Question

How to download docx , pdf , image , pptx , or any file from a site which ask for credentials for authentication i tried passing the credentials and still data in the nsdata is something else but it store that detain the file created locally can anybody help in the code for downloading any kind of file.

the code is as follows:
in this buttonClicked is called from other file
DownloadingFile.h

    #import "MyAppDelegate.h"

@interface DownloadingFile : NSObject
{
    NSMutableData *webData;
    NSMutableString *soapResults;
    NSURLConnection *conn;
    BOOL *elementFound; 
    BOOL isDoneParsing;
    MyAppDelegate *mydelegate;

    NSString *userCd,*passWord,*siteUrl;

}
@property (nonatomic ,retain) MyAppDelegate *mydelegate;
-(void)buttonClicked;
-(bool)getIsDone;
@end

DownloadingFile.m

#import "DownloadingFile.h"
#import "iExploreAppDelegate.h"

@implementation DownloadingFile

@synthesize mydelegate;

- (void)buttonClicked
{
    mydelegate=(MyAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];

    userCd=[[NSString alloc] initWithString:[mydelegate getUserId]];
    passWord=[[NSString alloc] initWithString:[mydelegate getPassword]];

    NSLog(@"In Downloading; ");

    NSURL *url =[NSURL URLWithString:[@"http://abcdef.xyz.com/Docs/NewFolder/myFile.docx" stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];

    NSMutableURLRequest *req = [NSMutableURLRequest requestWithURL:url];
        [req setValue:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"bytes=%ld-",0] forHTTPHeaderField:@"Range"];
        [req addValue: @"docx" forHTTPHeaderField:@"Content-Type"];
        [req setHTTPMethod:@"POST"];

      //---set the headers---
   conn = [[NSURLConnection alloc] initWithRequest:req delegate:self startImmediately:YES];

    if (conn) {
        NSLog(@"connection done ");

       webData = [[NSMutableData data] init];
    }   
} 


-(void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveAuthenticationChallenge:(NSURLAuthenticationChallenge *)challenge {
    if([challenge previousFailureCount] == 0) {
        NSURLCredential *newCredential;

      newCredential=[NSURLCredential credentialWithUser:userCd password:passWord persistence:NSURLCredentialPersistenceNone];
      NSLog(@"Crediantials done ");
        [[challenge sender] useCredential:newCredential forAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
    } else {
        [[challenge sender] cancelAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
        NSError* error = [NSError errorWithDomain:@"SoapRequest" code:403 userInfo: [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys: @"Could not authenticate this request", NSLocalizedDescriptionKey,nil]];
        NSLog(@"Credentials are not valid");
        [mydelegate loginFailled:false];
    }
}



-(void) connection:(NSURLConnection *) connection 
didReceiveResponse:(NSURLResponse *) response {
    //[webData setLength: 0];
}

-(void) connection:(NSURLConnection *) connection 
    didReceiveData:(NSData *) data {
    NSLog(@"recevied data %@",data);
    webData=[NSMutableData dataWithData:data];
    [webData appendData:data];
}

-(void) connection:(NSURLConnection *) connection 
  didFailWithError:(NSError *) error {
    [webData release];
    [connection release];
}
-(void) connectionDidFinishLoading:(NSURLConnection *) connection {

    NSLog(@"Did Finish Loading done ");

    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);

    NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

    NSString *pdfPath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"FileName.docx"];

    [webData writeToFile:pdfPath atomically:YES];

    [connection release];

}

Answer 1

I just wrote a quick app to test using Apple’s NSURLConnection which is both a simple and robust solution. I downloaded a few hundred KB Word and PowerPoint files. For authentication I used .htaccess. Works like a charm. Here is the relevant code.

- (IBAction)clickedDownload:(id)sender {
    NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://myserver.com/downloadTest/testfile.pptx"]];
    NSURLConnection *connection = [NSURLConnection connectionWithRequest:request delegate:self];
    [connection start];
}

-(void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didFailWithError:(NSError *)error {
   // inform the user
}

-(void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveAuthenticationChallenge:(NSURLAuthenticationChallenge *)challenge {
    if ([challenge previousFailureCount] == 0) {        
        NSURLCredential *newCredential;
        newCredential = [NSURLCredential credentialWithUser:@"theUsername"
                                                   password:@"thePassword"
                                                persistence:NSURLCredentialPersistenceNone];
        [[challenge sender] useCredential:newCredential
               forAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
    } else {
        [[challenge sender] cancelAuthenticationChallenge:challenge];
        // inform the user that password is incorrect
    }
}

-(void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveResponse:(NSURLResponse *)response {
    receivedData = [[NSMutableData alloc] init];
}

-(void)connection:(NSURLConnection *)connection didReceiveData:(NSData *)data {
    [receivedData appendData:data]; 
}

-(void)connectionDidFinishLoading:(NSURLConnection *)connection {
    NSURL *docDirectory = [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] lastObject];
    NSURL *filePath = [docDirectory URLByAppendingPathComponent:@"testfile.pptx"];
    [receivedData writeToURL:filePath atomically:YES];
    [receivedData release];
    connection = nil;
}

Now I opened the files in ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/4.3.2/Applications/[unique-application-code]/Documents– works great!