CombineNetworking

Meet CombineNetworking. Super lightweight and crazy easy to use framework to help you create and handle your network requests in a convenient way. Besides basic network requests, CombineNetworking allows you to easily send your requests securely with a simple SSL and Certificate pinning mechanisms. But that's not all. With CombineNetworking you can also effortlessly handle authorization tokens with built-in automatic authorization mechanism.

Installation (using CocoaPods)

pod 'CombineNetworking'

Note that in order to use CombineNetworking, your iOS Deployment Target has to be 13.0 or newer. If you code for macOS, your Deployment Target has to be 10.15 or newer.

CombineNetworking is also available via SPM (Swift Package Manager)

Key functionalities

• Sending requests easily using Endpoint models
• SSL and Certificate pinning with just 2 lines of code
• WebSocket connection support with CNWebSocket
• Secure access token storage with KeyChain (thanks to KeychainAccess framework)
• Access token storing strategy - configure global, endpoint specific (default) or custom strategy for all or just some endpoints
• Automated refresh token/callback requests

Basic Usage

Create an Endpoint to work with

enum TodosEndpoint {
  case todos(Int)
}

extension TodosEndpoint: Endpoint {
  var baseURL: URL? {
    URL(string: "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/")
  }
	
  var path: String {
    switch self {
      case .todos:
      return "todos"
    }
  }
	
  var method: RequestMethod {
    .get
  }
	
  var headers: [String : Any]? {
    nil
  }
	
  var data: EndpointData {
    switch self {
      case .todos(let id):
      return .queryParams(["id": id])
    }
  }
}

RequestMethod is an enum with following options: .get, .post, .put, .delete, patch. EndpointData is also an enum with following options:

• .plain
• .queryParams([String: Any])
• .queryString(String)
• .bodyData([String: Any])
• .bodyParams([String: Any]) - takes Dictionary and parses it into Data to send in request's body
• .urlEncodedBody([String: Any]) - takes Dictionary and parses it into url encoded Data to send in request's body
• .urlEncodedModel(Encodable) - takes Encodable model and parses it into url encoded Data to send in request's body
• .jsonModel(Encodable) - similar to .dataParams except this one takes Encodable and parses it into Data to send in request's body

Enable SSL and/or Certificate pinning (optional)

To turn SSL and/or Certificate pinning in your app just add:

CNConfig.pinningModes = [.ssl, .certificate]

Please remember that SSL/Certificate pinning requires certificate file to be attached in your project. Certificates and SSL keys are autmatically loaded by CombineNetworking.

Automatic authorization mechanism

Handling authorization callbacks with CombineNetworking is ridiculously easy. To use it with your Endpoint all you have to do is to add requiresAccessToken and callbackPublisher fields as presented below:

enum TodosEndpoint {
  case token
  case todos(Int)
}

extension TodosEndpoint: Endpoint {
  //Setup all the required properties like baseURL, path, etc...
		
  //... then determine which of your endpoints require authorization...
  var requiresAccessToken: Bool {
    switch self {
    case .token:
      return false
     
    default:
      return true
    }
  }
	
  //... and prepare callbackPublisher to handle authorization callbacks
  var callbackPublisher: AnyPublisher<AccessTokenConvertible?, Error>? {
    try? CNProvider<TodosEndpoint>().publisher(for: .token, responseType: CNAccessToken?.self).asAccessTokenConvertible()
  }
}

See? Easy peasy! Keep in mind that your token model has to conform to AccessTokenConvertible.

CNConfig properties and methods

• pinningModes - turns on/off SSL and Certificate pinning. Available options are .ssl, .certificate or both.
• sitesExcludedFromPinning - list of website addresses excluded from SSL/Certificate pinning check
• defaultJSONDecoder - use this property to set globally your custom JSONDecoder
• defaultAccessTokenStrategy - global strategy for storing access tokens. Available options are .global, .default and .custom(String).
• storeTokensInKeychain - turns on/off safe storage (more info below)
• keychainInstance - keychain instance used by CombineNetworking to store/fetch access tokens from Apple's Keychain (more info below)
• removeAccessToken(for endpoint: Endpoint? = nil) - removes access token for a given endpoint or the global one (if exists)

Access Token manipulations

If you want, you can manipulate access tokens yourself. There are 4 approaches how to store, fetch and remove access tokens using CNConfig.

