How to upload image file using Codable and URLSession.shared.uploadTask (multipart/form-data) in Swift?

Question

I want to upload an image file to the backend server, using certain URL endpoint. I can easily do that using Alamofire's upload request as multipartFormData. However I want to get rid of Alamofire to minimize the dependency on third party frameworks. Here is the Alamofire code, which works:

func uploadRequestAlamofire(parameters: [String: Any], imageData: Data?, completion: @escaping(CustomError?) -> Void ) {

let url = imageUploadEndpoint!

let headers: HTTPHeaders = ["X-User-Agent": "ios",
                            "Accept-Language": "en",
                            "Accept": "application/json",
                            "Content-type": "multipart/form-data",
                            "ApiKey": KeychainService.getString(by: KeychainKey.apiKey) ?? ""]

Alamofire.upload(multipartFormData: { (multipartFormData) in
    for (key, value) in parameters {
        multipartFormData.append("\(value)".data(using: String.Encoding.utf8)!, withName: key as String)
    }

    if let data = imageData {
        multipartFormData.append(data, withName: "file", fileName: "image.png", mimeType: "image/jpg")
    }

}, usingThreshold: UInt64.init(), to: url, method: .post, headers: headers) { (result) in
    switch result {
    case .success(let upload, _, _):
        upload.responseJSON { response in

            completion(CustomError(errorCode: response.response!.statusCode))

            print("Succesfully uploaded")
        }
    case .failure(let error):
        print("Error in upload: \(error.localizedDescription)")

    }
}
}

Here is the URLSession upload task, which doesn't work:

func requestNativeImageUpload(imageData: Data, orderExtId: String) {

var request = URLRequest(url: imageUploadEndpoint!)
request.httpMethod = "POST"
request.timeoutInterval = 10

    request.allHTTPHeaderFields = [
        "X-User-Agent": "ios",
        "Accept-Language": "en",
        "Accept": "application/json",
        "Content-type": "multipart/form-data",
        "ApiKey": KeychainService.getString(by: KeychainKey.apiKey) ?? ""
    ]

let body = OrderUpload(order_ext_id: orderExtId, file: imageData)

do {
    request.httpBody = try encoder.encode(body)
} catch let error {
    print(error.localizedDescription)
}

let session = URLSession.shared



session.uploadTask(with: request, from: imageData)  { data, response, error in
    guard let response = response as? HTTPURLResponse else { return }

    print(response)
    if error != nil {
        print(error!.localizedDescription)
    }


    }.resume()
}

This is the way I call the methods for both Alamofire and URLSession:

uploadRequestAlamofire(parameters: ["order_ext_id": order_ext_id, "file": "image.jpg"], imageData: uploadImage) { [weak self] response in } 

requestNativeImageUpload(imageData: uploadImage!, orderExtId: order_ext_id)

Here is what the backend server expects to receive in the request body:

let order_ext_id: String
let description: String
let file: string($binary)

This is the Codable struct to encode for request's httpBody.

struct OrderUpload: Codable {
    let order_ext_id: String
    let description: String 
    let file: String
}

Although in this demo my methods may not be fully appropriate and I don't handle the response status code, the Alamofire method works well.

Why shouldn't URLSession work ?

Answer 1

Finally I was able to find the solution. The source is: URLSession: Multipart Form-Data Requests | Swift 3, Xcode 8. In my specific case I need to provide orderExtId as a parameter for the backend server to accept my image. Your case may vary, depending on the requirements of the backend.

func requestNativeImageUpload(image: UIImage, orderExtId: String) {

    guard let url = imageUploadEndpoint else { return }
    let boundary = generateBoundary()
    var request = URLRequest(url: url)

    let parameters = ["order_ext_id": orderExtId]

    guard let mediaImage = Media(withImage: image, forKey: "file") else { return }

    request.httpMethod = "POST"

    request.allHTTPHeaderFields = [
                "X-User-Agent": "ios",
                "Accept-Language": "en",
                "Accept": "application/json",
                "Content-Type": "multipart/form-data; boundary=\(boundary)",
                "ApiKey": KeychainService.getString(by: KeychainKey.apiKey) ?? ""
            ]

    let dataBody = createDataBody(withParameters: parameters, media: [mediaImage], boundary: boundary)
    request.httpBody = dataBody

    let session = URLSession.shared
    session.dataTask(with: request) { (data, response, error) in
        if let response = response {
            print(response)
        }

        if let data = data {
            do {
                let json = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: [])
                print(json)
            } catch {
                print(error)
            }
        }
        }.resume()
}


func generateBoundary() -> String {
    return "Boundary-\(NSUUID().uuidString)"
}

func createDataBody(withParameters params: [String: String]?, media: [Media]?, boundary: String) -> Data {

    let lineBreak = "\r\n"
    var body = Data()

    if let parameters = params {
        for (key, value) in parameters {
            body.append("--\(boundary + lineBreak)")
            body.append("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"\(key)\"\(lineBreak + lineBreak)")
            body.append("\(value + lineBreak)")
        }
    }

    if let media = media {
        for photo in media {
            body.append("--\(boundary + lineBreak)")
            body.append("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"\(photo.key)\"; filename=\"\(photo.fileName)\"\(lineBreak)")
            body.append("Content-Type: \(photo.mimeType + lineBreak + lineBreak)")
            body.append(photo.data)
            body.append(lineBreak)
        }
    }

    body.append("--\(boundary)--\(lineBreak)")

    return body
}


extension Data {
    mutating func append(_ string: String) {
        if let data = string.data(using: .utf8) {
            append(data)
        }
    }
}


struct Media {
    let key: String
    let fileName: String
    let data: Data
    let mimeType: String

    init?(withImage image: UIImage, forKey key: String) {
        self.key = key
        self.mimeType = "image/jpg"
        self.fileName = "\(arc4random()).jpeg"

        guard let data = image.jpegData(compressionQuality: 0.5) else { return nil }
        self.data = data
    }
}

Answer 2

1. The Content-Type in your header is wrong. It should look like:

var request = URLRequest(url: imageUploadEndpoint!)

let boundary = "Boundary-\(UUID().uuidString)"
request.setValue("multipart/form-data; boundary=\(boundary)", forHTTPHeaderField: "Content-Type")

2. You need to form the body based on each field in your object, just like you add values to multipartFormData in your Alamofire example (you used a dictionary there)

let body = NSMutableData()

let boundaryPrefix = "--\(boundary)\r\n"

for (key, value) in parameters {
    body.appendString(boundaryPrefix)
    body.appendString("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"\(key)\"\r\n\r\n")
    body.appendString("\(value)\r\n")
}

body.appendString(boundaryPrefix)
body.appendString("Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"file\"; filename=\"\(filename)\"\r\n")
body.appendString("Content-Type: \(mimeType)\r\n\r\n")
body.append(imageData)
body.appendString("\r\n")
body.appendString("--".appending(boundary.appending("--")))

Helper to add strings to your Data:

extension NSMutableData {
    func appendString(_ string: String) {
        let data = string.data(using: .utf8)
        append(data!)
    }
}