Import PDF into own App with iOS Action Extension - ios

I'm looking for a possibility to import a PDF in order to do some further tasks with it, just like described in this Question: Importing PDF files to app
After two days of looking around in the inter webs I found that an action extension might be the solution, this is how far I got:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let fileItem = self.extensionContext!.inputItems.first as! NSExtensionItem
let textItemProvider = fileItem.attachments!.first as! NSItemProvider
let identifier = kUTTypePDF as String
if textItemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(identifier) {
textItemProvider.loadItemForTypeIdentifier(identifier, options: nil, completionHandler: handleCompletion)
}
}
func handleCompletion(pdfFile: NSSecureCoding?, error: NSError!) {
print("PDF loaded - What to do now?")
}
The completion handler is called properly so I assume the PDF is loaded - but then I don't now how to proceed. If the action extension only handles images or text it could easily be downcasted, but the only way to work with files I know is with path names - which I do not have and don't know how to obtain. Plus, I'm pretty sure Sandboxing is also part of the party.
I guess I only need a push in the right direction which Class or Protocol could be suitable for my need - any suggestions highly appreciated.

For anyone else looking for an answer - I found out by myself, and it's embarrassingly easy:
func handleCompletion(fileURL: NSSecureCoding?, error: NSError!) {
if let fileURL = fileURL as? NSURL {
let newFileURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: NSTemporaryDirectory().stringByAppendingString("test.pdf"))
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
do {
try fileManager.copyItemAtURL(fileURL, toURL: newFileURL)
// Do further stuff
}
catch {
print(error)
}
}
}

