AFNetworking 2.5.3 Serialization of array to send indexes explicitely - ios

Question

I use
AFHTTPRequestSerializer *serializer = [AFHTTPRequestSerializer serializer];
and this sends out the call to the server when having an array in the format:
payments[]
payments[][email]=0&
payments[][category]=&
payments[][email]=1&
payments[][category]=&
I need the indexes for the server like.
payments[]
payments[0][email]=0&
payments[0][category]=&
payments[1][email]=1&
payments[1][category]=&
How can I achieve that?
Thanks.

Answer 1

AFHTTPRequestSerializer has a method setQueryStringSerializationWithBlock which allows you to provide your own block for serializing the parameters.
Unfortunately, the internal AF* functions for serialization are private, but you can copy them and make a small modification in these lines to add the indexes.
To set your own serialization block:
[serializer setQueryStringSerializationWithBlock:^NSString *(NSURLRequest *request, id parameters, NSError *__autoreleasing *error) {
return ZAFQueryStringFromParametersWithEncoding(parameters, serializer.stringEncoding);
}];
Including the code, where the AFNetworking functions have been copied and prefixed with a Z to ZAF:
static NSString * const kAFCharactersToBeEscapedInQueryString = #":/?&=;+!##$()',*";
static NSString * AFPercentEscapedQueryStringKeyFromStringWithEncoding(NSString *string, NSStringEncoding encoding) {
static NSString * const kAFCharactersToLeaveUnescapedInQueryStringPairKey = #"[].";
return (__bridge_transfer NSString *)CFURLCreateStringByAddingPercentEscapes(kCFAllocatorDefault, (__bridge CFStringRef)string, (__bridge CFStringRef)kAFCharactersToLeaveUnescapedInQueryStringPairKey, (__bridge CFStringRef)kAFCharactersToBeEscapedInQueryString, CFStringConvertNSStringEncodingToEncoding(encoding));
}
static NSString * AFPercentEscapedQueryStringValueFromStringWithEncoding(NSString *string, NSStringEncoding encoding) {
return (__bridge_transfer NSString *)CFURLCreateStringByAddingPercentEscapes(kCFAllocatorDefault, (__bridge CFStringRef)string, NULL, (__bridge CFStringRef)kAFCharactersToBeEscapedInQueryString, CFStringConvertNSStringEncodingToEncoding(encoding));
}
#pragma mark -
#interface ZAFQueryStringPair : NSObject
#property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) id field;
#property (readwrite, nonatomic, strong) id value;
- (id)initWithField:(id)field value:(id)value;
- (NSString *)URLEncodedStringValueWithEncoding:(NSStringEncoding)stringEncoding;
#end
#implementation ZAFQueryStringPair
- (id)initWithField:(id)field value:(id)value {
self = [super init];
if (!self) {
return nil;
}
self.field = field;
self.value = value;
return self;
}
- (NSString *)URLEncodedStringValueWithEncoding:(NSStringEncoding)stringEncoding {
if (!self.value || [self.value isEqual:[NSNull null]]) {
return AFPercentEscapedQueryStringKeyFromStringWithEncoding([self.field description], stringEncoding);
} else {
return [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#=%#", AFPercentEscapedQueryStringKeyFromStringWithEncoding([self.field description], stringEncoding), AFPercentEscapedQueryStringValueFromStringWithEncoding([self.value description], stringEncoding)];
}
}
#end
#pragma mark -
static NSArray * ZAFQueryStringPairsFromDictionary(NSDictionary *dictionary);
static NSArray * ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue(NSString *key, id value);
static NSString * ZAFQueryStringFromParametersWithEncoding(NSDictionary *parameters, NSStringEncoding stringEncoding) {
NSMutableArray *mutablePairs = [NSMutableArray array];
for (ZAFQueryStringPair *pair in ZAFQueryStringPairsFromDictionary(parameters)) {
[mutablePairs addObject:[pair URLEncodedStringValueWithEncoding:stringEncoding]];
}
return [mutablePairs componentsJoinedByString:#"&"];
}
NSArray * ZAFQueryStringPairsFromDictionary(NSDictionary *dictionary) {
return ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue(nil, dictionary);
}
NSArray * ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue(NSString *key, id value) {
NSMutableArray *mutableQueryStringComponents = [NSMutableArray array];
NSSortDescriptor *sortDescriptor = [NSSortDescriptor sortDescriptorWithKey:#"description" ascending:YES selector:#selector(compare:)];
if ([value isKindOfClass:[NSDictionary class]]) {
NSDictionary *dictionary = value;
// Sort dictionary keys to ensure consistent ordering in query string, which is important when deserializing potentially ambiguous sequences, such as an array of dictionaries
for (id nestedKey in [dictionary.allKeys sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:#[ sortDescriptor ]]) {
id nestedValue = [dictionary objectForKey:nestedKey];
if (nestedValue) {
[mutableQueryStringComponents addObjectsFromArray:ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue((key ? [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#[%#]", key, nestedKey] : nestedKey), nestedValue)];
}
}
} else if ([value isKindOfClass:[NSArray class]]) {
NSArray *array = value;
NSInteger idx = 0;
for (id nestedValue in array) {
[mutableQueryStringComponents addObjectsFromArray:ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue([NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#[%ld]", key, idx++], nestedValue)];
}
} else if ([value isKindOfClass:[NSSet class]]) {
NSSet *set = value;
for (id obj in [set sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:#[ sortDescriptor ]]) {
[mutableQueryStringComponents addObjectsFromArray:ZAFQueryStringPairsFromKeyAndValue(key, obj)];
}
} else {
[mutableQueryStringComponents addObject:[[ZAFQueryStringPair alloc] initWithField:key value:value]];
}
return mutableQueryStringComponents;
}