#phonegap-plugin-contentsync

Download and cache remotely hosted zipped content bundles, unzipping automatically.

Installation

This requires phonegap 5.0+ ( current stable v1.2.0 )

phonegap plugin add phonegap-plugin-contentsync

It is also possible to install via repo url directly ( unstable )

phonegap plugin add https://github.com/phonegap/phonegap-plugin-contentsync

Supported Platforms

• Android
• iOS
• WP8

Quick Example

// Create a new instance of ContentSync pointing to zipped resource 'movie-1.zip' - note
// that the url need not end in zip - it just needs to point to something producing
// a application/octet-stream mime type
var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/assets/movie-1.zip',
        id: 'movie-1'
});

sync.on('progress', function(data) {
    // data.progress
});

sync.on('complete', function(data) {
    // data.localPath
});

sync.on('error', function(e) {
    // e
});

sync.on('cancel', function() {
    // triggered if event is cancelled
});

Security note:

For updating a production app using ContentSync.sync, always use HTTPS. Other Updaters have had vulnerabilities exposed when updating over insecure HTTP.

API

ContentSync.sync(options)

Parameter	Description
options.src	String URL to the remotely hosted content. For updates in production, this URL should always use HTTPS
options.id	String Unique identifer to reference the cached content.
options.type	String (Optional) Defines the copy strategy for the cached content. The type replace is the default behaviour that deletes the old content and caches the new content. The type merge will add the new content to the existing content. This will replace existing files, add new files, but never delete files. The type local returns the full path to the cached content if it exists or downloads it from options.src if it doesn't. options.src is not required if cached content actually exists.
options.headers	Object (Optional) Set of headers to use when requesting the remote content from options.src.
options.copyCordovaAssets	Boolean (Optional) Copies cordova.js, cordova_plugins.js and plugins/ to sync'd folder. This operation happens after the source content has been cached, so it will override any existing Cordova assets. Default is false.
options.copyRootApp	Boolean (Optional) Copies the www folder to sync'd folder. This operation happens before the source content has been cached, then the source content is cached and finally it copies cordova.js, cordova_plugins.js and plugins/ to sync'd folder to remain consistent with the installed plugins. Default is false.
options.timeout	Double (Optional) Request timeout. Default is 15 seconds.
options.trustHost	Boolean (Optional) Trust SSL host. Host defined in options.src will be trusted. Ignored if options.src is undefined.
options.manifest	String (Optional) If specified the copyRootApp functionality will use the list of files contained in the manifest file during it's initial copy. {Android only}
options.validateSrc	Boolean (Optional) Whether to validate src url with a HEAD request before download (ios only, default true).

Returns

• Instance of ContentSync.

Example

var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/app/1',
        id: 'app-1'
});

sync.on(event, callback)

Parameter	Description
event	String Name of the event to listen to. See below for all the event names.
callback	Function is called when the event is triggered.

sync.on('progress', callback)

The event progress will be triggered on each update as the native platform downloads and caches the content.

Callback Parameter	Description
data.progress	Integer Progress percentage between 0 - 100. The progress includes all actions required to cache the remote content locally. This is different on each platform, but often includes requesting, downloading, and extracting the cached content along with any system cleanup tasks.
data.status	Integer Enumeration of PROGRESS_STATE to describe the current progress state.

Example

sync.on('progress', function(data) {
    // data.progress
    // data.status
});

sync.on('complete', callback)

The event complete will be triggered when the content has been successfully cached onto the device.

Callback Parameter	Description
data.localPath	String The file path to the cached content. The file path will be different on each platform and may be relative or absolute. However, it is guaraneteed to be a compatible reference in the browser.
data.cached	Boolean Set to true if options.type is set to local and cached content exists. Set to false otherwise.

Example

sync.on('complete', function(data) {
    // data.localPath
    // data.cached
});

sync.on('error', callback)

The event error will trigger when an internal error occurs and the cache is aborted.

Callback Parameter	Description
e.type	Integer Enumeration of ERROR_STATE to describe the current error
e.responseCode	Integer HTTP error code if available, -1 otherwise

Example

sync.on('error', function(e) {
    // e
});

sync.on('cancel', callback)

The event cancel will trigger when sync.cancel is called.

Callback Parameter	Description
no parameters

Example

sync.on('cancel', function() {
    // user cancelled the sync operation
});

sync.cancel()

Cancels the content sync operation and triggers the cancel callback.

var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/app/1',
        id: 'app-1'
});

sync.on('cancel', function() {
    console.log('content sync was cancelled');
});

sync.cancel();

ContentSync.PROGRESS_STATE

An enumeration that describes the current progress state. The mapped String values can be customized for the user's app.

Integer	Description
0	STOPPED
1	DOWNLOADING
2	EXTRACTING
3	COMPLETE

ContentSync.ERROR_STATE

An enumeration that describes the received error. The mapped String values can be customized for the user's app.

Error Code	Description
1	INVALID_URL_ERR
2	CONNECTION_ERR
3	UNZIP_ERR

ContentSync.unzip || Zip.unzip - ContentSync.download

If you are using the Chromium Zip plugin this plugin won't work for you on iOS. However, it supports the same interface so you don't have to install both.

zip.unzip(<source zip>, <destination dir>, <callback>, [<progressCallback>]);

There is also an extra convenience method that can be used to download an archive

ContentSync.download(url, headers, cb)

The progress events described above also apply for these methods.

Example

ContentSync.PROGRESS_STATE[1] = 'Downloading the media content...';

ContentSync.loadUrl (cordova-ios > 4.x with cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine)

Use this API to load assets after extraction on cordova-ios > 4.x and cordova-plugin-wkwebview-engine. Do not use document.location as it probably won't work. Make sure to prefix your url with file://

var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/app/1',
        id: 'app-1'
});

sync.on('complete', function(data) {
    ContentSync.loadUrl('file://' + data.localPath, function() {
        console.log('success');
    });
});

Working with the Native File System

One of the main benefits of the content sync plugin is that it does not depend on the File or FileTransfer plugins. As a result the end user should not care where the ContentSync plugin stores it's files as long as it fills the requirements that it is private and removed when it's associated app is uninstalled.

However, if you do need to use the File plugin to navigate the data downloaded by ContentSync you can use the following code snippet to get a DirectoryEntry for the synced content.

var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/app/1',
        id: 'app-1'
});

sync.on('complete', function(data) {
    window.resolveLocalFileSystemURL("file://" + data.localPath, function(entry) {
        // entry is a DirectoryEntry object
    }, function(error) {
        console.log("Error: " + error.code);
    });
});

As of version 1.2.0 of the plugin the location in which the plugin stores the synched content is equivaltent to the cordova.file.dataDirectory path from the cordova-plugin-file package. This is a change from previous versions so please be aware you may need to do a full sync after upgrading to version 1.2.0.

Platform	Path
Android	/data/data/<app-id>/files/<options.id>
iOS	/var/mobile/Applications/<UUID>/Library/NoCloud/<options.id>

Copy Root App

The asset file system is pretty slow on Android so in order to speed up the initial copy of your app to the content sync location you can specify a manifest file on Android. The file must be in the format:

{
    'files': [
        'img/logo.png',
        'index.html',
        'js/index.js'
   ]
}

and if the file is placed in your apps www folder you would invoke it via:

var sync = ContentSync.sync({
        src: 'https://myserver/app/1',
        id: 'app-1',
        copyRootApp: true,
        manifest: 'manifest.json'
});

This results in the copyRootApp taking about a third of the time as when a manifest file is not specified.

Persistence of Synced Content

Content downloaded via this plugin persists between runs of the application or reboots of the phone. The content will only be removed if the application is uninstalled or you use the File API to remove the location of the synched content.

Native Requirements

• There should be no dependency on the existing File or FileTransfer plugins.
• The native cached file path should be uniquely identifiable with the id parameter. This will allow the Content Sync plugin to lookup the file path at a later time using the id parameter.
• The first version of the plugin assumes that all cached content is downloaded as a compressed ZIP. The native implementation must properly extract content and clean up any temporary files, such as the downloaded zip.
• The locally compiled Cordova web assets should be copied to the cached content. This includes cordova.js, cordova_plugins.js, and plugins/**/*.
• Multiple syncs should be supported at the same time.

Running Tests ( static tests against source code )

npm test

Emulator Testing

The emulator tests use cordova-paramedic and the cordova-plugin-test-framework. To run them you will need cordova-paramedic installed.

npm install -g cordova-paramedic
// Then from the root of this repo
// test ios :
cordova-paramedic --platform ios --plugin .
// test android :
cordova-paramedic --platform android --plugin .

Contributing

Editor Config

The project uses .editorconfig to define the coding style of each file. We recommend that you install the Editor Config extension for your preferred IDE.

JSHint

The project uses .jshint to define the JavaScript coding conventions. Most editors now have a JSHint add-on to provide on-save or on-edit linting.

Install JSHint for vim

1. Install jshint.
2. Install jshint.vim.

Install JSHint for Sublime

1. Install Package Control
2. Restart Sublime
3. Type CMD+SHIFT+P
4. Type Install Package
5. Type JSHint Gutter
6. Sublime -> Preferences -> Package Settings -> JSHint Gutter
7. Set lint_on_load and lint_on_save to true