Related

How to add file picker to the app on iOS 14+ and lower

I'm newbie in iOS development, so some things which I will show and ask here can be stupid and please don't be angry :) So, I need to add support of picking files from local storage in my app. This feature will be used for picking file -> encoding to Base64 and then sending to remote server. Right now I have some problems with adding this functionality to my app. I had found this tutorial and did everything what was mentioned here:
added import - import MobileCoreServices
added implementation - UIDocumentPickerDelegate
added this code scope for showing picker:
let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: [String(kUTTypeText),String(kUTTypeContent),String(kUTTypeItem),String(kUTTypeData)], in: .import)
documentPicker.delegate = self
self.present(documentPicker, animated: true)
and also added handler of selected file:
func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
print(urls)
}
In general file chooser appears on simulator screen, but I see warning in XCode:
'init(documentTypes:in:)' was deprecated in iOS 14.0
I visited the official guideline and here also found similar info about deprecation some method. So, how I can solve my problem with file choosing by the way which will be fully compatible with the latest iOS version. And another question - how I can then encode selected file? Right now I have an ability of file choosing and printing its location, but I need to get its data like name, content for encoding and some others. Maybe someone faced with similar problems and knows a solution? I need to add it in ordinary viewcontroller, so when I tried to add this implementation:
UIDocumentPickerViewController
I saw such error message:
Multiple inheritance from classes 'UIViewController' and 'UIDocumentPickerViewController'
I will be so pleased for any info: tutorials or advice :)
I decided to post my own solution of my problem. As I am new in ios development my answer can contain some logical problems :) Firstly I added some dialogue for choosing file type after pressing Attach button:
#IBAction func attachFile(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
let attachSheet = UIAlertController(title: nil, message: "File attaching", preferredStyle: .actionSheet)
attachSheet.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "File", style: .default,handler: { (action) in
let supportedTypes: [UTType] = [UTType.png,UTType.jpeg]
let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(forOpeningContentTypes: supportedTypes)
documentPicker.delegate = self
documentPicker.allowsMultipleSelection = false
documentPicker.shouldShowFileExtensions = true
self.present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
}))
attachSheet.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Photo/Video", style: .default,handler: { (action) in
self.chooseImage()
}))
attachSheet.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .cancel))
self.present(attachSheet, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
then when a user will choose File he will be moved to ordinary directory where I handle his selection:
func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
var selectedFileData = [String:String]()
let file = urls[0]
do{
let fileData = try Data.init(contentsOf: file.absoluteURL)
selectedFileData["filename"] = file.lastPathComponent
selectedFileData["data"] = fileData.base64EncodedString(options: .lineLength64Characters)
}catch{
print("contents could not be loaded")
}
}
as you can see in scope above I formed special dicionary for storing data before sending it to a server. Here you can also see encoding to Base64.
When the user will press Photo/Video item in alert dialogue he will be moved to gallery for picture selecting:
func chooseImage() {
imagePicker.allowsEditing = false
imagePicker.sourceType = .photoLibrary
present(imagePicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [UIImagePickerController.InfoKey : Any]) {
var selectedImageData = [String:String]()
guard let fileUrl = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.imageURL] as? URL else { return }
print(fileUrl.lastPathComponent)
if let pickedImage = info[UIImagePickerController.InfoKey.originalImage] as? UIImage {
selectedImageData["filename"] = fileUrl.lastPathComponent
selectedImageData["data"] = pickedImage.pngData()?.base64EncodedString(options: .lineLength64Characters)
}
dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}
func imagePickerControllerDidCancel(_ picker: UIImagePickerController) {
dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}
via my method all file content will be encoded to base64 string.
P.S. Also I'm so pleased to #MaticOblak because he showed me the initial point for my research and final solution. His solution also good, but I have managed to solve my problem in way which is more convenient for my project :)
As soon as you have file URL you can use that URL to retrieve the data it contains. When you have the data you can convert it to Base64 and send it to server. You gave no information about how you will send it to server but the rest may look something like this:
func sendFileWithURL(_ url: URL, completion: #escaping ((_ error: Error?) -> Void)) {
func finish(_ error: Error?) {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
completion(error)
}
}
DispatchQueue(label: "DownloadingFileData." + UUID().uuidString).async {
do {
let data: Data = try Data(contentsOf: url)
let base64String = data.base64EncodedString()
// TODO: send string to server and call the completion
finish(nil)
} catch {
finish(error)
}
}
}
and you would use it as
func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
urls.forEach { sendFileWithURL($0) { <#Your code here#> } }
}
To break it down:
To get file data you can use Data(contentsOf: url). This method even works on remote files so you could for instance use an URL of an image link anywhere on internet you have access to. It is important to know that this method will pause your thread which is usually not what you want.
To avoid breaking the current thread we create a new queue using DispatchQueue(label: "DownloadingFileData." + UUID().uuidString). The name of the queue is not very important but can be useful when debugging.
When data is received we convert it to Base64 string using data.base64EncodedString() and this data can then be sent to server. You just need to fill in the TODO: part.
Retrieving your file data can have some errors. Maybe access restriction or file no longer there or no internet connection... This is handled by throwing. If the statement with try fails for any reason then the catch parts executes and you receive an error.
Since all of this is done on background thread it usually makes sense to go back to main thread. This is what the finish function does. If you do not require that you can simply remove it and have:
func sendFileWithURL(_ url: URL, completion: #escaping ((_ error: Error?) -> Void)) {
DispatchQueue(label: "DownloadingFileData." + UUID().uuidString).async {
do {
let data: Data = try Data(contentsOf: url)
let base64String = data.base64EncodedString()
// TODO: send string to server and call the completion
completion(nil)
} catch {
completion(error)
}
}
}
There are other things to consider in this approach. For instance you can see if user selects multiple files then each of them will open its own queue and start the process. That means that if user selects multiple files it is possible that at some point many or all of them will be loaded in memory. That may take too much memory and crash your application. It is for you to decide if this approach is fine for you or you wish to serialize the process. The serialization should be very simple with queues. All you need is to have a single one:
private lazy var fileProcessingQueue: DispatchQueue = DispatchQueue(label: "DownloadingFileData.main")
func sendFileWithURL(_ url: URL, completion: #escaping ((_ error: Error?) -> Void)) {
func finish(_ error: Error?) {
DispatchQueue.main.async {
completion(error)
}
}
fileProcessingQueue.async {
do {
let data: Data = try Data(contentsOf: url)
let base64String = data.base64EncodedString()
// TODO: send string to server and call the completion
finish(nil)
} catch {
finish(error)
}
}
}
Now one operation will finish before another one starts. But that may only apply for getting file data and conversion to base64 string. If uploading is then done on another thread (Which usually is) then you may still have multiple ongoing requests which may contain all of the data needed to upload.

