Alamofire HTTP request to local web server

Question

I am developing an application for the iPhone, and the plan is to send the JSON package so often from the application to the local web server. For this, I planned to use Alamofire . My POST method is as follows:

Alamofire.request(Alamofire.Method.POST, "http://XXX.XX.X.XX:3000/update", parameters: dictPoints, encoding: .JSON) .responseJSON {(request, response, JSON, error) in println(JSON) } 

The IP address is allocated, but I made sure that it matches the IPv4 IP address of my local server. The server is configured to listen on port 3000. The server configuration looks like this:

 var express = require('express'); var app = express(); var mongoose = require('mongoose'); mongoose.connect('mongodb://localhost/test'); var db = mongoose.connection; db.on('error', console.error.bind(console, 'connection error:')); db.once('open', function (callback) { console.log("MongoDB connection is open."); }); // Mongoose Schema definition var Schema = mongoose.Schema; var LocationSchema = new Schema({ //some schema here }); // Mongoose Model definition var LocationsCollection = mongoose.model('locations', LocationSchema); // URL management app.get('/', function (req, res) { res.sendFile(__dirname + '/index.html'); }); app.get('/update', function (req, res) { console.log("Got something from the phone!"); }); // Start the server var server = app.listen(3000, function () { var host = server.address().address var port = server.address().port console.log('App listening at %s:%s',host, port) }) 

So this server is working fine. I can check it in my browser and type in the URL: http: //127.0.0.1haps000 , and it will feed me the index.html file. If I type in http: //127.0.0.1haps000/update ... then I get the message "Got something from the phone!". message. However, when I launch my application (make sure that my phone is on the same wireless network as the server) and the Alamofire method is called ... the answer I get is zero. I also don’t see "Got something from the phone!" message. Can someone tell me why this will happen ... or better yet, how to fix it?

Answer 1

A few thoughts:

• You create a POST request in Alamofire, but you told Express to handle GET requests for /update . Use app.post(...) if you want to treat it as POST .

• Your Alamofire code is looking for a JSON response, but you don't seem to be creating a JSON response. In the short term, you can use responseString rather than responseJSON , but I assume that you really want to change your web service to respond with JSON (to make it easier for the application to parse the responses).

• Your Alamofire code sends a JSON request (but clearly, when you send a request through a web browser, it is not JSON). Are you sure you want to send a JSON request? (This should not be confused with the JSON response problem.) Would you like to use a parameter of type .URL of the encoding type, not .JSON ?

• Whenever you have a query that works correctly from a web browser, but not from an application, it is useful to look like with a tool like Charles , and then you can compare how they differ and diagnose the source of the different behavior.

Answer 2

If you use the Express server and iOS Simulator on the same computer, try using http://0.0.0.0:<port>/<url> instead of the actual IP, this helped in my case.

Answer 3

It looks like the node server is not bound to the address you expect. You have to make sure that when you enter the actual IP address in your http: //XXX.XX.X.XX: 3000 / update in your web browser to which it responds. Your question data indicates that you just used the loopback address.