Question

I have been trying to develop an app for my ipad which i can use to connect to my local network devices in order to get files and so on without any progress.
What i want to do is to first detect the devices on the network and then select which i want to browse files from by connecting to it.

What i got so far is

    #import "BrowseForNetworkDevices.h"

@implementation BrowseForNetworkDevices

- (id)init
{    
    self = [super init];

    if (self) 
    {        
        services = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init]; 
        serviceBrowser = [[NSNetServiceBrowser alloc] init];
        [serviceBrowser setDelegate: delegateObject];        

        searching = NO;        
    }

    return self;    
}

- (void)dealloc
{    
    [services release];    
    [serviceBrowser release];
    [super dealloc];    
}



// Sent when browsing begins
- (void)netServiceBrowserWillSearch:(NSNetServiceBrowser *)browser
{    
    searching = YES;    
    [serviceBrowser searchForServicesOfType:@" " inDomain:@"local."];
    [self updateUI];    
}

// Sent when browsing stops
- (void)netServiceBrowserDidStopSearch:(NSNetServiceBrowser *)browser
{    
    searching = NO;    
    [self updateUI];    
}

// Sent if browsing fails
- (void)netServiceBrowser:(NSNetServiceBrowser *)browser
             didNotSearch:(NSDictionary *)errorDict
{    
    searching = NO;    
    [self handleError:[errorDict objectForKey:NSNetServicesErrorCode]];    
}

// Sent when a service appears
- (void)netServiceBrowser:(NSNetServiceBrowser *)browser
           didFindService:(NSNetService *)aNetService
               moreComing:(BOOL)moreComing
{    
    //[services addObject:aNetService];
    if (![services containsObject:aNetService]) {
        [self willChangeValueForKey:@"services"];
        [services addObject:aNetService];
        [self didChangeValueForKey:@"service"];
    }
    if(!moreComing)        
    {       
        [self updateUI];        
    }    
}

// Sent when a service disappears
- (void)netServiceBrowser:(NSNetServiceBrowser *)browser
         didRemoveService:(NSNetService *)aNetService
               moreComing:(BOOL)moreComing
{
    //[services removeObject:aNetService];
    if ([services containsObject:aNetService]) {
        [self willChangeValueForKey:@"service"];
        [services removeObject:aNetService];
        [self didChangeValueForKey:@"service"];
    }
    if(!moreComing)        
    {       
        [self updateUI];       
    }  
}

// Error handling code
- (void)handleError:(NSNumber *)error
{    
    NSLog(@"An error occurred. Error code = %d", [error intValue]);

   // Handle error here    
}



// UI update code
- (void)updateUI
{

    if(searching)        
    {        
        // Update the user interface to indicate searching
        for(Class obj in services){
            NSLog(@"service found %@", obj);
        }
        // Also update any UI that lists available services

    }    
    else        
    {        
        // Update the user interface to indicate not searching        
    }

}


@end

Any good tutorials on how to perform such task?

Thanks in advance for all the help

Answer 1

You will need both the network devices and your iPad to be speaking the same protocol. You will need to pick an appropriate protocol. It sounds like what you want to do is file transfer – there are many protocols that can handle this that are implemented in libraries for iOS:
– WebDAV
– HTTP
– FTP
– SFTP
– AFP
– SAMBA
In order for the devices to detect one another you will need to use something like Apple’s Bonjour