The ramblings of a madman

On the app I’m currently working on I’ve got a messaging portion.

Originally I implemented a basic TableView with a TextField to add a message.

Then I searched for Messages UI frameworks and came across JSQMessagesViewController

• http://www.jessesquires.com/JSQMessagesViewController/
• https://github.com/jessesquires/JSQMessagesViewController

There’s a Sample project you can look into – JSQMessagesDemo.

It comes as a Cocoapod:

• https://cocoapods.org/pods/JSQMessagesViewController

I’m using 7.3.4.

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Create a new Xcode project.

Open terminal at that folder

pod init

add

pod 'JSQMessagesViewController'

then

pod install

Open the Xcode ‘#App.xcworkspace’

Create a View Controller that inherits

: JSQMessagesViewController<UIActionSheetDelegate, JSQMessagesComposerTextViewPasteDelegate>

#import <JSQMessagesViewController/JSQMessagesViewController.h>

#import "DemoData.h"

@class MessageViewController;

@protocol MessageViewControllerDelegate <NSObject>

- (void)didDismissMessagesViewController:(MessageViewController *)vc;

@end

Add some properties and methods

@property (weak, nonatomic) id<MessageViewControllerDelegate> delegateModal;

@property (strong, nonatomic) DemoData *data;

- (void)receiveMessagePressed:(UIBarButtonItem *)sender;

- (void)closePressed:(UIBarButtonItem *)sender;

I didn’t bother with any of the settings so commented these checks out.

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I couldn’t find the Accessory Button Delegate to add to my View Controller.

#import "JSQMessagesViewAccessoryButtonDelegate.h"

<JSQMessagesViewAccessoryButtonDelegate>

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For testing create a new class for your demo data.

DemoData.h

@interface DemoData : NSObject

@property (strong, nonatomic) NSMutableArray *messages;

@property (strong, nonatomic) NSDictionary *users;

@property (strong, nonatomic) JSQMessagesBubbleImage *outgoingBubbleImageData;

@property (strong, nonatomic) JSQMessagesBubbleImage *incomingBubbleImageData;

@end

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DemoData.m

Create some test Users.

- (instancetype)init

{

    self = [super init];

    if (self) {  

        [self loadFakeMessages];

        self.users = @{ @"1" : @"Alex",

                        @"2" : @"Sam",

                        @"3" : @"Kev",

                        @"4" : @"Ray" };

        JSQMessagesBubbleImageFactory *bubbleFactory = [[JSQMessagesBubbleImageFactory alloc] init];       

        self.outgoingBubbleImageData = [bubbleFactory outgoingMessagesBubbleImageWithColor:[UIColor jsq_messageBubbleLightGrayColor]];

        self.incomingBubbleImageData = [bubbleFactory incomingMessagesBubbleImageWithColor:[UIColor jsq_messageBubbleGreenColor]];

    }

    return self;

}

Create the Fake Messages

- (void)loadFakeMessages { ... }

We can use this back in our MessageViewController.m

#pragma mark - View lifecycle

• viewDidLoad
• viewWillAppear
• viewDidAppear

Since I’m not using Avatars add this to viewDidLoad

self.collectionView.collectionViewLayout.incomingAvatarViewSize = CGSizeZero; self.collectionView.collectionViewLayout.outgoingAvatarViewSize = CGSizeZero;

Also return nil in ‘avatarImageDataForItemAtIndexPath’

- (id<JSQMessageAvatarImageDataSource>)collectionView:(JSQMessagesCollectionView *)collectionView avatarImageDataForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    ...

    return nil;

}

Implement these other methods.

#pragma mark - Custom menu actions for cells

#pragma mark - Actions

#pragma mark - JSQMessagesViewController method overrides

#pragma mark - JSQMessages CollectionView DataSource

Choose a user here

• senderId
• senderId

#pragma mark - UICollectionView DataSource

#pragma mark - UICollectionView Delegate

#pragma mark - Custom menu items

#pragma mark - JSQMessages collection view flow layout delegate

#pragma mark - Adjusting cell label heights

#pragma mark - Responding to collection view tap events

#pragma mark - JSQMessagesComposerTextViewPasteDelegate methods

#pragma mark - JSQMessagesViewAccessoryDelegate methods

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Changing some settings

I didn’t want the Add Attachments button.

viewDidLoad

self.inputToolbar.contentView.leftBarButtonItem = nil;

• https://github.com/jessesquires/JSQMessagesViewController/issues/338
• https://github.com/jessesquires/JSQMessagesViewController/issues/280

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Now just to swap out the messages to my XMPP Server…