iOS open docx file from Application.persistentData

Question

I have written a mobile unity app that needs to open a downloaded docx file. I can do this on my android build by simply calling Application.OpenUrl(myPath); and it works fine.

I found that it is not so simple in iOS. I have written a small plugin to use the native iOS code to launch the files. At first the code would crash the app when i would click the button that calls the plugin. But I "fixed" the issue that was causing the crash but now nothing is happening when I call the plugin to launch the file.

The logic steps didn't change just the methods and arguments used.

This is the unity class for launching the file:

 using System;
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 using UnityEngine;
 
 public static class FileLauncher {
 
 #if UNITY_IOS
     [DllImport ("__Internal")]
     private static extern bool _canOpenURL(string _url);
 
     [DllImport ("__Internal")]
     private static extern void _openURL(string _url);
 #endif
 
     public static void LaunchFile(string _path){
         #if UNITY_IOS
         try{
             if(Application.platform == RuntimePlatform.IPhonePlayer){
                 if(CanOpenURL(_path)){
                     _openURL(_path);
                 }
                 else{
                     Debug.Log("FILELAUNCHER: canopen false");
                 }
             }
         }
         catch(Exception _err){
             Debug.Log("FILELAUNCHER: " + _err.Message);
         }
         #else
 
         Application.OpenURL(_path);
 
         #endif
     }
 
     public static bool CanOpenURL(string _path){
         #if UNITY_IOS
         try{
             if(Application.platform == RuntimePlatform.IPhonePlayer){
                 return _canOpenURL(_path);
             }
         }
         catch(Exception _err){
             Debug.Log("FILELAUNCHER: " + _err.Message);
             return false;
         }
         #endif
         return true;
     }
 
 }

And this is the current plugin I have written:

 #import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
 #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
 
 @interface SampleClass : NSObject
 
 -(bool)CanOpenURL:(NSString *)_url;
 -(void)OpenURL:(NSString *)_url;
 
 @end
 
 @implementation SampleClass
 
 -(bool)CanOpenURL:(NSString *)_url{
     UnitySendMessage("AppController", "iOSLog", "CanOpenURL");
     if([[UIApplication sharedApplication] canOpenURL:[NSURL URLWithString:_url]]){
         return YES;
     }
     return NO;
 }
 
 -(void)OpenURL:(NSString *)_url{
     UnitySendMessage("AppController", "iOSLog", "OpenURL");
     NSURL *url = [[NSBundle mainBundle] URLForResource:_url withExtension:@"docx"];
     if(url){
         UIDocumentInteractionController *docController = [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL:url];
         UIViewController *viewController = [[[[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate]window]rootViewController];
         [docController presentOpenInMenuFromRect:CGRectZero inView:viewController.view animated:YES];
     }
     else{
         UnitySendMessage("AppController", "iOSLog", "OpenFailed");
     }
 }
 
 @end
 
 extern "C"
 {
     bool _canOpenURL(NSString* _url){
         SampleClass *test = [[SampleClass alloc] init];
         return [test CanOpenURL:_url];
     }
     
     void _openURL(NSString* _url){
         SampleClass *test = [[SampleClass alloc] init];
         [test OpenURL:_url];
     }
     
     char* cStringCopy(const char* _string){
         if (_string == NULL){
             return NULL;
         }
         char* res = (char*)malloc(strlen(_string) + 1);
         strcpy(res, _string);
         return res;
     }
 }

I do not have a background in iOS so I am thinking i am overlooking a step or something simple in the interaction between iOS and unity that someone on here may see immediately.

Thanks for your help!

Answer 1

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd share a working plugin that opens a document within an iOS app, as @wolftamer389 was attempting. The document path is specified from a Unity script. Please bare in mind that this is my first time writing Objective-C code and dealing iOS plugins!

 #import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
 #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
 
 
 @interface DocumentHandler : NSObject <UIDocumentInteractionControllerDelegate>
 {
     NSURL * fileURL;
 }
 
 - (id)initWithURL:(NSURL*)unityURL;
 
 - (void)UpdateURL:(NSURL*)unityURL;
 
 - (bool)OpenDocument;
 
 - (UIViewController *) documentInteractionControllerViewControllerForPreview: (UIDocumentInteractionController *) controller;
 
 @end
 
 
 @implementation DocumentHandler
 
 - (id)initWithURL:(NSURL*)unityURL
 {
     self = [super init];
     fileURL = unityURL;
     return self;
 }
 
 - (void)UpdateURL:(NSURL*)unityURL {
     fileURL = unityURL;
 }
 
 - (bool)OpenDocument {
     
     UIDocumentInteractionController *interactionController =
     [UIDocumentInteractionController interactionControllerWithURL: fileURL];
     
     // Configure Document Interaction Controller
     [interactionController setDelegate:self];
     
     [interactionController presentPreviewAnimated:YES];
     
     return true;
 }
 
 - (UIViewController *) documentInteractionControllerViewControllerForPreview: (UIDocumentInteractionController *) controller {
     return UnityGetGLViewController();
 }
 
 @end
 
 
 
 
 static DocumentHandler* docHandler = nil;
 
 // Converts C style string to NSString
 NSString* CreateNSString (const char* string)
 {
     if (string)
         return [NSString stringWithUTF8String: string];
     else
         return [NSString stringWithUTF8String: ""];
 }
 
 
 extern "C" {
     
     bool OpenDocumentOnIOS (const char* path)
     {
         // Convert path to URL
         NSString * stringPath = CreateNSString(path);
         
         NSURL *unityURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:stringPath];
         
         if (docHandler == nil)
             docHandler = [[DocumentHandler alloc] initWithURL:unityURL];
         
         else
             [docHandler UpdateURL:unityURL];
             
         [docHandler OpenDocument];
         
         return true;
     }
 }

Simply add this file as a .mm in your Classes folder inside the Xcode project exported by Unity. Finally, to call this function from a Unity script, do the following:

 #if UNITY_IOS
 [DllImport ("__Internal")]
 internal static extern bool OpenDocumentOnIOS (string path);
 #endif

And then call your the function normally.

I really hope this helps!

Answer 2

Answer by Pascal- · Dec 07, 2018 at 11:53 AM

Hello @martejpad,

Sorry, I'm new with IOS. I'd like to know how to open a pdf stored in the steaming assets folder in a pdf reader app using your plugin. How to do so with a unity script? It's pretty simple on Android, but with IOS it seams more difficult.

Thanks a lot for your help, Pascal

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iOS open docx file from Application.persistentData

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