Is Bolts framework[Parse+Facebook] need to use parse webservice? - ios

Question

I already post question How to use Bolts Framework[Facebook+Parse] but Now I've question, Must I use parse webservice if I want to use Bolts-framework?
They provide sample code like below which related(saveAsync:) to Parse webservice. But I've seen in this line "Using these libraries does not require using any Parse services. Nor do they require having a Parse or Facebook developer account" in Boltss' github
[[object saveAsync:obj] continueWithBlock:^id(BFTask *task) {
if (task.isCancelled) {
// the save was cancelled.
} else if (task.error) {
// the save failed.
} else {
// the object was saved successfully.
SaveResult *saveResult = task.result;
}
return nil;
}];
Now I get confusion, Is bolts framework need to use parse webservice?
Note: Don't ask where do you want to use Bolts-framework. see my first line of this question.

Answer 1

Surely it doesn't need Parse webservice. I've the same difficulty in implementing my own task and I'm studying this framework. Take a look at BoltsTest code: you can find some useful code.
I'm trying some experiments in a sample project (https://github.com/giaesp/BoltsFrameworkSample). Basically you need to define your own method returning a BFTask. Here a simple excerpt.
- (BFTask*) parseHTML:(NSURL*)url searchString:(NSString*)searchString {
BFTaskCompletionSource * tcs = [BFTaskCompletionSource taskCompletionSource];
NSURLRequest * request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:url
cachePolicy:NSURLRequestReloadIgnoringLocalCacheData
timeoutInterval:30];
NSURLResponse * response;
NSError * error;
NSData *returnData = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:request returningResponse:&response error:&error];
if (!error) {
NSString * receivedData = [NSString stringWithUTF8String:[returnData bytes]];
NSUInteger occurrences = [self countOccurencesOfString:#"iOS" inputString:receivedData];
[tcs setResult:[NSNumber numberWithInt:occurrences]];
}
else {
[tcs setError:error];
}
return tcs.task;
}
Then you can use your method as the docs explains and check the task status.
[[self parseHTML:[NSURL URLWithString:#"http://www.stackoverflow.com"]] continueWithBlock:^id(BFTask *task) {
if (task.isCancelled) {
// the task was cancelled
} else if (task.error) {
// the task failed
} else {
// the task completes
}
return nil;
}];

Answer 2

I know it's been a while since this question was asked but as mani wanted to know if you could use Bolts framework with AFNetworking as well i want to add a quick example that shows usage.
It's written in swift and really just plain and simple.
func taskWithPath(path: String) -> BFTask {
let task = BFTaskCompletionSource()
AFHTTPRequestOperationManager().GET(path, parameters: nil, success: { (operation, response) in
task.setResult(response)
}) { (operation, error) -> Void in
task.setError(error)
}
return task.task
}
Hope this helps :)

Answer 3

The idea with Bolts is to encapsulate any operation using a BFTask. You don't necessarily have to wrap the operation in a method, but it's a good way to imagine how you should structure your code:
- (BFTask*) asynchronousImageProcessOperation;
- (BFTask*) asynchronousNetworkOperation;
...and all of these would follow a similar pattern:
- (BFTask*) asynchronousNetworkOperation {
BFTaskCompletionSource *source = [BFTaskCompletionSource taskCompletionSource];
// ... here's the code that does some asynchronous operation on another thread/queue
[someAsyncTask completeWithBlock:^(id response, NSError *error) {
error ? [source setError:error] : [source setResult:response];
}
return task;
}
The beauty of it is that you can them string these tasks together in some way. For example, if you needed to process an image and then upload it, you could do:
[[object methodReturnImageProcessingTask] continueWithBlock:^(BFTask *task) {
[[anotherObject imageUploadTaskForImage:task.result] continueWithBlock:^(BFTask *task) {
self.label.text = #"Processing and image complete";
}]
}]
Of course you could also encapsulate that two-stage task in its own task:
- (BFTask*) processAndUploadImage:(UIImage* image);
Typing from memory here. It's the sequencing and grouping that's really powerful. Great framework.