UIDocument Creation on iOS 11: reader is not permitted to access the URL

Since iOS 11 I have encountered the following error every time I am creating a new document using UIDocument API:
[ERROR] Could not get attribute values for item /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/XXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXX/Documents/myDoc-XXXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXX.myFile (n).
Error: Error Domain=NSFileProviderInternalErrorDomain Code=1
"The reader is not permitted to access the URL."
UserInfo={NSLocalizedDescription=The reader is not permitted to access the URL.}
Unlike similar questions (1, 2, 3) on SO on this, I am not using UIDocumentBrowserViewController. I am simply creating a UIDocument and call save() to the Documents directory myself. The closest question I found uses UIManagedDocument. However, in my case, the file is still created and written successfully despite the error message.
Here's the gist of my save routine:
#IBAction func createDoc(_ sender: Any) {
let uuid = UUID().uuidString
let doc = Document(baseName: "myDoc-\(uuid)")
doc.save(to: doc.fileURL, for: .forCreating) { (completed) in
if (completed) {
doc.close(completionHandler: nil)
self.verifyNumberOfFiles()
}
}
}
My UIDocument subclass is also almost blank for simplicity of this question:
class Document: UIDocument {
let fileExtension = "myFile"
override init(fileURL url: URL) {
super.init(fileURL: url)
}
/// Convenience method for `init(fileURL:)`
convenience init(baseName: String) {
self.init(fileURL: documentsDirectory.appendingPathComponent(baseName).appendingPathExtension(Document.fileExtension))
}
override func contents(forType typeName: String) throws -> Any {
return NSData()
}
override func load(fromContents contents: Any, ofType typeName: String?) throws {
}
}
I'm always writing to Documents folder, and my lookup routine can verify that my files are successfully created:
public var documentsDirectory: URL {
return FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).last!
}
func loadFileURLs(from dirURL: URL) -> [URL]? {
return try? FileManager().contentsOfDirectory(at: dirURL, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil)
}
What I have discovered so far:
The error appears even when I set up my UTI already. See this and this.
I can verify that my UTI works when I send a "myFile" to my device over AirDrop and it correctly triggers my app to open.
The error appears on iOS 11 only. The same code doesn't reproduce the error on iOS 10, like in the question above.
I tried adding UISupportsDocumentBrowser key although I'm not using the browser but it's not dissolve the error.
What is happening? Is this just a "noise" error message on iOS 11?
Here's 🔨 my GitHub code online if anyone is interested.
A workaround for this is to create the file by saving its data to the disk, and then open it as you would with an existing file.
Your createDoc(_:) method would then like this:
#IBAction func createDoc(_ sender: Any) {
let uuid = UUID().uuidString
let baseName = "myDoc-\(uuid)"
let url = documentsDirectory
.appendingPathComponent(baseName)
.appendingPathExtension(Document.fileExtension)
do {
let emptyFileData = Data()
try emptyFileData.write(to: url)
let document = Document(fileURL: url)
document.open() { completed in
guard completed else {
// handle error
return
}
doc.close(completionHandler: nil)
self.verifyNumberOfFiles()
}
} catch {
// handle error
}
}
In Xcode 9.3 it is possible to specify a new item in info.plist:
Supports Document Browser (YES)
This enables access to the application's documents directory (for example, /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/3C21358B-9E7F-4AA8-85A6-A8B901E028F5/Documents on a device). Apple Developer doc here.

IOS FacebookShare Error 'reserved' being returned

I've tried searching but could not find an answer. I have written an app and I am trying to share content to facebook. Basically I would like to share a URL and maybe a quote or title.
I keep getting an error called 'reserved' but I am not sure what it means or how to fix it. Any help would be great!
func fbClick() {
let content = LinkShareContent(url: URL(string: "www.google.com")!)
showShareDialog(content, mode: .native)
}
func showShareDialog<C: ContentProtocol> (_ content: C, mode: ShareDialogMode = .automatic) {
let dialog = ShareDialog(content: content)
dialog.presentingViewController = self
dialog.mode = mode
do {
try dialog.show()
} catch (let error) {
self.view.makeToast("Invalid share content. Failed to present share dialog with error \(error)", duration: 3.0, position: .top)
}
}
Figured it out.
This line...
let content = LinkShareContent(url: URL(string: "www.google.com")!)
Should have been like this...
let content = LinkShareContent(url: NSURL(string: "https://www.google.com")! as URL)
or like this
let content = LinkShareContent(url: NSURL(string: "https://www.google.com")! as URL, quote: quote)
Had the same reserved error but while using VideoShareContent. Spent 5 hours to find the issue and finally found. Really hope someone finds this helpful too.
Solution: when you are retrieving the url of your video from info param from the UIImagePickerController delegate method make sure you use the key "UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL".
Example:
func imagePickerController(_ picker: UIImagePickerController, didFinishPickingMediaWithInfo info: [String: Any]) {
picker.dismiss(animated: true)
if let videoURL = info["UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL"] as? URL {
let video = Video(url: videoURL)
let content = VideoShareContent(video: video)
do {
try ShareDialog.show(from: self, content: content)
} catch {
print(error)
}
}
}
Additional info: initially I did not use this key "UIImagePickerControllerReferenceURL". Why: it's deprecated. According to Apple, you should use UIImagePickerControllerPHAsset instead. But the url from there also returns reserved error. Another try was to use key "UIImagePickerControllerMediaURL", but it also didn't succeed.

Swift 3 Photo Share Extension with Firebase Database Not Working After First Send

I am developing an iOS photo sharing extension in Swift 3 that captures a user-selected photo in the iOS Photos app along with a user-entered caption and stores it in Firebase. The photo is stored in Firebase storage. The caption and the path of the photo in Firebase Storage are stored in Firebase Realtime Database.
The problem I'm encountering is that the share extension stops working after first send. The strange thing is, if I do a similar approach in a regular View Controller in the iOS app, the code works. I noticed two issues with the Share Extension:
Issue #1: The share extension view isn't dismissed completely. In a normal situation, the view would return to a "gallery" mode of Photos. However, the share extension view is going away but the share menu with the complete list of apps that you can use to share is not dismissing.
Screenshot of what the Photos view looks like after the second send
Issue #2: the data isn't being sent up to Firebase storage or Firebase database.
Below please find my ShareViewController code:
import UIKit
import Social
import Firebase
import MobileCoreServices
class ShareViewController: SLComposeServiceViewController {
var ref: DatabaseReference!
var storageRef: StorageReference!
override func isContentValid() -> Bool {
// Do validation of contentText and/or NSExtensionContext attachments here
return true
}
override func didSelectPost() {
// This is called after the user selects Post. Do the upload of contentText and/or NSExtensionContext attachments.
FirebaseApp.configure()
ref = Database.database().reference()
storageRef = Storage.storage().reference()
// Inform the host that we're done, so it un-blocks its UI. Note: Alternatively you could call super's -didSelectPost, which will similarly complete the extension context.
if let item = self.extensionContext?.inputItems[0] as? NSExtensionItem {
for ele in item.attachments!{
let itemProvider = ele as! NSItemProvider
if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier("public.jpeg"){
itemProvider.loadItem(forTypeIdentifier: "public.jpeg", options: nil, completionHandler: { (item, error) in
do {
var imgData: Data!
if let url = item as? URL{
imgData = try Data(contentsOf: url)
}
if let img = item as? UIImage{
imgData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(img)
}
var updateRef = self.ref.child("demo_group").child("demo_patient").child("demo_updates").childByAutoId()
var updateStorageRef = self.storageRef.child("demo_photos" + "/\(Double(Date.timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate * 1000)).jpg")
updateRef.child("event_name").setValue(self.contentText)
updateRef.child("sender").setValue("demo_ff")
let metadata = StorageMetadata()
metadata.contentType = "image/jpeg"
updateStorageRef.putData(imgData, metadata: metadata) { (metadata, error) in
if let error = error {
print("Error uploading: \(error)")
return
}
// use sendMessage to add imageURL to database
updateRef.child("photos").childByAutoId().setValue(metadata?.path)
}
} catch let err{
print(err)
}
})
}
}
}
self.extensionContext!.completeRequest(returningItems: [], completionHandler: nil)
}
override func configurationItems() -> [Any]! {
// To add configuration options via table cells at the bottom of the sheet, return an array of SLComposeSheetConfigurationItem here.
return []
}
}
Please let me know if there's anything I can do to fix this! I would be greatly appreciated.
FirebaseApp.configure() will crash your extension if call multiple times in a row because the system does not fully deallocate the firebase app instance created for the extension.
My solution was to do:
if let _ = FirebaseApp.app() {...} else {
FirebaseApp.configure()
}
This should fix your problem.
Edit: Also note that you should call extensionContext.complete after your storage & database updates have completed... Not before
So, you will need to use the methods for setValue that take a completion block.
1- Upload to storage, when the task completes
2- Update the database reference,
3- When that completion block is called... Then you call extensionContext.completeWith() or .cancel()

