Unable to store/retrieve files properly from NSDocumentsDirectory

Question

One of the developer is implementing a phonegap project supporting cross platform(ios & android). Things are going weird whenever there ain't any plugin available for ios. I am exhausted with a requirement that has come up, we save pdf files generated in app to documents directory. In android, when choose file is clicked, a file explorer opens up for choosing file from desired location. I had to write a custom plugin for ios, as things are sandboxed in ios...only way a user can choose is files saved in app documents directory. I am trying to fetch the documents(pdf files) from the directory and populate them in table view. Actually I followed this link on Git repository for saving pdf file. The link follows a traditional way of saving in documents directory, but I don't see the file getting saved with extension '.pdf',surprisingly the pdf files are visible with extensions in temp directory embedded in unique folders. Moreover it wipes off the file from documents directory after the user opens the file in appropriate reader s/w.

When I tried to retrieve the files from temporary directory using the below code:

NSString *docPath = NSTemporaryDirectory();
self.filesArray = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:docPath error:NULL] mutableCopy];
    for (NSString *file in _filesArray) {
        NSString *actualFile = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"/%@",file];
        docPath = [docPath stringByAppendingString:actualFile];
    }
[_filePathsArray addObject:docPath];

As expected its returning only directories (I mean the folders).... and the pdf files are hidden in those subdirectories. I need to extract these files and show up in table view. Here is the sample code of the plugin I created:

- (NSMutableDictionary *)callbackIds {
    if (_callbackIds == nil) {
        _callbackIds = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
    }
    return _callbackIds;
}

-(void)open:(CDVInvokedUrlCommand *)command
{
    [self.callbackIds setValue:command.callbackId forKey:@"open"];

    CGFloat width = [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.width;
    CGFloat height = [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height;
    self.listOfFiles = [[UITableView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(230, 210, width/1.8, height/1.8) style:UITableViewStylePlain];
    self.listOfFiles.dataSource = self;
    self.listOfFiles.delegate = self;
    self.listOfFiles.scrollEnabled = YES;
    self.listOfFiles.rowHeight = tableHeight;

    [self.viewController.view addSubview:_listOfFiles];
}

#pragma mark - TableViewDataSource

-(NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
    return 1;
}

-(NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    self.filePathsArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
    self.filesArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
    NSString *docPath = NSTemporaryDirectory();
    self.filesArray = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:docPath error:NULL] mutableCopy];
    for (NSString *file in _filesArray) {
        NSString *actualFile = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"/%@",file];
        docPath = [docPath stringByAppendingString:actualFile];
    }
    [_filePathsArray addObject:docPath];

    return _filesArray.count;
}

#pragma mark - TableViewDelegate

-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    NSString *cellIdentifier = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"S%1dR%1d",indexPath.section,indexPath.row];
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier];

    if (cell == nil) {
        cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:cellIdentifier];
    }
    cell.textLabel.text = [_filesArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    return cell;
}

-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    [tableView deselectRowAtIndexPath:indexPath animated:YES];
    // Send result back to the javascript plugin
    NSString *resultingPath = [self.filePathsArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    [self returnPluginResult:resultingPath toCallback:@"open" withError:NO];
    [_listOfFiles removeFromSuperview];
}

- (NSString *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView titleForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return @"Choose File";
}

#pragma mark - Plugin Callback

- (void)returnPluginResult:(NSString *)result toCallback:(NSString *)callback withError:(BOOL)error
{
    CDVPluginResult *pluginResult = [CDVPluginResult resultWithStatus:CDVCommandStatus_OK messageAsString:result];
    if (!error) {
        [self writeJavascript:[pluginResult toSuccessCallbackString:[self.callbackIds valueForKey:callback]]];
    }
    else {
        [self writeJavascript:[pluginResult toErrorCallbackString:[self.callbackIds valueForKey:callback]]];
    }
}

Someone please guide me with a solution or subsequent helpful links. I tried every samples of code over humongous googling and nothing seemed to solve my problem.

Thanks everyone in advance :)

Answer 1

The link I followed for storing the pdf is actually removing the file from documents directory upon storage. Truncating the removal code solved the issue for me. Hope this helps someone, thanks :)