Trouble with iOS 8 CoreData iCloud sync consistency - swift

I have a universal app written in Swift using xCode 6.3.2. It is currently very simple in that when I push a button a random number is generated and then stored using CoreData. This works perfectly until I implement iCloud. With iCloud enabled storing a new random number doesn't always propagate onto additional devices. It does most of the time, but not always.
I am testing using an iPad Air, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 4s
I am using the following three notification observers:
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "persistentStoreDidChange", name: NSPersistentStoreCoordinatorStoresDidChangeNotification, object: nil)
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "persistentStoreWillChange:", name: NSPersistentStoreCoordinatorStoresWillChangeNotification, object: managedContext.persistentStoreCoordinator)
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "receiveiCloudChanges:", name: NSPersistentStoreDidImportUbiquitousContentChangesNotification, object: managedContext.persistentStoreCoordinator)
and here is the function for the third one:
func receiveiCloudChanges(notification: NSNotification)
{
println("iCloud changes have occured")
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue())
{
self.activityIndicator.startAnimating()
self.updateLabel.text = "iCloud changes have occured"
self.managedContext.performBlockAndWait
{ () -> Void in
self.managedContext.mergeChangesFromContextDidSaveNotification(notification)
}
self.reloadTextViewAndTableView()
self.activityIndicator.stopAnimating()
}
}
I am not attempting to update the UI until the managedContext is finished with the merge, and I am performing everything on the main thread. I am really at a loss why the changes on one device are only displayed on the second or third one about 90-95% of the time.
As part of my trial and error, when I went to delete the app from my test devices and reinstall there is sometimes a message that an iCloud operation is pending, but it doesn't matter how long I wait, once the devices are out of sync they stay that way. Even when they are out of sync if I add another number or two those will still propagate to the other devices, but then I will invariably lose more data. It seems to work about 90% of the time.
I use the following to update the UI:
func reloadTextViewAndTableView()
{
let allPeopleFetch = NSFetchRequest(entityName: "Person")
var error : NSError?
let result = managedContext.executeFetchRequest(allPeopleFetch, error: &error) as! [Person]?
//Now reload the textView by grabbing every person in the DB and appending it to the textView
textView.text = ""
allPeople = managedContext.executeFetchRequest(allPeopleFetch, error: &error) as! [Person]
for dude in allPeople
{
textView.text = textView.text.stringByAppendingString(dude.name)
}
tableView.reloadData()
println("allPeople.count = \(allPeople.count)")
}
I am really at a stand still here. I am just not sure why it "usually" works...

So I am still not sure how or why CoreData is sometimes getting out of sync as described above. I have found though that if I enter one new number after another very rapidly is when it usually occurs.
As a workaround I have added a button to the UI that allows the user to force a resync with iCloud by rebuilding the NSPersistentStore using the following option.
NSPersistentStoreRebuildFromUbiquitousContentOption: true
I would much rather the store stayed in sync with all other devices all the time, but at least this way the user will never lose data. If they notice that they are missing a record they know they entered on another device, then all they have to do is hit the resync button.

Related

"target is not running or doesn't have entitlement" message: is this connected to crashes?

