Showing UIActivityIndicator when calling a webservice - ios

Question

I need to show a UIActivityIndicator while i am waiting for response from the web service. Where exactly do i put the code for it?? It does not work this way. the activity indicator does not show up.
Do i need to use asynchronous request in order to show it??
-(void)callWebService
{
[self.customercareSearchbar resignFirstResponder];
[self.SRResultDictionary removeAllObjects];
NSLog(#"web service called");
NSString *srn = _SRNumber;
NSString *serviceURL = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"https://abcdef...];
#try {
UIActivityIndicatorView *activity = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
[self.view addSubview:activity];
activity.center = self.view.center;
[self.view bringSubviewToFront:loadView];
activity.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
[activity setHidden:NO];
[activity startAnimating];
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:serviceURL]];
NSURLResponse *serviceResponse = nil;
NSError *err = nil;
NSData *responseData = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:request returningResponse:&serviceResponse error:&err];
[activity stopAnimating];
NSMutableDictionary *parsedData = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:responseData options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers error:&err];
if(!parsedData)
{
NSLog(#"data not parsed");
UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"ERROR" message:#"Problem in Network. Please Try Again!" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"OK" otherButtonTitles: nil];
[alert show];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
else
{
NSLog(#"parsed");
NSLog(#"parsed.. the size is %lu", (unsigned long)[parsedData count]);
NSLog(#"%#", parsedData);
NSString *status = [parsedData objectForKey:#"ns:Status"];
NSLog(#"the status is %#", status);
if([status isEqualToString:#"Success"])
{
NSUserDefaults *prefs = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
if([[prefs objectForKey:#"SwitchState"] isEqualToString:#"OFF"])
{
//do nothing
}
else
{
[self saveNumberInDatabase:srn];
}
NSMutableDictionary *third = [parsedData objectForKey:#"ListOfXrxLvServiceRequest"];
NSLog(#"internal dict is %#", third);
self.SRResultDictionary = [third objectForKey:#"ServiceRequest"];
[self.customerCareTableView reloadData];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:NO];
}
else if([status isEqualToString:#"Record Not Found"])
{
UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"Invalid Entry" message:#"Please enter a valid Service Request Number" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"Ok" otherButtonTitles:nil];
[alert show];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
else
{
UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:#"ERROR" message:#"Problem in Network. Please Try Again!" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"OK" otherButtonTitles: nil];
[alert show];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
}
}
#catch (NSException *exception)
{
UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:NULL message:#"Problem In Network Connection. Please Try Again!" delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil];
[alert show];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
#finally {
}
}

Answer 1

Yes, problem is the Synchronous request.
If it is fine to send ASynchronous request then try doing this.
[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest:request queue:nil completionHandler:^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *connectionError) {
// stop activity
// write other code you want to execute
}];

Answer 2

I found MBProgressHUD is best indicator and you can use is simply in your starting of method call like
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
if(!HUD) HUD = [[MBProgressHUD alloc] initWithView:self.navigationController.view];
[self.view addSubview:HUD];
HUD.delegate = self;
HUD.userInteractionEnabled = NO;
HUD.labelText = #"Saving your Preferences...";
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] beginIgnoringInteractionEvents];
[HUD show:YES];
});
and in your finally block you can hide this like
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[HUD hide:YES];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] endIgnoringInteractionEvents];
});

Answer 3

//.h file
#interface ViewController : UIViewController
{
UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicator;
BOOL showingActivityIndicator;
}
#property(nonatomic) BOOL showingActivityIndicator;
#property(nonatomic) UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicator;
#end
//.m file
#synthesize showingActivityIndicator,activityIndicator;
///// Call this method in viewDidLoad
-(void)initializeClass
{
self.activityIndicator = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
self.activityIndicator.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleLeftMargin|UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleTopMargin|UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleRightMargin|UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleBottomMargin;
self.activityIndicator.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
[self layoutSubviews];
}
-(void)layoutSubviews
{
CGRect activityIndicatorFrame = self.activityIndicator.frame;
activityIndicatorFrame.origin.x = (self.view.frame.size.width - self.activityIndicator.frame.size.width) / 2;
activityIndicatorFrame.origin.y = (self.view.frame.size.height - self.activityIndicator.frame.size.height) / 2;
self.activityIndicator.frame = activityIndicatorFrame;
[self.view addSubview:self.activityIndicator];
}
-(void)setShowingActivityIndicator:(BOOL)showingActivityIndicators
{
if (showingActivityIndicators) {
[self.activityIndicator startAnimating];
} else {
[self.activityIndicator stopAnimating];
}
showingActivityIndicator= showingActivityIndicators;
}
-(void)dummyButtonAction // you button action to call service
{
[self setShowingActivityIndicator:YES];
[self performSelector:#selector(callWebService) withObject:nil afterDelay:0.3];
// [self callWebService];
}
-(void)callWebService
{
[self.view endEditing:YES]; // this statement will make sure keyboard is resigned
//[self.SRResultDictionary removeAllObjects];
NSLog(#"web service called");
NSString *srn = _SRNumber;
NSString *serviceURL = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"https://abcdef...];
#try {
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:serviceURL]];
NSURLResponse *serviceResponse = nil;
NSError *err = nil;
NSData *responseData = [NSURLConnection sendSynchronousRequest:request returningResponse:&serviceResponse error:&err];
NSMutableDictionary *parsedData = [NSJSONSerialization JSONObjectWithData:responseData options:NSJSONReadingMutableContainers error:&err];
if(!parsedData)
{
NSLog(#"data not parsed");
[self ShowAlertViewWithTitleString:#"ERROR":#"Problem in Network. Please Try Again!"];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
else
{
NSLog(#"parsed");
NSLog(#"parsed.. the size is %lu", (unsigned long)[parsedData count]);
NSLog(#"%#", parsedData);
NSString *status = [parsedData objectForKey:#"ns:Status"];
NSLog(#"the status is %#", status);
if([status isEqualToString:#"Success"])
{
NSUserDefaults *prefs = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
if([[prefs objectForKey:#"SwitchState"] isEqualToString:#"OFF"])
{
//do nothing
}
else
{
[self saveNumberInDatabase:srn];
}
NSMutableDictionary *third = [parsedData objectForKey:#"ListOfXrxLvServiceRequest"];
NSLog(#"internal dict is %#", third);
self.SRResultDictionary = [third objectForKey:#"ServiceRequest"];
[self.customerCareTableView reloadData];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:NO];
}
else if([status isEqualToString:#"Record Not Found"])
{
[self ShowAlertViewWithTitleString:#"Invalid Entry":#"Please enter a valid Service Request Number"];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
else
{
[self ShowAlertViewWithTitleString:#"ERROR":#"Problem in Network. Please Try Again!"];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
}
}
#catch (NSException *exception)
{
[self ShowAlertViewWithTitleString:#"":#"Problem In Network Connection. Please Try Again!"];
[self.customerCareTableView setHidden:YES];
}
#finally {
}
[self setShowingActivityIndicator:NO];
}
- (void)ShowAlertViewWithTitleString :(NSString *)title :(NSString *)message
{
UIAlertView *alert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:title message:message delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:#"OK" otherButtonTitles:nil];
[alert show];
}