Find out how to use iCloud drive paperwork?

iCloud drive mission setup tutorial

Let’s begin by creating a brand new mission for iOS. You possibly can choose the one view software template, don’t be concerned an excessive amount of about doc based mostly apps, as a result of on this tutorial we’re not going to the touch the UIDocument class in any respect. 🤷‍♂️

Step one is to allow iCloud capabilities, which can generate a brand new entitlements file for you. Additionally you will should allow the iCloud software service for the app id on the Apple developer portal. You must also assign the iCloud container that is going for use to retailer knowledge. Just some clicks, however you must do that manually. 💩

You want a sound Apple Developer Program membership so as to set superior app capabilities like iCloud help. So you must pay $99/yr. #greed 🤑

So I consider that now you will have a correct iOS app identifier with iCloud capabilities and software providers enabled. One final step is forward, you must add these few traces to your Data.plist file so as to outline the iCloud drive container (folder identify) that you’ll use. Observe which you can have a number of containers for one app.

<key>NSUbiquitousContainers</key>
<dict>
    <key>iCloud.com.tiborbodecs.teszt</key>
    <dict>
        <key>NSUbiquitousContainerIsDocumentScopePublic</key>
        <true/>
        <key>NSUbiquitousContainerName</key>
        <string>Teszt</string>
        <key>NSUbiquitousContainerSupportedFolderLevels</key>
        <string>Any</string>
    </dict>
</dict>

Lastly we’re prepared to maneuver ahead with some precise coding. 💻

Information inside iCloud drive containers

Working with iCloud information utilizing Swift is comparatively simple. Principally you simply should get the bottom URL of your iCloud drive container, and you are able to do no matter you need. 🤔 Nevertheless I am going to present you some finest practices & tips.

First you must test in case your container folder already exists, if not it is best to create it by hand utilizing the FileManager class. I’ve additionally made a “shortcut” variable for the container base URL, so I haven’t got to jot down all these lengthy phrases once more. 😅

var containerUrl: URL? {
    FileManager.default.url(
        forUbiquityContainerIdentifier: nil
    )?.appendingPathComponent("Paperwork")
}

if 
    let url = self.containerUrl, 
    !FileManager.default.fileExists(
        atPath: url.path, 
        isDirectory: nil
    ) {
    do {
        attempt FileManager.default.createDirectory(
            at: url, withIntermediateDirectories: true, 
            attributes: nil
        )
    }
    catch {
        print(error.localizedDescription)
    }
}

Working with paths contained in the iCloud drive container is straightforward, you possibly can append path elements to the bottom URL and use that actual location URL as you need.

let myDocumentUrl = self.containerUrl?
    .appendingPathComponent(subDirectory)
    .appendingPathComponent(fileName)
    .appendingPathExtension(fileExtension)

Choosing current information can also be fairly easy. You should use the built-in doc picker class from UIKit. There are solely two catches right here. 🤦‍♂️

First one is that it is advisable to present the kind of the paperwork that you just’d wish to entry. Have you ever ever heard about UTI‘s? No? Possibly sure…? The factor is that you must discover the correct uniform kind identifier for each file kind, as a substitute of offering an extension or mime-type or one thing generally used factor. Sensible one, huh? 🧠

let picker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(
    documentTypes: ["public.json"], 
    in: .open
)
picker.delegate = self
picker.modalPresentationStyle = .fullScreen
self.current(picker, animated: true, completion: nil)

The second catch is that you must “unlock” the picked file earlier than you begin studying it. That may be accomplished by calling the startAccessingSecurityScopedResource methodology. Do not forget to name the stopAccessingSecurityScopedResource methodology, or issues are going to be out of stability. You do not need that, belief me! #snap 🧤

func documentPicker(
    _ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, 
    didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]
) {
    guard
        controller.documentPickerMode == .open,
        let url = urls.first,
        url.startAccessingSecurityScopedResource()
    else {
        return
    }
    defer {
        url.stopAccessingSecurityScopedResource()
    }
    
}

The whole lot else works as you’d anticipate. It can save you information instantly into the container by way of file APIs or by utilizing the UIDocumentPickerViewController occasion. Listed below are a number of the commonest api calls, that you should use to govern information.

attempt string.write(to: url, atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
attempt String(contentsOf: url)


attempt knowledge.write(to: url, choices: [.atomic])
attempt Knowledge(contentsOf: url)


FileManager.default.copyItem(at: native, to: url)
FileManager.default.removeItem(at: url)

You possibly can learn and write any type of string, knowledge. By utilizing the FileManager you possibly can copy, transfer, delete gadgets or change file attributes. All of your paperwork saved inside iCloud drive can be magically out there on each system. Clearly you must be logged in along with your iCloud account, and have sufficient free storage. 💰

Debugging

In the event you alter one thing in your settings you may wish to increment your construct quantity as nicely so as to notify the working system in regards to the modifications. 💡

On the mac all of the iCloud drive information / containers are positioned beneath the person’s Library folder contained in the Cell Paperwork listing. You possibly can merely use the Terminal or Finder to go there and checklist all of the information. Professional tip: search for hidden ones as nicely! 😉

cd ~/Library/Cell Paperwork
ls -la
# ls -la|grep tiborbodecs

You may as well monitor the exercise of the CloudDocs daemon, by utilizing this command:

# man brctl
brctl log --wait --shorten

The output will let you know what’s truly taking place through the sync.

I encourage you to test the guide entry for the brctl command, as a result of there are a couple of extra flags that may make troubleshooting simpler. 🤐

This text was closely impressed by Marcin Krzyzanowski‘s actually previous weblog publish. 🍺