Update: this problem is more focused now, and not on quite the same topic. I've asked this question as a follow-on
ORIGINAL QUESTION:
I am getting a crash on a subclassed WKWebView-provisioned app.
ProcessAssertion::acquireSync Failed to acquire RBS assertion 'ConnectionTerminationWatchdog' for process with PID=87121, error: Error Domain=RBSServiceErrorDomain Code=1 "target is not running or doesn't have entitlement com.apple.runningboard.assertions.webkit" UserInfo={NSLocalizedFailureReason=target is not running or doesn't have entitlement com.apple.runningboard.assertions.webkit}
The problem is, that I can't tell if this is related or not. The actual error on crash is
Thread 1: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=1, address=0xbdb2dfcf0470)
Which I was assuming was something running off the end of an array. This makes some sense: I'm selecting from a table that filters out some entries from the data source; but I've checked that carefully; there is no point when a row index greater than the actual rows is accessed (and yes, I'm accounting for the difference between count and index).
The main change here is that I previously had a UIView that acted as a container for a number of CAShapeLayers. I also wanted to overlay text view, but with the proviso that this be via a WKWebView. With two separate views, I would have to either have the CAShapeLayer objects in front of, or behind the WebView. I was seeking a fix to that.
What I have done is substitute a WKWebView for the original UIView. I can add the CAShapes to it, so it performs the original function. It also can, presumably, display the html. And the original suggestion in this answer to a question I asked is what I am working towards. The idea being that it would allow the effect sought, with shapes in front of or behind the html elements.
But the error is thrown after the DidSelect call on the table:
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
Tracker.track("getting row \(indexPath.row)")
let ptv = tableView as? NovilloTableView
if ptv!.uiType == .textTable {
let gp = Projects.currentProject?.getPaths(type: PaletteView.getCurrentPane())
GitPaths.currentGitPath = gp![indexPath.row]
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: NNames.updateWebText.nn(), object: nil)
return
}
let svgs = Projects.currentProject!.getPaths(type : PaletteView.getCurrentPane())
var gitPath = svgs[indexPath.row]
var gitPaths = GitPaths.getMediaBoundingBoxes(paths: [gitPath])
guard let pathArrays = gitPath.parseForRegBeziers() else { return }
let rslt = pathArrays.0
let regBeziers = pathArrays.1
gitPath.boundingBox = gitPath.getBoundsParamsForPaths(src: regBeziers.isEmpty ? rslt : regBeziers)
GitPaths.currentGitPath = gitPath
// Tracker.track("sending notification")
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: NNames.updateMedia.nn(), object: nil,
userInfo: ["path" : gitPath])
Tracker.track("completed didSelect")
return
}
In other words, the interaction has ended; but I get this crash, even though I can se that the expected result (the rendering of the shapes into the view) has been completed correctly. It seems to be happening right after everything has completed, and no amount of breakpoints has shown anything else to be happening.
This is confusing to me, and I have hit a limit on what I know how to do to dig further into this. Given the nature of web connections, I've wondered if it's some asynchronous issue that I can't debug sequentially; but that's guesswork without any direct evidence.
I suspect that there is a possible configuration problem with the WebView that shows up once I interact with it, by changing its contents. I'm not actually trying to get it to load anything when it crashes, it's only performing its original function as a container for the CAShapeLayers, so I'm confused.
The main view that contains the WKWebView (which is subclassed, to support a function to determine if it should display the web content, and which I've commented out), is set as the delegate for the WKWebView, and that seems to be fine, though there are no actual protocol functions added to that view, not sure if that matters.
The other detail is that the WebView when it does load web content is only loading local text, and not connected to any services. This testing is happening in the Simulator, and I've come across advice elsewhere to allow for background processes that include enabling Background Fetch, etc., but this has done nothing to change the situation...
EDIT: this is the extent of the configuration of the subclassed WKWebView: maybe this is the issue?
mediaDisplay = NovilloWebView()
mediaPane.addSubview(mediaDisplay)
mediaDisplay.navigationDelegate = self
mediaDisplay.uiDelegate = self
mediaDisplay.backgroundColor = .clear

Deleting, adding and updating Firestore documents when offline

I have been using the following code in my iOS Swift app:
class ProfileController
{
func remove(pid: String, completion: #escaping ErrorCompletionHandler)
{
guard let uid = self.uid else
{
completion(Errors.userIdentifierEmpty)
return
}
let db = Firestore.firestore()
let userDocument = db.collection("profiles").document(uid)
let collection = userDocument.collection("profiles")
let document = collection.document(pid)
document.delete()
{
error in
completion(error)
}
}
}
When the device is online, everything works fine. The completion handler of the deletecall is properly executed. However, when I am offline, I have noticed that the completion handler will not be executed as long as I am offline. As soon as I get back online, the completion handler will be called almost immediately.
I don't want to wait until the user is back online (which could take forever), so I changed the code a little bit and added a ListenerRegistration:
class ProfileController
{
func remove(pid: String, completion: #escaping ErrorCompletionHandler)
{
guard let uid = self.uid else
{
completion(Errors.userIdentifierEmpty)
return
}
let db = Firestore.firestore()
let userDocument = db.collection("profiles").document(uid)
let collection = userDocument.collection("profiles")
let document = collection.document(pid)
var listener: ListenerRegistration?
listener = document.addSnapshotListener(includeMetadataChanges: false)
{
snapshot, error in
listener?.remove() // Immediately remove the snapshot listener so we only receive one notification.
completion(error)
listener = nil
}
document.delete()
}
}
Although this works fine, I am not sure if this is the right way to go. I have read online that a snapshot listener can be used in real-time scenarios, which is not really what I am looking for (or what I need).
Is this the right approach or is there another (better) way? I only want to get notified once (thus I added the includeMetadataChanged property and set it to false). I also remove the ListenerRegistration once the completion handler was called once.
If the first approach does not work properly when being offline - what are the use cases of this approach? Before I change my entire codebase to use listeners, is there any way of executing the completion handler of the first approach when the device is offline?
TL;DR: The second implementation works fine, I am simply unsure if this is the proper way of receiving notifications when the device is offline.
If the first approach does not work properly when being offline - what are the use cases of this approach?
It depends on what you mean by "work properly". The behavior you're observing is exactly as intended. Write operations are not "complete" until they're registered at the server.
However, all writes (that are not transactions) are actually committed locally before they hit the server. These local changes will eventually be synchronized with the server at some point in the future, even if the app is killed and restarted. The change is not lost. You can count on the synchronization of the change to eventually hit the server as long as the user continues to launch the app - this is all you can expect. You can read more about offline persistence in the documentation.
If you need to know if a prior change was synchronized, there is no easy way to determine that if the app was killed and restarted. You could try to query for that data, if you know the IDs of the documents written, and you could check the metadata of the documents to find out the source of the data (cache or server). But in the end, you are really supposed to trust that changes will be synchronized with the server at the earliest convenience.
If your use case requires more granularity of information, please file a feature request with Firebase support.

