I have downloaded some files from server and stored into local file system. I want to open them with default application in the device. How can I open files with default application. Please provide some sample code.
thanks
First you need to represent the resource (downloaded file to be opened) with an NSURL object.
The following assumes an NSString named filePath that is already initialised with the path to the resource to open.
NSURL *resourceToOpen = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath];
Then it's best to check first that there is an app that will open the resource.
BOOL canOpenResource = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:resourceToOpen];
Finally if the above line returns yes then open the resource.
if (canOpenResource) { [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:resourceToOpen]; }
I quote the following from UIApplication class reference with respect to the instance method canOpenURL:
This method guarantees that that if openURL: is called, another app will be launched to handle it. It does not guarantee that the full URL is valid.
However, if your wish to present the user with a list of apps that have registered with the appropriate UTI for that file type you can do something like this-
UIDocumentInteractionController *documentController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:[NSURL fileURLWithPath:filePath]];
documentController.delegate = self;
[documentController presentOpenInMenuFromRect:CGRectZero inView:self.view animated:YES];
You must implement the UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate protocol. Also for known file types the system should resolve the correct assignment of the UTI property without setting it.
Related
We have an iOS application that manages documents via Core Data. The actual files reside in the app's shared container so that the app's file provider extension can also access them for Files.app support. We want to give the user the option to open these files in third-party apps so that they can edit them in-place instead of sending a copy to the other app.
We provide a UIActivityViewController for sharing files with other apps. We also provide a UIActivity that shows a UIDocumentInteractionController which seems to work better in some cases. We give the UIActivityViewController the document's file URL, the raw text content, and printable data.
This works but all third-party editors are shown as Copy to … instead of Open in …
We've also set the UIFileSharingEnabled and LSSupportsOpeningDocumentsInPlace properties to YES in the app's info.plist but they seem to be only relevant for open-in-place when sharing files residing in the app's Documents folder.
Now we've stumbled upon the NSItemProviderFileOptionOpenInPlace option for NSItemProvider. As we're already supporting a file provider extension and from Apple's documentation this seemed like a great place to accomplish just what we want.
Adding a "pure" NSItemProvider works, in a way, but shows fewer options than when also sharing the file URL and text in addition (which is expected). However, when we use -[NSItemProvider registerFileRepresentationForTypeIdentifier:fileOptions:visibility:loadHandler:] with the said option (or just zero, same result) and return the file URL in the loadHandler's completionHandler() nothing is shared anymore. E.g., Mail no longer attaches the file, Messages doesn't show the document for sending.
These are the relevant bits of the code:
NSMutableArray *items = [NSMutableArray array];
NSMutableArray <UIActivity *> *activities = [NSMutableArray array];
NSURL *fileURL = self.record.metadata.fileURL;
NSString *fileUTI = self.record.metadata.uti;
NSItemProvider *itemProvider = [[NSItemProvider alloc] initWithItem: fileURL typeIdentifier: fileUTI];
[itemProvider registerFileRepresentationForTypeIdentifier:fileUTI fileOptions:NSItemProviderFileOptionOpenInPlace visibility:YES loadHandler:^NSProgress * _Nullable(void (^ _Nonnull completionHandler)(NSURL * _Nullable, BOOL, NSError * _Nullable))
{
if (fileURL)
completionHandler(fileURL, YES, nil);
else
completionHandler(nil, YES, [NSError errorWithDomain:NSCocoaErrorDomain code:NSURLErrorFileDoesNotExist userInfo:nil]);
return nil;
}];
[items addObject:itemProvider];
self.activityViewController = [[UIActivityViewController alloc] initWithActivityItems:items applicationActivities:activities];
[UIAppDelegate.splitViewController presentViewController:self.activityViewController animated:YES completion:nil];
The using the Share menu the item provider's load handler is correctly called and the file's actual URL returned.
Is that not how NSItemProviderFileOptionOpenInPlace is intended to be used? Or are we using it simply wrong? Apple's description is extremely sparse and we couldn't find any information elsewhere on the internet except for the official documentation.
I've found out what my problem was: Not deep enough understanding of the relationship between the activity view controller and file providers.
