This tutorial demonstrates how to configure and integrate Connect SDK features with a new iOS application created in the Xcode development environment by using the Swift language. Its purpose is to show how to use the Connect SDK Data API to obtain the contents of a data page and also to obtain the metadata for a specific data page.

• Prerequisites
• Obtaining data page contents
• Obtaining data page metadata

Prerequisites

Before you start this tutorial, do the following tasks:

• Read Tutorial: Creating a Hello World iOS app with the Connect SDK, which demonstrates how to set up the Connect SDK in the Xcode environment, initialize it in the application, and use it to authenticate.
• Download the ZIP file, which contains the sample Swift code and other Xcode project files for the iOS app described in this tutorial.

You can connect to any Pega^® Platform instance to test the sample iOS app. Make sure that it already includes some cases and assignments.

Obtaining data page contents

To add logic that allows your app to obtain the data page contents, you must call the getPage(byID:) method for the already initialized Connect SDK and pass it the name of the data page.

1. In the Xcode environment, click New >File > Cocoa Touch Class in Xcode and create a subclass of UIViewController.
2. Name the subclass DataPagesVC. This subclass is where all of the logic that is related to obtaining a data page and data page metadata for your application is placed. It is linked to a separate scene of your application's user interface. This scene should be based on a template or be inherited from another class.
3. Declare a dataPage property to represent the obtained data page content within this new class:

   var dataPage: PMDataPage?

4. Create an action connection between the Get data button in the DataPages scene of the application and a newly created getData() method. Now you can make a call to the getPage() method of the dataService Connect SDK object within the getData() method to obtain the content for the data page and populate it in the dataPage variable. Notice that you have to pass the data page identifier as a parameter that is taken from a field on the app screen. This method returns a dataPage object, which is then referenced by the local dataPage property for the DataPagesVC class:

   @IBAction func getData() {
       guard let dataPageID = dataID_TF.text?.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces), !dataPageID.isEmpty else {
           return
       }
   ​
       PegaApi.shared.dataService.getPage(byID: dataPageID) { dataPage, error in
           if let error = error {
               self.showAlert(with: error)
           } else if let dataPage = dataPage {
               self.dataPage = dataPage
               DispatchQueue.main.async {
                   self.performSegue(withIdentifier: "goToDataDetails", sender: self)
               }
           }
       }
   ​}

   The performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:) method is used to advance to the next screen. This is where the obtained data page contents are shown in the app, passing it the dataPage object. A new class, called DataPageDetailsVC, which is created for this purpose, displays the data page contents on the screen based on this object.

   

   Get data/Get metadata - Data Page API

Obtaining data page metadata

To get the metadata of a data page in your Pega Platform application, you must call the getPageMetadata(byID:) method for the already initialized Connect SDK by passing it the name of the data page.

1. In the previously created DataPagesVC class, declare a pageMetaData property:

   var pageMetaData: PMDataPageMetadata?

2. Create an action connection between the Get metadata button in the DataPages scene of the application and a newly created getMetadata() method. This is where you can call the getPageMetadata() method of the dataService Connect SDK object in your code within the getMetadata() method to obtain the metadata of a specific data page. Notice that the pageMetaData object is returned with the metadata for this method, and it is then referenced by the local pageMetaData property for the DataPagesVC class.

   @IBAction func getMetadata() {
       guard let dataPageID = metaDataID_TF.text?.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces), !dataPageID.isEmpty else {
           return
       }
   ​
       PegaApi.shared.dataService.getPageMetadata(byID: dataPageID) { pageMetaData, error in
           if let error = error {
               self.showAlert(with: error)
           } else if let pageMetaData = pageMetaData {
               self.pageMetaData = pageMetaData
               DispatchQueue.main.async {
                   self.performSegue(withIdentifier: "goToDataDetails", sender: self)
               }
           }
       }
   ​}

   The performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:) method is used to advance to the next screen represented by the goToDataDetails identifier, passing it the pageMetaData object. The same class that was created in the previous section, called DataPageDetailsVC, displays the data page metadata on the screen based on this object.