HTTP requests simultaneously in Swift

On start my app I do some http requests, some heavy http requests (downloading some images) and some heavy tasks with UIGraphics (for example doing icon for GMSMarker from two UIImages and other operations with GraphicsContext). It costs some time, so I want to do all that tasks simultaneously. Can you show me best way make it?
On start I have to:
Download and write to local database all devices
Download and write to local database all geofences
Download and write to local database all users
Download and write to local database all positions
Download images for devices, users and geofences
Setup GMSMarkers for devices, users and geofences (after images for that objects will be available - for setting icon of marker)
Code of my login function (it works, but too slow):
func loginPressed(_ sender: UIButton) {
guard
let username = self.usernameTextField.text,
let password = self.passwordTextField.text,
!username.isEmpty,
!password.isEmpty
else {
return
}
self.loginButton.isEnabled = false
self.activityIndicator.startAnimating()
WebService.shared.connect(email: username, password: password) { error, loggedUser in
guard
error == nil,
let loggedUser = loggedUser
else {
self.showAlert(title: "Ошибка подключения", message: error?.localizedDescription ?? "", style: .alert)
self.activityIndicator.stopAnimating()
self.loginButton.isEnabled = true
return
}
DB.users.client.insert(loggedUser)
print("Start loading user photo...")
loggedUser.loadPhoto() { image in
if let image = image {
loggedUser.photo = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(image, 0.0)
}
print("User photo loaded...")
loggedUser.marker = UserMarker(loggedUser, at: CLLocation(latitude: 48.7193900, longitude: 44.50183))
DB.users.client.modify(loggedUser)
}
DB.geofences.server.getAll() { geofences in
DB.devices.server.getAll() { devices in
DB.positions.server.getAll() { positions in
for device in devices {
device.loadPhoto() { image in
if let image = image {
device.photo = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(image, 0.0)
}
if let position = positions.findById(device.positionId) {
device.marker = DeviceMarker(device, at: position)
}
device.attributes.battery = device.lastKnownBattery(in: positions)
}
}
geofences.forEach({$0.marker = GeofenceMarker($0)})
DB.geofences.client.updateAddress(geofences) { geofences in
if DEBUG_LOGS {
print("Geofences with updated addresses: ")
geofences.forEach({print("\($0.name), \($0.address ?? "")")})
}
DB.devices.client.insert(devices)
DB.geofences.client.insert(geofences)
DB.positions.client.insert(positions)
self.activityIndicator.stopAnimating()
WebService.shared.addObserver(DefaultObserver.shared)
self.performSegue(withIdentifier: "toMapController", sender: self)
}
}
}
}
}
}
Not sure it's good idea post here code snippets of all classes and objects, hope you'll get idea.
Any help would be appreciated.
P.S. In case you wonder what is DB, it's database, which consists of two parts - server side and client side for each group of objects, so first task is get all objects from server and write them in memory (in client database)
P.S. I've changed logic from "download everything" on login to "download all I need right now and download rest later". So now after I've got all devices, geofences and positions I'm performing segue to MapController, on which I show all those objects. Just after login I'm showing deviceMarkers (GMSMarker) with default iconView. SO question is - can I after show map with all objects start download photos of devices in background and refresh markers with that photos after that (in main thread of course)?
Network requests are asynchronous by default, so what you are asking for has already the intended behavior.
You can, however, make your life much more simple by using a Promises library such as then.
An example usage might look like:
login(email: "foo#bar.com", password: "pa$$w0rd")
.whenAll(syncDevices(), syncGeofences(), syncUsers(), syncPositions(), syncImages())
.onError { err in
// process error
}
.finally {
// update UI
}
Your login function is slow because you are downloading AND writing to disk (as you mentioned in your question) "all" the data in your closures (geofences, devices and/or positions). Furthermore, all your operations are being executed in the main thread. You should never do I/O (networking, writing to disk) in the main thread, as this thread is used mainly for UI updates. You should offload the expensive tasks to another thread using GCD.
Also, it is worth mentioning that writing to disk is a relatively slow operation, especially if you are doing it for EVERY item you are downloading.
I would recommend you to JUST download any data to be displayed and then use an async task in a DispatchQueue (GCD) to persist the data downloaded to disk AFTER you've displayed the data in your UI.
I am not sure what the DB.geofences.server.getAll() lines do for geofences, devices and positions (in regards to how you handle your networking or database fetching), so I cannot advice you on that. What I can advice you on, is to structure your code the following way:
When user logs in, do the validation against the DB (remote) and guard against a valid login. Transition to your next view controller next (don't execute all your logic), since I can see that you are delegating way too much responsibility to your login action (for your login button).
From that second view controller, get your data through networking calls asynchronously on another thread using a .UserInitiated priority (to get results fast).
After doing all your networking operations, call DispatchQueue.main.async { ... } to update your UI Asynchronously in the main thread with the data you just got.
AFTER you've displayed the downloaded data, you can persist it to your local DB, ideally using another DispatchQueue async task.
If anything I said above does not make any sense to you, please read AppCoda's article about GCD here and RayWenderlich's GCD article here. They will give you the basic knowledge about GCD in iOS. Once you've done that, come back and try to structure your code the way I recommended above.
I hope this helps!