As all my files reside in the shared container and are published also through the file provider extension, what I need to share through the activity view controller is the exact same URL that is shared through the file provider extension. Technically then the app that opens the file accesses it through there file provider mechanism.
Am getting the PDF file link from my web view. when i click that link, i want to open that PDF file in my iBook application.
i got the contents from server. I showed that content in UIWebview like this.
In this content have a PDF link "Emerging Trends in Real Estate". When i choose this link, i want to open this pdf file in iPhone PDF reader applications like iBook, Adobe Reader. When i click this link it goes to webView Delegate method
-(BOOL)webView:(UIWebView*)webView shouldStartLoadWithRequest:(NSURLRequest*)request navigationType:(UIWebViewNavigationType)navigationType
{
NSURL* url = [request URL];
NSLog(#"PDF URL : %#",url);
if (UIWebViewNavigationTypeLinkClicked == navigationType)
{
if ([url isEqual:#"about:blank"])
{
return YES;
}
else
{
// Initialize Document Interaction Controller
documentInteractionController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:url];
// Configure Document Interaction Controller
documentInteractionController.delegate = self;
// Present Open In Menu
[documentInteractionController presentOptionsMenuFromRect:CGRectZero inView:self.view animated:YES];
}
}
return YES;
}
when compiler comes to else part i got an error. i displayed that error :
PDF URL : http://www.uli.org/wp-content/uploads/ULI-Documents/Emerging-Trends-in-Real-Estate-Americas-2014.pdf
2014-01-17 16:44:49.233 ULINewYork[3163:a0b] *** Assertion failure in -[UIDocumentInteractionController setURL:], /SourceCache/UIKit_Sim/UIKit-2903.23/UIDocumentInteractionController.m:1010
2014-01-17 16:44:49.234 ULINewYork[3163:a0b] *** WebKit discarded an uncaught exception in the webView:decidePolicyForNewWindowAction:request:newFrameName:decisionListener: delegate: <NSInternalInconsistencyException> UIDocumentInteractionController: invalid scheme http. Only the file scheme is supported.
please give me some idea to handle this process.
I tried the same way you have used along with the help of apple documentation. I get the same error you mentioned, then I download the DocInteraction application for understanding the UIDocumentInteractionController In that application they use this class to open the files located in local app sandbox or the files located in the main bundle.
If your Intention is to make the user read the pdf file then leave the handling of request to the webview itself(take out the -webView: shouldStartLoadWithRequest: delegate method)
or else if you want to show some other options the ios device could do(print,preview,mail etc) with the file then you have to download that pdf file to local then set the url property of UIDocumentInteractionController object to the local path url you have saved the file before presenting.
I have found that so far the path sent to application:openURL:sourceApplication:annotation: is:
file://localhost/private/var/mobile/Applications/<GUID>/Documents/Inbox/file
To check that the filesystem operations that I am about to perform are indeed likely to succeed (and that the url given to me is not a location outside the sandbox), it looks like I have to do this:
NSString* hdurl = [[#"file://localhost/private" stringByAppendingString:NSHomeDirectory()] stringByAppendingString: #"/"];
NSString* path = url.absoluteString;
if ([path hasPrefix:hdurl]) {
// now ready to e.g. call fopen on: [path substringFromIndex:#"file://localhost".length]
Now, I seem to vaguely recall (and this is probably wrong) that in the past I have seen the file:/// style URL being used. That would clearly cause this code to fail.
How am I to know that it will always give me a file://localhost URL prefix?
Apple's documentation on URLs is strangely missing a section on file URLs.
An NSURL that points to a file on the local file system is called a "file URL". To convert the NSURL to an NSString representing the file's path you use:
NSString *filePath = [url path];
To check to see if an NSURL represents a file URL, use:
BOOL isFileURL = [url isFileURL];
Keep in mind that if your app is passed a file URL, you will always have access to the file. There is no need to check if it starts with any prefix. Why would iOS pass you a file that you don't have access to?
I'm working with Xcode.
In my app I save some UIdocuments at that location
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask];
I'm searching for a way to share documents, my first option is by email.
Can I send those documents by email, as an attachment? Can I open then with another device with the same app?
