}
}
if ([this.delegate respondsToSelector:#selector(peripheral:didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:error:)]) {
[this.delegate peripheral:peripheral didUpdateValueForCharacteristic:characteristic error:error];
}
});
}
You obviously also need to amend the 'notifyCharacteristicHandler' method to accept the new argument.
Looking at the internal didUpdateValueForCharacteristic delegate method of the YMSCoreBluetooth library, it sends the data to your method using a "perform on main thread" and it doesn't capture the data - it just sends a reference to the characteristic. Also, it performs a "findCharacteristic" on the characteristic by executing a linear search through the array on the main thread even though this could have been done immediately on entering the delegate method on the current thread. Granted this isn't going to be a very big array but it seems that this library hasn't been created with performance in mind.
I suspect that you have a timing problem - by the time your method executes the data in the characteristic has been over written. If you have control over your peripheral, slow it right down for a test to see if the problem goes away.
If it is timing related then you could try a straight Core-Bluetooth implementation, or try a modification to YMSCoreBluetooth so that it captures the data earlier - perhaps if it created a copy of the peripheral at the start of didUpdateValueForCharacteristic and sent that to your method it would work.

Sending multiple UDP packets with CocoaAsyncSocket

I have a lot of switches in my network which I try to check if they are online. I do this with a small UDP packet to which they respond with an UDP packet of their own to tell me that they are there. In fact it is only one switch simulating 200 hundred for testing but this is not important.
Since I do not like to work low level if I don't have to I use https://github.com/robbiehanson/CocoaAsyncSocket for the UDP thing.
It works... almost. When I ping for example 10 switches repeatedly (I ping them at the same time and then wait for all the responses) it seems to work for the first cycles but then after a few it gets out of hand and almost all seem to not be responding. It is completely random which are and which not. It gets worse when I add more switches (meaning it does not work from the first cycle). With cycles I man: I send pings for all switches an then wait for all the answers (or timeouts) and then send the pings again.
When I check my network traffic with a packet sniffer I see that for the "wrong" switches (meaning they are shown as offline == timeout, but are actually online) there are three possible cases for each switch:
The packet from the iPhone is never send so no answer is received.
The iPhone send the packet but the switch did not respond.
The answer packet is received but the iPhone didn't read it.
It's completely random and they are mixed in one cycle.
When all the switches are actually online the problem is minimized (takes more cycles to appear) but still there .
Since the code is asynchronous there is a high potential for bugs and I think there must be some kind of race condition or something.
I will post my ping class here. It is not very complicated. I stared at this for hours but could not find a bug.
The usage is the following:
You create an instance with:
- (id)initWithTimeout:(NSTimeInterval)timeout delegate:(id<NMASwitchPingerDelegate>)delegate;
Than you just call the following method for every ipAddress you want to ping. The method returns immediately. This means the pings are processed concurrently:
- (void)sendPingToAddress:(NSString*)address;
I added it to a paste bin for your convenience: http://pastebin.com/0LuiXsXY
#import "NMASwitchPinger.h"
/**
* Private interface.
*/
#interface NMASwitchPinger () {
/**
* The delegate of this class.
*/
__weak id<NMASwitchPingerDelegate> delegate;
/**
* The timeout after which the pinger stops waiting for a response.
*/
NSTimeInterval timeout;
/**
* The socket which is used to send the ping.
*/
GCDAsyncUdpSocket *socket;
/**
* List of pings which are awaiting a response.
*/
NSMutableDictionary *pendingPings;
/**
* Dispatch queue which serializes access to the pendingPings dictionary.
*/
dispatch_queue_t pendingPingsAccessQueue;
/**
* The queue on which the delegate methods of the socket are executed.
*/
dispatch_queue_t socketDelegateQueue;
/**
* Is set to true when the SwitchPinger started receiving responses (after first send)
*/
bool receiving;
}
#end
#implementation NMASwitchPinger
#pragma mark - Initialization
- (id)initWithTimeout:(NSTimeInterval)newTimeout delegate:(id<NMASwitchPingerDelegate>)newDelegate {
self = [super init];
if (self) {
// setting passed values
timeout = newTimeout;
delegate = newDelegate;
// init data structures
pendingPings = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
pendingPingsAccessQueue = dispatch_queue_create("de.nexans-ans.pingerPendingAccess", DISPATCH_QUEUE_SERIAL);
// create the socket for udp sending
socketDelegateQueue = dispatch_queue_create("de.nexans-ans.pingerDelegate", DISPATCH_QUEUE_CONCURRENT);
socket = [[GCDAsyncUdpSocket alloc] initWithDelegate:self delegateQueue:socketDelegateQueue];
}
return self;
}
- (id)init {
NSAssert(NO, #"Use the designated initializer");
return nil;
}
#pragma mark - Sending a ping
- (void)sendPingToAddress:(NSString *)address {
// we allow only one ping at a time to the same ip
__block BOOL alreadyInList = NO;
dispatch_sync(pendingPingsAccessQueue, ^{
if (pendingPings[address]) {
alreadyInList = YES;
} else {
pendingPings[address] = [[NSDate alloc] init];
}
});
// don't send a second ping to the same address
if (alreadyInList) {
NSLog(#"SimplePinger: did not send ping because already a ping pending to this addres: %#", address);
return;
}
// create a minimal packet (3 bytes)
NSMutableData *packet = [[NSMutableData alloc] initWithCapacity:3];
uint16_t vendor_value = CFSwapInt16HostToBig(266);
uint8_t request_type = 1;
[packet appendBytes:&vendor_value length:sizeof(vendor_value)];
[packet appendBytes:&request_type length:sizeof(request_type)];
// send over the wire
[socket sendData:packet toHost:address port:50266 withTimeout:timeout tag:0];
// schedule timeout handler
dispatch_time_t popTime = dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(timeout * NSEC_PER_SEC));
dispatch_after(popTime, pendingPingsAccessQueue, ^(void){
[self removeTimedOutPingWithAddress:address];
});
// start receiving when not already receiving
if (!receiving) {
bool recvGood = [socket beginReceiving:nil];
NSAssert(recvGood, #"SimplePinger: could not start receiving");
receiving = YES;
}
}
#pragma mark - GCDAsyncSocket delegate
- (void)udpSocket:(GCDAsyncUdpSocket *)sock didReceiveData:(NSData *)data fromAddress:(NSData *)address withFilterContext:(id)filterContext {
NSString *ipAddress = [GCDAsyncUdpSocket hostFromAddress:address];
__block BOOL pingStillPending = NO;
dispatch_sync(pendingPingsAccessQueue, ^{
NSDate *sendDate = pendingPings[ipAddress];
if (sendDate) {
[pendingPings removeObjectForKey:ipAddress];
pingStillPending = YES;
}
});
if (pingStillPending) {
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[delegate switchPinger:self didReceiveResponse:data fromAddress:ipAddress];
});
}
}
- (void)udpSocket:(GCDAsyncUdpSocket *)sock didNotSendDataWithTag:(long)tag dueToError:(NSError *)error {
NSLog(#"didnt send data");
}
- (void)udpSocket:(GCDAsyncUdpSocket *)sock didSendDataWithTag:(long)tag {
NSLog(#"did send");
}
#pragma mark - Private methods
/**
* Removes a timed out ping. A call of this function gets scheduled when a ping is send.
*
* #param address The address of the ping which should be removed.
*/
- (void)removeTimedOutPingWithAddress:(NSString*)address {
NSDate *sendDate = pendingPings[address];
if (sendDate) {
NSLog(#"timeout: %#", address);
NSAssert(fabs([sendDate timeIntervalSinceNow]) >= timeout, #"SimplePing: removed ping before timout");
[pendingPings removeObjectForKey:address];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[delegate switchPinger:self didReceiveTimeoutFromAddress:address];
});
}
}
#end

Problems with GKSession and sendDataToAllPeers:withDataMode:error:

Alright, this involves a lot of network coding from this part of a multiplayer tutorial.
Basically, I'm trying to implement a multiplayer game using GameKit as per the tutorial linked above. I put in all of the necessary network coding and more or less understand it, however I've hit a snag somewhere along the line of method calls. Basically, the setup that I have is that one device acts as the host and the rest act as the clients. I have two separate UIViewcontrollers for the host and clients respectively where the connection is established.
Now the thing is, the connection gets established, but it's only the host that recognizes the connection, not the client. The problem is here:
- (void)sendPacketToAllClients:(Packet *)packet
{
[_players enumerateKeysAndObjectsUsingBlock:^(id key, Player *obj, BOOL *stop)
{
obj.receivedResponse = [_session.peerID isEqualToString:obj.peerID];
}];
GKSendDataMode dataMode = GKSendDataReliable;
NSData *data = [packet data];
NSError *error;
if (![_session sendDataToAllPeers:data withDataMode:dataMode error:&error])
{
NSLog(#"Error sending data to clients: %#", error);
}
}
This is implemented in GameMultiplayer, where the actual game will be implemented. What this method is supposed to be doing is sending data packets to each of the clients saying that the host received the connection request and is able to connect with them. After [_session sendDataToAllPeers:data withDataMode:dataMode error:&error] is called (the method in the if statement), this method is supposed to be triggered:
- (void)receiveData:(NSData *)data fromPeer:(NSString *)peerID inSession:(GKSession *)session context:(void *)context
{
#ifdef DEBUG
NSLog(#"Game: receive data from peer: %#, data: %#, length: %d", peerID, data, [data length]);
#endif
Packet *packet = [Packet packetWithData:data];
if (packet == nil)
{
NSLog(#"Invalid packet: %#", data);
return;
}
Player *player = [self playerWithPeerID:peerID];
if (player != nil)
{
player.receivedResponse = YES; // this is the new bit
}
if (self.isServer)
[self serverReceivedPacket:packet fromPlayer:player];
else
[self clientReceivedPacket:packet];
}
This method is in the next part of the tutorial I linked above (which is here) and is supposed to receive the packets that the host sends to all clients and implement the next methods in this networking chain. However, the method never gets called. No debug breakpoints are triggered and I get nothing in the console.
I understand if I need to provide more source material, but there is a lot of network coding already implemented, so I want to keep it down to what people need to see. Also, [_session setDataReceiveHandler:self withContext:nil] and _session.delegate = self are written in another method that is called in GameMultiplayer, so that's not the problem. Does anyone know what I need to fix?
EDIT: As requested, here's where GKSession is initialized:
#property (nonatomic, strong, readonly) GKSession *session; //This is done in the header file
#synthesize session = _session; //This is done in the main file
- (void)startAcceptingConnectionsForSessionID:(NSString *)sessionID
{
if (_serverState == ServerStateIdle)
{
_serverState = ServerStateAcceptingConnections;
_connectedClients = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:self.maxClients];
_session = [[GKSession alloc] initWithSessionID:sessionID displayName:nil sessionMode:GKSessionModeServer];
_session.delegate = self;
_session.available = YES;
}
}
The session is initialized in MatchmakingServer, which is used in the host view controller. The session is then passed on to the main view controller of the app, which then initializes GameMultiplayer and sends the GKSession to it. Here's where the host view controller sends it to the main view controller:
- (IBAction)startAction:(id)sender
{
if (_matchmakingServer != nil && [_matchmakingServer connectedClientCount] > 0)
{
NSString *name = [self.nameTextField.text stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet]];
if ([name length] == 0)
name = _matchmakingServer.session.displayName;
[_matchmakingServer stopAcceptingConnections];
[self.delegate hostViewController:self startGameWithSession:_matchmakingServer.session playerName:name clients:_matchmakingServer.connectedClients];
}
}
and then the main view controller handles that method call here:
- (void)hostViewController:(MatchmakerHost *)controller startGameWithSession:(GKSession *)session playerName:(NSString *)name clients:(NSArray *)clients
{
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:NO completion:^
{
[self startGameWithBlock:^(GameMultiplayer *aGame)
{
[aGame startServerGameWithSession:session playerName:name clients:clients];
}];
}];
}
and finally, this is where that method call is implemented in GameMultiplayer:
- (void)startServerGameWithSession:(GKSession *)session playerName:(NSString *)name clients:(NSArray *)clients
{
_clients = clients;
const char* className = class_getName([[_clients objectAtIndex:0] class]);
NSLog(#"yourObject is a: %s", className);
self.isServer = YES;
_session = session;
_session.available = NO;
_session.delegate = self;
[_session setDataReceiveHandler:self withContext:nil];
_state = GameStateWaitingForSignIn;
[self.delegate gameWaitingForClientsReady:self];
// Create the Player object for the server.
Player *player = [[Player alloc] init];
player.name = name;
player.peerID = _session.peerID;
player.position = PlayerPositionBottom;
[_players setObject:player forKey:player.peerID];
// Add a Player object for each client.
int index = 0;
for (NSString *peerID in clients)
{
Player *player = [[Player alloc] init];
player.peerID = peerID;
[_players setObject:player forKey:player.peerID];
if (index == 0)
player.position = ([clients count] == 1) ? PlayerPositionTop : PlayerPositionLeft;
else if (index == 1)
player.position = PlayerPositionTop;
else
player.position = PlayerPositionRight;
index++;
}
NSLog(#"Players:");
Packet *packet = [Packet packetWithType:PacketTypeSignInRequest];
[self sendPacketToAllClients:packet];
// for (int i = 0; i < [_players count]; i++) {
// NSLog([NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#", [clients objectAtIndex:i]]);
// }
}
I think you are calling send to fast. When server realize about connection it will send confirmation to client to really establish connection - so client knows about it succeed.
If you are sending packets before that happens - it will be lost.
Just do this:
[self performSelector:#selector(sendPacketToAllClients) withObject:nil afterDelay:1.0];
instead of:
[self sendPacketToAllClients];
I had the same problem that connection is established in different moment with small delay on client. The best is to send first packet from client that he is ready to receive packets from server - and than proceed normally from there.
Also try debugging:
- (void)session:(GKSession *)session peer:(NSString *)peerID didChangeState:(GKPeerConnectionState)state
On both devices (server and client).
I have also had my troubles with GKSession. I was interested to learn (on this site) today that GKSession is being deprecated in favor of using the Multipeer Connectivity Framework. With luck, Wenderlich et al. will do a tutorial using the new technology. :)
The system has some similarities to GKSession, so is not too hard to wrap your head around.
Apple's doc link.

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