Welcome to your first iOS DeCal Lab!
There are three problems you'll be solving in this lab.
- Defining Variables
- Working with Optionals
- View Controller Lifecycle + Breakpoints
- Using the Debugger
Each time you finish a problem, open the storyboard, drag the entry point to the next view controller representing the next problem.
For example, after problem 1, there will be a view marked "2" at the top right. You will drag the entry point (Arrow pointing inwards into the current view - marked "1" at the top) to that view controller and run the app (see image below).
To begin this lab, clone this repository onto your own computer:
git clone https://github.com/iosdecal/ios-decal-lab1
Once you've donwloaded the files onto your computer, open up the file XcodeTour.xcodeproj. If you've downloaded Xcode already, this will open up your project.
Before starting, it may be helpful to open the file Main.storyboard (found in your project navigator in Xcode) to see the layout of this lab before starting.
If you open up DefineVariableViewController.swift, you'll notice that there are two "TODO" sections. The goal of this problem is to define a variable that can be used to transfer data between view controllers (different screens within an app).
In the getTextToDisplay method, there is a formattedTextArray variable. In the prepareForSegue method (option + click on the method symbol to see its description), there is a textToDisplay property of destinationVC currently set to an empty array. Your goal is to make these two ends meet by making the textToDisplay property equal the value stored in formattedTextArray.
To see if you properly transferred the data, run your application. If you succeeded, move on to the next part of the lab by moving the entry point arrow (found in Main.storyboard) to the View Controller labeled "2".
Run the app and read what's on the screen. When you press proceed, you'll see a button that says "Generate String". If you visit OptionalsViewController.swift, you'll see that there is a returnStringAtRandom function that returns a String? (Remember: ? means a variable can take on a nil value). If you click "Generate String" enough times, the app should crash. Look carefully at the code under the "TODO" and use your knowledge about optionals to find out why this is true.
If you passed this stage, move on to the next part of the lab by moving the entry point arrow (found in Main.storyboard) to the View Controller labeled "3".
Run the app, and tap the "click me..." button. If you open up Main.storyboard, you'll notice the first screen you viewed has the class type BoringViewController.swift (Identity Inspector > Custom Class > Class). If you tap on the view controller to the right, you'll see no class is set! Currently there is no ViewController.swift file for the view controller in the Storyboard's attributes.
Setting the class of Storyboard view controller's allows us to programmatically interact with the UI elements in Interface Builder. If you look at BoringViewController.swift, for example, we are able to change the textcolor of the label programmatically, since we've created an outlet.
Your task:
- create a Swift file (Cocoa Touch Class) for the View Controller labeled q3b in Main.storyboard. You may name it whatever you like.
- go back to Main.storyboard, and select the q3b view controller. Set it's class type to the class you just created in the previous step (See step 3, if you are struggling https://guides.codepath.com/ios/Creating-Custom-View-Controllers)
- create an outlet in your code for the label in this view controller. Then, in viewDidLoad, change the text of the label to "i am a view controller with a class set 😊"
Open BoringViewController.swift. You'll see a few overriding functions. These methods are called automatically at the appropriate times by iOS when view controllers are loaded, presented, and dismissed.
To figure out which order these methods are called, you could read one of many Medium articles about the subject, but instead, set breakpoints for each of the given overriding methods. Then, run your simulator, and note the order in which each method is called.
Starting from 1, fill in the order these methods are called in the dictionary viewControllerEventOrder. If the method is never called, leave it nil.
If you can't remember what each breakpoint button does, check out this article here - https://medium.com/yay-its-erica/xcode-debugging-with-breakpoints-for-beginners-5b0d0a39d711.
If you passed this stage, move on to the next part of the lab by moving the entry point arrow (found in Main.storyboard) to the View Controller that says Navigation Controller.
CalCentral is developing an iOS application for their beloved platform, but they've encountered a bug and need your help. For some reason, the course enrollment functionality isn't working when a permission code is required. Regardless of whether the permission code is valid or invalid, it always results in an error.
They managed to track the bug down to the method called submitEnrollmentRequest in ClassDetailViewController.swift. This method interfaces their server API (CalCentralServer.post()) for enrolling in a course with a permission code. Their server API expects an encoded dictionary of String values, ignoring any and all other types. The method encodeParameters() takes care of encoding a dictionary to a JSON object. They're sure that this method, base64EncodedString(), and the dictionary keys are correctly implemented, so we can ignore those.
Given the pre-populated valid permission code 274958, find and patch the bug in submitEnrollmentRequest.
Hint: the variables Quick Look feature in the debugger area could be useful.
Hint hint: this nifty String initializer may help you: init(describing:) - String
Once you've finished the lab, you can check-off using this form https://goo.gl/forms/kVEIqkChKBthRRTM2. If you weren't able to finish before 8pm, make sure to let a TA know you attended (do not fill out the google form), and be sure to check-off next week at the beginning of lab.