Fetching JSON with %20 in the link

Question

I have variable date=@"2014-06-18 12:59:46" I do the following:

NSString* formated_date = [[Constants shared].date  stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@" " withString:@"%%20"];

which gives me the wanted output of the new-formed variable: "2014-06-18%2012:59:46".

Now, when I put all that into string, which represents the url, I cannot fetch JSON from within the app.

BUT, when i NSLog the generated url, and copy paste it in browser - it works. Also, if i take, c/p the Logged url, and hardcode it into the json request, I get the demanded json just as intended.

This is my code so far:

NSString* formated_date = [[Constants shared].date  stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:@" " withString:@"%%20"];
NSString* url = [NSString stringWithFormat:
                 @"http://api.fessor.da.kristoffer.office/homework?rest&_rp[date]=%@&_rp[uuid]=%@&_rp[workspace]=parents&_rp[token]=%@&_rp[user_id]=%@&child_id=%@&type=parents&start_date=%@&end_date=%@",
                 formated_date,[Constants shared].uuid,[Constants shared].token,[Constants shared].user_id, [Constants shared].user_id,[Constants shared].start_date, [Constants shared].end_date
                 ];
NSLog(url);

dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0);
dispatch_async(queue, ^{
    //Load the json on another thread
    [Constants shared].jsonDataHomework = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:
                                   [NSURL URLWithString:url"]];


    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{

        [self getPresentHomework];            

    });

});

[self getPresentHomework] then returns an error, since the data from the json is nil.

I repeat once again, i get nil data when the code for fetching json is like this:

[Constants shared].jsonDataHomework = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:
                                   [NSURL URLWithString:url]];

but if i hardcode the url, then i get the desired result

[Constants shared].jsonDataHomework = [[NSData alloc] initWithContentsOfURL:
                                   [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://api.fessor.da.kristoffer.office/homework?rest&_rp[date]=2014-06-18%2012:59:46&_rp[uuid]=289A6F6F-BB71-444A-B16B-DCAF0070E1D3&_rp[workspace]=parents&_rp[token]=7fe3768108445570f11bf333cb821b0bee9213d2cced91a1f63f8c648fbc3e6a&_rp[user_id]=22066&child_id=22066&type=parents&start_date=2014-06-18&end_date=2014-06-18"]];

What am I doing wrong? Should I change the order of threads or something like that?

Answer 1

Try to append your parameters to the URL string without adding percentage and then use stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding before assigning it to your NSURL.

NSString *urlString = [NSString stringWithFormat:
                 @"format your url"];
NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:[urlString stringByAddingPercentEscapesUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];