How To Send a File Message in Share Extension

[lookdeceline]

Question

How to send a file message in Share Extension?

Answer

1. Create a new iOS project

1. Open Xcode
2. Go to File > New > Project
3. Choose "App" under iOS
4. Name your project and choose your organization identifier
5. Add the latest SendbirdChatSDK via Swift Package Manager.

2. Add a Share Extension to your project

1. In Xcode, go to File > New > Target
2. Select "Share Extension" under iOS
3. Name your extension (e.g., "MyAppShareExtension")
4. Click "Finish"

3. Enable App Groups capability

1. Click on your project in the Project Navigator
2. Select your main app target
3. Go to the "Signing & Capabilities" tab
4. Click "+ Capability" and add "App Groups"
5. Click "+ Group" to create a new group or select an existing one
6. Repeat steps 1-5 for your share extension target

4. Implement the Share Extension

Note: It is important to set your app groups name as shared container identifier using SendbirdChat.setSharedContainerIdentifier(_:) interface.
In ShareViewController.swift :

// ShareViewController.swift

import UIKit
import Social
import SendbirdChatSDK

class ShareViewController: SLComposeServiceViewController {
    let appID = {APP_ID}
    var channel: GroupChannel? = nil
    
    override func isContentValid() -> Bool {
        // Initialize SendbirdChat.
        let initParams = InitParams(
            applicationId: appID,
            isLocalCachingEnabled: true,
            logLevel: .verbose
        )
        SendbirdChat.initialize(params: initParams) {
            
        } completionHandler: { error in
            guard error == nil else {
                print("[Fail] Initialize SendbirdChat: \(error!)")
                return
            }
            
            // ⭐️⭐️ Important! ⭐️⭐️
            // Set your app groups name as shared container identifier.
            SendbirdChat.setSharedContainerIdentifier({APP_GROUPS_NAME})
            
            // Connect to Sendbird.
            SendbirdChat.connect(userId: {USER_ID}, authToken: {AUTH_TOKEN}) { user, error in
                guard let user = user else {
                  print("[Fail] Connect to Sendbird: \(error!)")
                  return
                }
                
                // Preferably, you would get an existing group channel. 
                // For the purpose of this example, create a group channel.
                self.createGroupChannel()
            }
        }
        
        return true
    }

    override func didSelectPost() {
        // Send a file message.
        sendFileMessage()
        
        self.extensionContext!.completeRequest(returningItems: [], completionHandler: nil)
    }

    override func configurationItems() -> [Any]! {
        // To add configuration options via table cells at the bottom of the sheet, return an array of SLComposeSheetConfigurationItem here.
        return []
    }

}

extension ShareViewController {
    func createGroupChannel() {
        let params = GroupChannelCreateParams()
        params.userIds = [USER_ID_1, USER_ID_2, ...]
        params.isDistinct = true

        GroupChannel.createChannel(params: params) { channel, error in
            guard let groupChannel = channel, error == nil else {
                print("[Fail] Create a group channel: \(error!)")
                return
            }
            
            self.channel = groupChannel
        }
    }
    
    func sendFileMessage() {
        guard let channel = self.channel else { return }
        
        // Get your image you want to send as a FileMessage.
        guard let image = UIImage(named: "swift") else { 
            print("[Fail] No such image.")
            return
        }
        guard let imageData = image.pngData() else {
            print("[Fail] Get image as png data.")
            return
        }
        let messageParams = FileMessageCreateParams.init(file: imageData)
        
        channel.sendFileMessage(params: messageParams) { fileMessage, error in
            guard let fileMessage = fileMessage, error == nil else {
                print("[Fail] Send file message. \(error!)")
                return
            }
            
            // Successfully sent a file message.
        }
    }
}

5. Verify the file message is sent

On another device, or Sendbird Dashboard, check if the image is sent.