Resource request from native iOS Objective-C applications

Overview

To create and configure an iOS native project, first follow the “Configuring a native iOS application with the MobileFirst Platform SDK” tutorial.

MobileFirst applications can access resources using the WLResourceRequest REST API.
This tutorial explains how to use the WLResourceRequest API with an HTTP adapter.

Note: The Keychain Sharing capability is mandatory while running iOS apps in the iOS Simulator when using Xcode 8. You need to enable this capability manually before building the Xcode project.

Initializing WLClient

1. Access the WLClient functionality by using
   [WLClient sharedInstance] anywhere in your application.
2. Initiate the connection to the server by using the wlConnectWithDelegate method.
   For most actions, you must specify a delegate object, such as a MyConnectListener instance in the following example:

   MyConnectListener *connectListener = [[MyConnectListener alloc] initWithController:self];
   [[WLClient sharedInstance] wlConnectWithDelegate:connectListener];

   Note: Remember to #import when using the MobileFirst SDK.

3. Create a delegate to be used in the wlConnectWithDelegate method and receive the response from the MobileFirst Server instance. Name the class MyConnectListener.
   The header file must specify that it implements the WLDelegate protocol.

   @interface MyConnectListener : NSObject <WLDelegate> {
       @private
       ViewController *vc;
   }
   <p>

   The WLDelegate protocol specifies that the class implements the following methods:
   - The onSuccess method: (WLResponse *)response
   - The onFailure method: (WLFailResponse *)response

   After wlConnectWithDelegate finishes, the onSuccess method or the onFailure method of the supplied MyConnectListener instance is invoked.
   In both cases, the response object is sent as an argument.

4. Use this object to operate data that is retrieved from the server.

   -(void)onSuccess:(WLResponse *)response{
       NSLog(@"\nConnection Success: %@", response);
       NSString *resultText = @"Connection success. ";
       if ([response responseText] != nil){
           resultText = [resultText stringByAppendingString:[response responseText]];
       }
       [vc updateView:resultText];
   }
   -(void)onFailure:(WLFailResponse *)response{
       NSString *resultText = @"Connection failure. ";
       if ([response responseText] != nil){
           resultText = [resultText stringByAppendingString:[response responseText]];
       }
       [vc updateView:resultText];
   }

Invoking an adapter procedure

After the connection is established with a MobileFirst Server instance, you can use the WLResourceRequest class to invoke adapter procedures or call any REST resources.

1. Define the URI of the resource. For a JavaScript HTTP adapter: /adapters/{AdapterName}/{ProcedureName}
   

   NSURL* url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"/adapters/RSSReader/getFeed"];

2. Create a WLResourceRequest object and choose the HTTP method (GET, POST, etc).
   

   WLResourceRequest* request = [WLResourceRequest requestWithURL:url method:WLHttpMethodGet];

3. Add the required parameters.
   • For JavaScript-based adapters, use the params parameter name to set an array of parameters.
     

     [request setQueryParameterValue:@"['MobileFirst_Platform']" forName:@"params"];

   • For Java adapters or other resources, you can use setQueryParameterValue for each parameter.
     

     [request setQueryParameterValue:@"value1" forName:@"param1"];
     [request setQueryParameterValue:@"value2" forName:@"param2"];

4. Trigger the request with a call to the sendWithCompletionHandler method.
   Specify a completionHandler instance.

   [request sendWithCompletionHandler:^(WLResponse *response, NSError *error) {
       NSString* resultText;
       if(error != nil){
           resultText = @"Invocation failure.";
           resultText = [resultText stringByAppendingString: error.description];
       }
       else{
           resultText = @"Invocation success.";
           resultText = [resultText stringByAppendingString:response.responseText];
       }
       [self updateView:resultText];
   }];

   Other signatures, which are not covered in this tutorial, exist for the send method. Those signatures enable you to set parameters in the body instead of the query, or to handle the response with a delegate instead of a completion handler. See the user documentation to learn more.

If you use Xcode 7 and iOS 9, read the ATS and Bitcode blog post.

Sample and result

Click to download the MobileFirst project.

Click to download the Native project.

• The InvokingAdapterProcedures project contains a MobileFirst native API which you can deploy to your MobileFirst Server instance and required to deploy to the server.
• The InvokingAdapterProceduresObjC project contains a native iOS application that uses a MobileFirst native API library to communicate with the MobileFirst Server instance.
• Make sure to update the worklight.plist file in NativeiOSInvoking with the relevant server settings.