UIActivityIndicator Not Showing After WebService Has Been Called - ios

In my application, I need to show a UIActivityIndicator while waiting for response from web service. I am using the following code:
UIView *loadView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:self.view.bounds];
loadView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithWhite:0.0 alpha:0.5];
//UIActivityIndicatorView *activityView = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] init];
//[second.loadingView addSubview:activityView];
//activityView.center = second.loadingView.center;
//[second.view addSubview:second.loadingView];
UIActivityIndicatorView *activity = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
[loadView addSubview:activity];
activity.center = loadView.center;
[self.view addSubview:loadView];
[self.view bringSubviewToFront:loadView];
activity.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
[activity setHidden:NO];
[activity startAnimating];
// calling My web service
[self callRegisterWebService:self.userFname lastName:self.userLName email:self.userEmail];
[activity stopAnimating];
[loadView setHidden:YES];
However, the indicator does not show up..!! What am i doing wrong??

You are probably waiting for the http response on the main thread. Try to implement the registration with dispatch_async function like this:
[activity startAnimating];
// calling My web service
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
[self callRegisterWebService:self.userFname lastName:self.userLName email:self.userEmail];
[activity stopAnimating];
});

Related

Continue loading view after method loads from external URL

I have a method to retrieve data from an external url, load it into an array from JSON format, and populate a UITableView. It works fine, but there is no indication to the user that something is happening while the data is downloaded.
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
[self retrieveDataC];
}
Here is the code that I tried for viewDidLoad which adds a spinner animation while downloading. I'm attempting to put retrieveDataC on a background thread and when it completes, I would like the view to continue executing as though I didn't implement the multi-threading in the example above.
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
spinner.center = CGPointMake(160, 240);
[self.view addSubview:spinner];
[spinner startAnimating];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), ^{
[self retrieveDataC];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[spinner stopAnimating];
});
});
}
The loading spinner displays correctly for a brief moment, however after the process is done I'm left with a blank table as though I have not called [self retrieveDataC] to begin with. Any suggestions, advice? Am I setting up the background process correctly?
Thank you
EDIT:
Here's what ended up working -
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhiteLarge];
spinner.center = CGPointMake(160, 240);
[self.view addSubview:spinner];
[spinner startAnimating];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(0, 0), ^{
[self retrieveDataC];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[spinner stopAnimating];
[self.collectionView reloadData];
});
});
}
Do you call [self.tableView reloadData] after you received the data?

UIActivityIndicatorView subview disappears before NSOperationQueue is finished

I'm trying to get a UIActivityIndicatorView to show on screen while my CSV import method is running, but I can't get it right. With the code below, the ActivityIndicator subview shows for a second or so then disappears, even if the import operation is still running. How can I make it stay on screen until the NSOperationQueue is finished? I'm using iOS 7.1 on my test device.
User taps 'Yes' on an UIAlertView to import the data:
-(void)alertView:(UIAlertView *)alertView clickedButtonAtIndex:(NSInteger)buttonIndex{
if(buttonIndex == 0){
//clicked Yes
[self loadingSpinner];
operationQueue = [NSOperationQueue new];
NSInvocationOperation *importOperation = [[NSInvocationOperation alloc] initWithTarget:self selector:#selector(importCSVData:) object:self.importURL];
[operationQueue addOperation:importOperation];
}
else if(buttonIndex == 1){
//clicked No
}
}
Method to show a UIActivityIndicatorView on top of everything else on screen:
-(void)loadingSpinner{
self.overlayView = [[UIView alloc] init];
self.overlayView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:0 blue:0 alpha:0.5];
UIView *topView = [UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow.rootViewController.view;
if ([[UIDevice currentDevice] userInterfaceIdiom] == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad) {
self.overlayView.frame = [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds;
}
else{
self.overlayView.frame = topView.frame;
}
[self.overlayView setUserInteractionEnabled:NO];
self.spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhiteLarge];
self.spinner.center = self.overlayView.center;
[self.overlayView addSubview:self.spinner];
[self.spinner startAnimating];
[topView addSubview:self.overlayView];
}
At the end of the import operation to remove the activity indicator:
[self.overlayView removeFromSuperview];
Use addOperationWithBlock: method on NSOperationQueue with which you will have more control. You would edit your code like this to use block version,
NSOperationQueue *queue = [NSOperationQueue new];
[queue addOperationWithBlock:^{
[[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperationWithBlock:^{
[self loadingSpinner];
}];
[self importCSVData:self.importUrl];
[[NSOperationQueue mainQueue] addOperationWithBlock:^{
[self.overlay removeFromSuperView];
}];
}];
You can also use GCD to implement this task.
Create dispatch queue:
dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_queue_create("Other Q", NULL);
or you can use the main queue like:
dispatch_get_main_queue()
Finally replace your code with the following:
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
dispatch_sync(dispatch_get_main_queue(),^{
[self loadingSpinner];
});
[self importCSVData:self.importURL];
});
You might want to check for the title of you button clicked on your UIAlertView.
To do so change this:
if(buttonIndex == 1)
With this:
if([[alertView buttonTitleAtIndex:buttonIndex]isEqual:#"YES"])
Let me know if this helps.