Best practice for savings cloud kit record to core data, getting sporadic runtime error

I have the below code, in both cases of having or not having the comments removed and also having unowned self changed to weak self 8 times out of 10 i have no issues getting the record id to post to core data, however, in other cases i get a run time error and it appears it is on the try.self.moContext.save() line. the error happens on different threads, and in the debug is shows abortretainunowned...
CKContainer.defaultContainer().publicCloudDatabase.saveRecord(postRecord, completionHandler: { [unowned self] (record, error) -> Void in
// dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
if error != nil {
print("Error Saving to Cloud \(error)")
} else {
photoData.cloudKitID = record!.recordID.recordName as String
//Save to CoreData
do {
try self.moContext.save()
print("Saved Posted ReocrdID Name to CoreData \(record!.recordID.recordName)")
self.moContext.refreshAllObjects()
} catch let error {
//Check for Error
print("Error is \(error)")
}
}
// }
})
UPDATE
I think I found a solution, if anyone could validate if this is best practice or not would be appreciative.
Since I have to create postRecord by initializing as a CKRecord postRecord actually already has the cloud kit record name postRecord.recordID.recordName already before it is posted. So i moved my core data save to be infant of the CloudKit save operation. Essentially saving before the saverecord occurs. So far so good. This works assuming that the CkRecord Name of postRecord.recordID.recordName will always match the returned CloudKit results.recordID.recordName. Is this a right assumption?
Thanks
Remember, CloudKit operation are asynchronous and there are many reason they could fail, so is not good idea to save any cache or data before you know the result (unless you mark the cache as "unsaved" or something like that, for retry purpose).
What you need to do is to use [weak self] in your block/closure and then, check if self is not nil to continue.
Also, all your call to self need and "?" or "!"
try self!.moContext.save()
I use a singleton for my NSOperationQueue and an observer for the operation (in case of the app go background, the observer give me more seconds in the background to finish the operation). Look for a video of the last WWDC about operations.

Key data not storing to iCloud with NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore.defaultStore

So I have a simple goal, just to get this working. So theoretically if you ruined this.
Triggered save players
waited a bit
Deleted the app
Rebuilt (downloaded)
Triggered restore then the word "MEDO" would print to the console
But instead it is null, making me pretty sure that it is not saving to iC cloud some reason. I followed this tutorial. Perhaps it is too outdated to work?
func c_restoreCharecters()
{
let icloud = NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore.defaultStore()
println(icloud.objectForKey("username"))
}
func c_savePlayers()
{
let icloud = NSUbiquitousKeyValueStore.defaultStore()
icloud.setObject("MEDO", forKey: "username")
println(icloud.synchronize())
}
Obviously I am going to use this concept for something completely different in the future, but I have to get the basics down first!
Some other stuff:
iCloud set up in my settings:
My Entitlements file: