Getting Started

Once you've got your LoopBack-powered backend running, it's time to integrate it with your mobile application.

Requirements

• Mac OSX with Xcode 4.6 or higher
• LoopBack iOS SDK.
• For on-device testing, an iOS device with iOS 5 or higher
• A LoopBack-powered server application

Guided: Get Started with the Guide Application

The easiest way to get started with the LoopBack iOS SDK is with the LoopBack iOS Guide Application. The Guide Application comes ready to compile with XCode, and each Tab in the Application will guide you through the features available to mobile applications through the SDK.

From your usual projects directory:

1. Download the LoopBack Guide Application to your local machine from GitHub.

   git clone git@github.com:strongloop/loopback-ios-getting-started.git

2. Open the Xcode project downloaded as a part of the Guide Application's Git repository.

   cd loopback-ios-getting-started\loopback-ios-app
   open loopback-ios-multi-model.xcodeproj

3. Run the Application from Xcode (Command+R by default) and follow the instructions on each tab. Popup dialogs in the Application will ask you to uncomment various code blocks in each ViewController illustrating how to use the LoopBack SDK to interact with Models stored on the server.

DIY: Get Started with the LoopBack SDK

If you are creating a new iOS application or want to integrate an existing application with LoopBack you'll want to use the LoopBack SDK directly (LoopBack.framework) independent of the Guide Application.

Once you have the StrongLoop installed and are ready to develop LoopBack applications (see Requirements for more information on what you'll need):

1. Open the Xcode project you want to use with LoopBack, or create a new one.

2. Open the SDKs folder of the distro:

   open /usr/local/share/strongloop-node/strongloop/sdks/loopback-ios-sdk

3. Drag the entire LoopBack.framework folder from the new Finder window into your Xcode project. Important: Make sure the "Copy items to destination's group folder" checkbox is checked. This places a copy of the SDK within your application's project folder.

1. Verify LoopBack is included in the list of iOS Frameworks to link against your binary. In your Project settings, check the 'Link with Binaries' section under the 'Build Phases' tab. If it's missing, you can add it directly by clicking the '+' button and selecting LoopBack.framework.

- If LoopBack.framework isn't displayed in the list, try the previous step
again; Xcode didn't create the copy it was supposed to create.

1. Import the LoopBack.h header into your application just as you would `Foundation/Foundation.h`:

```objectivec
#import <LoopBack/LoopBack.h>
```

1. Somewhere, we're going to need an Adapter to tell the SDK where to find our server:

```objectivec
LBRESTAdapter *adapter = [LBRESTAdapter adapterWithURL:[NSURL URLWithString:@"http://example.com"]];
```

This LBRESTAdapter provides the starting point for all our interactions with the running and anxiously waiting server.

1. Once we have access to adapter (for the sake of example, we'll assume the Adapter is available through our AppDelegate), we can create basic LBModel and LBModelRepository objects. Assuming we've previously created a model named "product":

   LBRESTAdapter *adapter = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate].adapter;
   LBModelRepository *productRepository = [adapter repositoryWithModelName:@"products"];
   LBModel *pen = [productRepository modelWithDictionary:@{ "name": "Awesome Pen" }];

   • All the normal, magical LBModel and LBModelRepository methods (e.g. create, destroy, findById) are now available through Product and pen!

2. Go forth and develop!