UIActivityIndicatorView does not show

I have an app with a table view controller in which a user selects a US state, a web service is called and data is displayed for that state in the destination table view controller. Since the web service can take some time to complete I want an activity indicator. Since there will be no temporary data to display, I need this to be processed synchronously. So my task is pretty simple: start the activity indicator, call the web service, and after it completes, stop the activity indicator.
I am obviously doing something wrong and no activity indicator ever displays.
Here is the code from my destination table view controller's viewDidAppear method:
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated{
[super viewDidAppear:animated];
spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
[self.tableView bringSubviewToFront:spinner];
spinner.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
spinner.hidden = NO;
[spinner startAnimating];
stateGauges = [[GaugeList alloc] initWithStateIdentifier:stateIdentifier andType:nil];
[self.tableView reloadData];
[spinner stopAnimating];
}
Header:
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner;
GaugeList is the object which makes the web service call.
Can someone tell me how to get an activity indicator view to appear? Thanks!
You forgot to add spinner on table view. Your code should look as follows:
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated{
[super viewDidAppear:animated];
spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
spiner.center = //set some center
[self.tableView addSubview: spinner];
[self.tableView bringSubviewToFront:spinner];
spinner.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
spinner.hidden = NO;
[spinner startAnimating];
stateGauges = [[GaugeList alloc] initWithStateIdentifier:stateIdentifier andType:nil];
[self.tableView reloadData];
[spinner stopAnimating];
}
Also you send requests to a web service in main thread. This is bad practice. I would suggest something like following:
-(void)viewDidAppear:(BOOL)animated{
[super viewDidAppear:animated];
spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
spiner.center = //set some center
[self.tableView addSubview: spinner];
[self.tableView bringSubviewToFront:spinner];
spinner.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
spinner.hidden = NO;
[spinner startAnimating];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_HIGH, 0), ^{
stateGauges = [[GaugeList alloc] initWithStateIdentifier:stateIdentifier andType:nil];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
[self.tableView reloadData];
[spinner stopAnimating];
});
});
}
At first you should add activity indicator to some view to show it. But you can not add it to UITableView, because UITableView is subclass of UIScrollView and you will see floating activity indicator. The best way in your case is to add activity indicator to navigation bar, etc. Or if you want to disable table view you should write something like this:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicator = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhiteLarge];
UIView *dummyView = [[UIView alloc] init];
dummyView.frame = self.tableView.bounds;
dummyView.alpha = 0.5f;
dummyView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth;
dummyView.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
dummyView.backgroundColor = [UIColor blackColor];
[dummyView addSubview:activityIndicator];
activityIndicator.center = dummyView.center;
[self.tableView addSubview:dummyView];
}
Try using self.spinner instead of using spinner.

show animation and locking the current view

I have a method which is calling a external webservice.
Now I want to show an UIActivityIndicatorView in the middle of the screen, while the webservice-call is running. I call the webservice-method asynchronously. But with my code which you will find at the bottom, I have two problems:
the current view is not locked. That means, that the user can interact with the current view. I want to block all till the animation is stopped
the animation is not centered
Here is my code which I have tried now:
-(void)saveDataOnServer {
UIActivityIndicatorView *activity = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(225, 115, 30, 30)];
[activity setBackgroundColor:[UIColor clearColor]];
[activity setActivityIndicatorViewStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
[self.view addSubview:activity];
[activity startAnimating];
// ...
[NSURLConnection sendAsynchronousRequest: request
queue: queue
completionHandler: ^(NSURLResponse *response, NSData *data, NSError *error) {
[activity stopAnimating];
// ...
}
];
}
You have to put another view when activity indicator start :
UIView *overlayView;
overlayView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:[UIScreen mainScreen].bounds];
overlayView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0 green:0 blue:0 alpha:0.5];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow addSubview:overlayView];
And remove that view(overlayView) when activity indicator stops :
[overlayView removeFromSuperview];
This OverlayView will cover current view.So user can not interact with current view.
Hi there i have a good solution for you ..
there i a library called MBProgressHUD
which does all you want , WITH Style
This is The link for the library HERE
And its easy to use .. here is an example i used
self.hud = [MBProgressHUD showHUDAddedTo:self.view animated:YES];
self.hud.mode = MBProgressHUDModeIndeterminate;
self.hud.labelText = #"Fetching News";
//self.hud.detailsLabelText=#"Fetching News";
self.hud.dimBackground = YES;
and there is a demo you can see .. Cheers :D

show spinner and remove it in the same block

In a method that can take up to several seconds i have:
UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(135,140,50,50)];
spinner.color = [UIColor blueColor];
[spinner startAnimating];
[_mapViewController.view addSubview:spinner];
// lots of code
[spinner removeFromSuperview];
The spinner doesn't show up. Probably since the screen doesn't get update at that time.
How can i get around this problem?
Use GCD:
UIActivityIndicatorView *spinner = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(135,140,50,50)];
spinner.color = [UIColor blueColor];
[spinner startAnimating];
[_mapViewController.view addSubview:spinner];
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
// lots of code run in the background
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
// stop and remove the spinner on the main thread when done
[spinner removeFromSuperview];
});
});

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