Minimalistic Swift HTTP request agent for iOS and OS X

by iOS Example

Agent

Table of Contents

Minimalistic Swift HTTP request agent for iOS and OS X.

Introduction

This is a tiny framework that gives you nice a API for crafting HTTP requests.

While Agent is mainly for JSON it also lets you send and access the raw data of a request and response. However if you are looking for a more feature complete library please take a look at Alamofire.

Usage

Throughout this documentation req is used as an instance of Agent.

HTTP Verbs

The Agent API is simple and easy to use. Simply use Agent.<verb>(url) and you’re good to go.

Overloading

It’s possible to perform an entire request with a single call. Supply the required parameters when first creating the request. There are usually multiple degrees of overloading.

Void in
// react to the result of your request
};
Agent.post("http://example.com", headers: [ "Header": "Value" ],
data: [ "Key": "Value" ], done: done)
“>

let done = { (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
  // react to the result of your request
};
Agent.post("http://example.com", headers: [ "Header": "Value" ],
  data: [ "Key": "Value" ], done: done)

It’s possible to omit most overloaded parameters such as headers.

Method Chaining

Every Agent method returns the Agent itself, therefore it is possible to write more expressive code.

Void in
// react to the result of your request
}
)
“>

Agent.post("http://example.com")
  .send([ "Key": "Value" ])
  .end({ (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
    // react to the result of your request
  }
)

Response Closure

One of the features that makes Agent is the response closure, instead of setting up a delegate for every HTTP request you have to make. You can simply react to the response in a closure.

In Agent, the response is of the type (response: NSHTTPURLResponse!, data: Agent.Data!, error: NSError!). A response closure that reads JSON is easily created as seen below.

Void in
let json = data! as Dictionary
println(json["Key"]!)
}
“>

let done = { (response: NSHTTPURLResponse!, data: Agent.Data!, error: NSError!) -> Void in
  let json = data! as Dictionary<String, String>
  println(json["Key"]!)
}

Verbs

GET(url: String)

Void in
// react to the result of your request
})
“>

let req = Agent.get("http://example.com")
req.end({ (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
  // react to the result of your request
})

POST(url: String)

Void in
// react to the result of your request
})
“>

let req = Agent.post("http://example.com")
req.send([ "Key": "Value" ])
req.end({ (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
  // react to the result of your request
})

PUT(url: String)

Void in
// react to the result of your request
})
“>

let req = Agent.put("http://example.com")
req.send([ "Key": "Value" ])
req.end({ (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
  // react to the result of your request
})

DELETE(url: String)

Void in
// react to the result of your request
})
“>

let req = Agent.delete("http://example.com")
req.end({ (response: NSHTTPURLResponse?, data: AnyObject?, error: NSError?) -> Void in
  // react to the result of your request
})

Methods

send(data: AnyObject) -> Agent

Will JSON serialize any data and send it along as the HTTP body. Also implicitly sets the Content-Type header to application/json.

set(header: String, value: String) -> Agent

Sets the HTTP header to value.

end(done: Response) -> Agent

Will start the request and call done when it’s complete.

  • If the request was successful then $0 will be an NSHTTPURLResponse.
  • If the response had any data, $1 will be an AnyObject that you can type cast to either an Array or Dictionary.
  • If there was an error then $2 will be an NSErrror that you can inspect for more information.

NSMutableURLRequest

You can always access the underlying NSMutableURLRequest using req.request.

Contributing

We’re happy to receive any pull requests. Right now we’re working hard on a number of features as seen below.

  • Complete asynchronous tests
  • Plugins
  • Specialized agents (to handle default headers and such)

Any issue is appreciated.

License

MIT

GitHub

https://github.com/hallas/agent