Question

I am attempting to run a database fetch process in the background without locking the user interface.

Currently I have a button that does this, but I would like it to be automatic so that it can get more results as user is browsing current results.

Here is the code that the button does, I would like to make this automatic and not lock the UI. Also if there is a way to pause the process, but continue where it left off if user goes to another screen that would also be very useful.

Thanks in advance!

-(IBAction)continueUpdatingResultsButtonPressed:(UIButton*)sender{
[findMoreButton removeFromSuperview];
[self continueFindingMoreRecipes]; //(do this in background without locking screen)
[self loadRefreshButton];//At completion load this button (a blinking button) to refresh the cells with new results

}

Answer 1

A typical pattern you can use is something like this:

dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^{
    // perform data processing here (done in the background)

    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
        // update user interface here (done on the main thread)
    });
});