PFFile to UIImage in Parse (ios) - ios

Question

I am trying to convert a PFFile to a UIImage. It works, however, it doesn't seem to run until the very end. The line after the image is called appends the image to the array (photosArray.append(image!)), but when I do this, it doesnt work, and stores nothing. I believe this is because since the image hasnt been fully retrieved yet because it is grabbing the image in the background. How do I not have it save in the background, but wait until all the data is loaded, THEN append to the photosArray image, so the array isnt empty?
var photosArray = [UIImage]()
let photosValue = log["Images"] as! PFFile
photosValue.getDataInBackgroundWithBlock({
(imageData: NSData?, error:NSError?) -> Void in
if (error == nil) {
let image = UIImage(data:imageData!)
//line below appends nothing! photosArray is an empty array, []
photosArray.append(image!)
//following line of code doesnt run until the end. Is the last line to be printed in console.
println("Our Image: \(image)")
}
})
//prints "[]", no value
println(photosArray)
println("Our Image Array^^")
}
//after all the code is ran, the println("Our Image: \(image)") will run,
//and say "Our Image: Optional(<UIImage: 0x16f0ead0>, {394, 256})".
//This is the last line of the console logged, so it IS saving, but not until the end.

Answer 1

That is not a correct assumption, the whole point of the getDataInBackgroundWithBlock is to handle the response data. You also wouldn't be able to assign
let image = UIImage(data: imageData!)
if it were nil.
I'm not sure about what println statements you're referring to, however printing out the array while data is still being collected in the background may not give you a result, and just
[]
But you should see
println("Our image: \(image)")
If you plan to display these images inside a UIImageView I suggest taking a look at the ParseUI class PFImageView, which has a property you can assign a PFFile to and then a method in which to load it.