what's the equivalent of this curl request in swift - ios

Question

I've tried lots of different things to recreate this curl request, and I'm going insane. If someone could help, I'd be very much appreciative.
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST --data '[{"a": 4, "b": 5, "c": 6}]' \ -u username:password \ https://www.mywebsite.com
My latest attempt is:
let loginString = NSString(format: "%#:%#", username!, password!)
let loginData: NSData = loginString.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding)!
let base64LoginString = loginData.base64EncodedStringWithOptions(nil)
var url: NSURL = NSURL(string: "www.mywebsite.com")!
var request: NSMutableURLRequest = NSMutableURLRequest(URL: url)
request.setValue("Basic \(base64LoginString)", forHTTPHeaderField: "Authorization")
request.addValue("text/plain; charset=UTF-8", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
request.HTTPMethod = "POST"
let bodyData = JSON(data!).rawString(encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding, options: NSJSONWritingOptions.allZeros)
request.HTTPBody = bodyData?.dataUsingEncoding(NSUTF8StringEncoding, allowLossyConversion: true)
NSURLConnection.sendAsynchronousRequest(request, queue: NSOperationQueue.mainQueue()) {(response, data, error) in
if let tabBarVC : TabBarController = self.tabBarController as? TabBarController {
println(NSString(data: data, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding))
}
}
In this example, data is a dictionary ([String:String]) and JSON is form SwiftyJSON.
The above sends NSData to the server, which is encoded and the server doesn't like. The request is getting through, but the server can't read the data right. What do I need to do to exactly replicate the curl request above? I'm stuck!
Updated to reflect good responses below.
I did attempt to use application/json for content-type, but this returns the message:
{"status": "Internal error JSON uploads must be formatted as an array of objects", "code": 400, "version": "v1"}
It seems like progress if I use text/plain (as above) I get:
{"status": "Column a is missing", "code": 400, "version": "v1"}
Which I can't seem to figure out.

Answer 1

A couple of thoughts:
If nothing else, the line that says:
request.addValue("text/plain; charset=UTF-8", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
Should be:
request.addValue("application/json", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")
Your curl clearly states that the content type header was supposed to be JSON, so I'd set that accordingly.
Also, the line that says:
request.addValue("application/x-www-form-urlencoded", forHTTPHeaderField: "Accept-encoding")
That's clearly not correct, either. I think you meant Accept not Accept-encoding, plus the server is undoubtedly not responding with a x-www-form-urlencoded response, anyway.
I would simply remove that line.
Your URL is missing the scheme (the http://), but I assume that was removed when editing your question, because I don't think it would work without that, but you assured us that the server did receive the request.
I'd suggest you consider a tool like Charles. Watch the request from curl and then again from your code. Compare and contrast and identify how they differ. Using this, you should be able to diagnose precisely what's going on and where the discrepancy rests.
You say:
The request is getting through, but the server can't read the data right.
If the problem persists, you should share with us how you know the request is getting through and what you mean by "can't read the data right."