1. For specific endpoint:

• setAccessToken(_ token: CNAccessToken?, for endpoint: Endpoint)
• accessToken(for endpoint: Endpoint)
• removeAccessToken(for endpoint: Endpoint)

Example: CNConfig.accessToken(for: .sampleEndpointCase)

2. For specific endpoint's default storing label:

• setAccessToken<T: Endpoint>(_ token: CNAccessToken?, for endpoint: T.Type)
• accessToken<T: Endpoint>(for endpoint: T.Type)
• removeAccessToken<T: Endpoint>(for endpoint: T.Type)

Example: CNConfig.accessToken(for: SampleEndpoint.self)

3. For specific custom storing label:

• setAccessToken(for storingLabel: String)
• accessToken(for storingLabel: String)
• removeAccessToken(for storingLabel: String)

Example: CNConfig.accessToken(for: "sampleCustomLabel")

4. For global tokens:

• setGlobalAccessToken()
• globalAccessToken()
• removeGlobalAccessToken()

Example: CNConfig.globalAccessToken()

Access Token Strategies

CombineNetworking allows you to specify access token strategies globally as well as individually for each endpoint. You can specify your strategy by setting it for CNConfig.defaultAccessTokenStrategy or inside your Endpoint by setting value for field accessTokenStrategy. Available options are:

• .global - uses global label to store access token
• .default - uses endpoint identifiers as labels to store access tokens
• .custom(String) - with this option you can specify your own label to store access token and use it among as many endpoints as you wish

Thanks to access token strategy being set both globally (via CNConfig) and individually (inside Endpoint), you can mix different strategies in your app!

Event logging

CombineNetworking's CNProvider uses iOS built-in Logger (if running on iOS 14 or newer) and custom debug-mode-only logger by default for each and every request.

Safe storage using Keychain

CombineNetworking allows you to store your access tokens in keychain. This feature is turned on by default. Using keychain to store your access keys requires you to provide keychain instance by setting value of CNConfig.keychainInstance. Safe storage using keychain can be disabled by toggling CNConfig.storeTokensInKeychain option.

Please remember Apple's Keychain doesn't automatically remove entries created by an app upon its deletion. Do not worry, however. Only your app can access those entries. Nevertheless, if you're using CombineNetworking's safe storage, it is recommended to add some sort of app launch counter and upon first launch call CNConfig.removeAccessToken(for endpoint: Endpoint? = nil) to make sure any remaining old entries in keychain are removed.

Subscribe to a publisher

private var subscriptions: Set<AnyCancellable> = []
var todo: Todo?

func subscribeForTodos() {
  CNProvider<TodosEndpoint>().publisher(for: .todos(1), responseType: Todo?.self)
    .catch { (error) -> Just<Todo?> in
      print(error)
      return Just(nil)
    }
    .assign(to: \.todo, on: self)
    .store(in: &subscriptions)
}

If you want to subscribe to a publisher but doesn't want to immediately decode the body but rather want to get raw Data object, use rawPublisher instead.

Error handling

In case of request failure, CombineNetworking returns stuct of type CNError reflected as Error.

public struct CNError: Error {
	let type: ErrorType
	let details: CNErrorDetails?
	let data: Data?
}

Available error types are: failedToBuildRequest, failedToMapResponse, unexpectedResponse, authenticationFailed, notConnected, emptyResponse and conversionFailed.

CNErrorDetails looks like following:

public struct CNErrorDetails {
	public let statusCode: Int
	public let localizedString: String
	public let url: URL?
	public let mimeType: String?
	public let headers: [AnyHashable: Any]?
	public let data: Data?
}

WebSockets

CombineNetworking also allows you to connect with WebSockets effortlessly. Simply use CNWebSocket like this:

let webSocket = CNWebSocket(url: URL(string: "wss://socketsbay.com/wss/v2/2/demo/")!)
webSocket.connect()
webSocket.listen { result in
	switch result {
	case .success(let message):
		switch message {
		case .data(let data):
			print("Received binary: \(data)")
		case .string(let string):
			print("Received string: \(string)")
		}
	default:
		return
	}
}
webSocket.send(.string("Test message")) {
	if let error = $0 {
		log(error.localizedDescription)
	}
}

If you want to close connection, just call webSocket.disconnect().

And that's it. Enjoy :)