You could do like the following.
Create a MFMailComposeViewController and use - (void)addAttachmentData:(NSData*)attachment mimeType:(NSString*)mimeType fileName:(NSString*)filename method to add your attachment.
For example.
MFMailComposeViewController *mailVC = [[MFMailComposeViewController alloc] init];
[mailVC setSubject:#"Shared documents"];
[mailVC setToRecipients:#[#"sample#example.com"]];
[mailVC setMessageBody:#"Here the docs I want to share" isHTML:NO];
[mailComposer addAttachmentData:pdfData mimeType:#"application/pdf" fileName:#"file.pdf"];
[mailVC setMailComposeDelegate:self];
[self presentViewController:mailVC animated:YES completion:nil];
where pdfData is of type NSData. So, you need to transform your document into a NSData.
From Apple doc.
addAttachmentData:mimeType:fileName:
This method attaches the specified data after the message body but
before the user’s signature. You may attach multiple files (using
different file names) but must do so prior to displaying the mail
composition interface. Do not call this method after presenting the
interface to the user.
About the second part of your question. Could you explain what type of document do you need to display?
In the meantime, take a look at Adding "Open In..." option to iOS app.
To send any attachment you need to get the contents into an NSData object. If the document is on disk then this is simple. You just need the path or file URL to the document. Then you can create the NSData object using the path or URL.
If the receiver of the email has the same app and the app is setup to appear in the "Open In" menu for documents of this type, then the user can open the app from the attachment. Your app then just needs to know what to do when it is asked to open a file of this type. There are plenty of existing documentation and questions here on SO that describe how to register an app to open certain file types.
I have a UIDocumentInteractionController instance (that DOES have a strong reference in my class, I am aware of the memory issues about it) and I want to send a photo file to Instagram.
I saved the file using the ig extension (tried igo as well) and I am presenting the controller. Instagram is displayed on the list. I tap Instagram, and nothing happens.
NSURL *imageFile = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:path];
interactionController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:imageFile];
interactionController.UTI = #"com.instagram.photo";
interactionController.annotation = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:#"my caption" forKey:#"InstagramCaption"];
interactionController.delegate = self;
[interactionController presentOpenInMenuFromRect:self.view.frame inView:self.view animated:YES];
To investigate further, I've set my calling class as a delegate and implemented the willBeginSendingToApplication: and didEndSendingToApplication: methods. Interestingly, I've realized that willBeginSendingToApplication: does get called, but didEndSendingToApplication: does not. I've tried changing my file extensions, changing UTI to com.instagram.exclusivegram, checking if the file URL is correct etc. but none of them seem to work. No error, nothing in the console or anything. The interaction controller closes, my app keeps working as it was working before, just nothing happens. I've read that there can be some issues on iOS 6, but my app is an iOS 6 app, so I can't test it on iOS < 6. The only thing that is close to my problem that I've found is UIDocumentInteractionController, No File Extension but UTI but it dives too much into the low level bits, nor I have a non-ARC code.
What could be the cause of the problem?
This can happen if the file doesn't exist, but also if you haven't constructed the file URL correctly. This plagued me for a while.
Make sure you construct your file URL like this:
NSURL *pagesURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"MyGreatPDF.pdf" ofType:nil]];
and not like this:
NSURL *pagesURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:#"MyGreatPDF.pdf"];
The latter still forms a valid URL, but it gets a "private" prefix, i.e. file:///private/var/mobile/Applications/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/MyGreatApp.app/MyGreatPDF.pdf rather than file:///var/mobile/Applications/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/MyGreatApp.app/MyGreatPDF.pdf
After a long while, I've found out that the file was not saved correctly, and didn't exist. iOS wasn't throwing out any sort of an error, failing silently. I've corrected the code about generating the file, and when the file was there, the controller appeared. Maybe Apple should add some assertion/exception mechanism for handling non-existent files in document interaction controller.
This may also caused by the file name's extension.
If the target app declare it only support file with png extension in Info.plist -> Exported Type UTIs -> Equivalent Types -> public.filename-extension, and you send a file with jpg extension, the target app won't open as well.