How to manage openUrl method inside called application in iOS? - ios

Question

I suppose that this is duplicate but I can not figure it out.
I have to call other app from my iOS app using openUrl method. After finishing its work the other app must return to my app using the same method. I figure out how to call the other App and its open my App too. My problem is how to intercept the return to my App. I need to check the value from query string.
I find that method handleOpenURL intercepts return and I can handle my query string.
And here I am stuck - how to use that info inside my ViewController? I set breakpoint in viewDidLoad but it was not hit. Which method I have to use?
EDIT:
My Code is (inside AppDelegate):
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleOpenURL:(NSURL *)url {
NSLog(#"url recieved: %#", url);
NSLog(#"query string: %#", [url query]);
NSLog(#"host: %#", [url host]);
NSLog(#"url path: %#", [url path]);
NSDictionary *dict = [self parseQueryString:[url query]];
NSLog(#"query dict: %#", dict);
return YES;
}
- (NSDictionary *)parseQueryString:(NSString *)query {
NSMutableDictionary *dict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity:6];
NSArray *pairs = [query componentsSeparatedByString:#"&"];
for (NSString *pair in pairs) {
NSArray *elements = [pair componentsSeparatedByString:#"="];
NSString *key = [[elements objectAtIndex:0] stringByReplacingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSString *val = [[elements objectAtIndex:1] stringByReplacingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[dict setObject:val forKey:key];
}
return dict;
}
Which works fine.
Inside my ViewController (VC):
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
[self setNeedsStatusBarAppearanceUpdate];
// Instantiate App singleton
singApp = [PESsingApplication sharedInstance];
#try {
// Localize resources using currently saved setting for language
[self setLocalizedResources];
// Init visual buttons
[self baseInit];
// Add code for keyboard management
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(keyboardShow:)
name:UIKeyboardWillShowNotification
object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(keyboardHide:)
name:UIKeyboardWillHideNotification
object:nil];
CGRect screenRect = [[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds];
_screenHeight = screenRect.size.height;
_screenWidth = screenRect.size.width;
}
#catch (NSException *exception) {
[self throwUnknownException:exception];
}
}
-(UIStatusBarStyle)preferredStatusBarStyle{
return UIStatusBarStyleLightContent;
}
- (void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewDidAppear:animated];
}
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
My url:
URL identifier: xx.mydomain.MyUrlScheme
URL shcemes: MyUrlScheme
I have breakpoints inside my VC (on each of the method shown above).
I use following string to call other app: #"otherApp://openApp?param1=value1&callbackUrl=MyUrlScheme";
They call me from the otherApp using callbackUrl param.

Answer 1

You need to make your own custom URL, please look below
How to implement Custom URL Scheme
Defining your app's custom URL scheme is all done in the Info.plist file. Click on the last line in the file and then click the "+" sign off to the right to add a new line. Select URL Types for the new item. Once that's added, click the grey arrow next to "URL Types" to show "Item 0". Set your URL identifier to a unique string - something like com.yourcompany.yourappname.
After you've set the URL identifier, select that line and click the "+" sign again, and add a new item for URL Schemes. Then click the grey arrow next to "URL Schemes" to reveal "Item 0". Set the value for Item 0 to be your URL scheme name.
Handling Custom URL Calls
In order for your app to respond when it receives a custom URL call, you must implement the application:handleOpenURL method in the application delegate class:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleOpenURL:(NSURL *)url {
// your code
}
Parsing the Custom URL
There are several parts to a URL:
scheme://host/path?query
The parts to the URL can be retrieved through the NSURL object that is passed into the application:handleOpenURL method. If you have a fairly simple URL naming scheme and want to allow access to specific pages/keys, you can just use the host name:
Custom URL Value of [url host]:
myapp://page1 page1
myapp://page2 page2
myapp://otherPage otherPage
To pass data into your app, you'll want to use the query string. Here's a simple method for parsing the query string from the url:
- (NSDictionary *)parseQueryString:(NSString *)query {
NSMutableDictionary *dict = [[[NSMutableDictionary alloc] initWithCapacity:6] autorelease];
NSArray *pairs = [query componentsSeparatedByString:#"&"];
for (NSString *pair in pairs) {
NSArray *elements = [pair componentsSeparatedByString:#"="];
NSString *key = [[elements objectAtIndex:0] stringByReplacingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSString *val = [[elements objectAtIndex:1] stringByReplacingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
[dict setObject:val forKey:key];
}
return dict;
}
Testing The Custom URL
You can easily test your URL scheme in the simulator. Just add a test button to one of your views, and implement the IBAction method for it as follows:
- (IBAction)getTest:(id)sender {
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:#"myappscheme://test_page/one?token=12345&domain=foo.com"]];
}
Then in your app delegate, implement the application:handleOpenURL method:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleOpenURL:(NSURL *)url {
NSLog(#"url recieved: %#", url);
NSLog(#"query string: %#", [url query]);
NSLog(#"host: %#", [url host]);
NSLog(#"url path: %#", [url path]);
NSDictionary *dict = [self parseQueryString:[url query]];
NSLog(#"query dict: %#", dict);
return YES;
}
Finally if you are looking method to receive your data anywhere you can use this two scenario.
You can simple use Local notification or NSUserDefault
NSUserDefault
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleopenURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
NSUserDefaults *userDefaults=[[NSUserDefaults alloc] init];
[userDefaults synchronize];
NSString *status = [defaults stringForKey:#"any status"];
}
Local notification
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleopenURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
UILocalNotification *localNotif = [[UILocalNotification alloc] init];
if (localNotif == nil)
return;
localNotif.userInfo = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:VAL, #"value", nil];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] scheduleLocalNotification:localNotif];
}

Answer 2

If your viewDidLoad is not called perfectly try in viewWillAppear or viewDidAppear method.
For example purpose:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleOpenURL:(NSURL *)url {
NSDictionary *dict = [self parseQueryString:[url query]];
NSLog(#"query dict: %#", dict);
// add dictionary to standardUserDefaults for saving purpose, like
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] setObject:dict forKey:#"DicKey"];
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
// add code for navigation/present view controller
UIStoryboard *mainStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main"
bundle: nil];
YourViewController *yourController = (YourViewController *)[mainStoryboard
instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"YourViewControllerID"];
self.window.rootViewController = yourController;
return YES;
}
for retrieve
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
NSMutableDictionary *mutableRetrievedDictionary = [[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] objectForKey:#"DicKey"] mutableCopy];
// here parse the dictionary and do your work here, when your works is over
// remove the key of standardUserDefaults
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] removeObjectForKey:#"DicKey"];
[[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
}

Answer 3

Store the status from other app in NSUserdefaults, when the ViewController of your app launches fetch the status into a NSString from NSUserdefaults and rise it as an alert.
Call the handleopenURL in appdelegate
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application handleopenURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
NSUserDefaults *defaults=[[NSUserDefaults alloc] init];
[defaults synchronize];
NSString *status = [defaults stringForKey:#"status string from other app"];
}