iOS Action Extension share from GarageBand

I am building an action extension for GarageBand on iOS which transforms and uploads audio but no matter what I try, I just could not get to the exported file.
Let’s consider the following code — it should:
find and load shared audio from extensionContext
initialise audio player
play the sound
It works if I run the extension in Voice Memos.app — the url to the file looks like this: file:///tmp/com.apple.VoiceMemos/New%20Recording%202.m4a
Now, If I run the code in GarageBand.app, the url points to (what I presume) is GarageBand’s app container, as the url looks something like /var/…/Containers/…/Project.band/audio/Project.m4a, and the audio will not be loaded and cannot therefore be manipulated in any way.
// edit: If I try to load contents of the audio file, it looks like the data only contains aac header (?) but the rest of the file is empty
What is interesting is this: The extension renders a react-native view and if I pass the view the fileUrl (/var/…Project.band/audio/Project.m4a) and then pass it down to XMLHTTPRequest, the file gets uploaded. So it looks like the file can be accessed in some way?
I’m new to Swift/iOS development so this is kind of frustrating for me, I feel like I tried just about everything.
The code:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
var audioFound :Bool = false
for inputItem: Any in self.extensionContext!.inputItems {
let extensionItem = inputItem as! NSExtensionItem
for attachment: Any in extensionItem.attachments! {
print("attachment = \(attachment)")
let itemProvider = attachment as! NSItemProvider
if itemProvider.hasItemConformingToTypeIdentifier(kUTTypeAudio as String) {
itemProvider.loadItem(forTypeIdentifier: kUTTypeAudio as String,
options: nil, completionHandler: { (audioURL, error) in
OperationQueue.main.addOperation {
if let audioURL = audioURL as? NSURL {
print("audioUrl = \(audioURL)")
// in our sample code we just present and play the audio in our app extension
let theAVPlayer :AVPlayer = AVPlayer(url: audioURL as URL)
let theAVPlayerViewController :AVPlayerViewController = AVPlayerViewController()
theAVPlayerViewController.player = theAVPlayer
self.present(theAVPlayerViewController, animated: true) {
theAVPlayerViewController.player!.play()
}
}
}
})
audioFound = true
break
}
}
if (audioFound) {
break
}
}
}

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