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Introduction

The ShortCutFormatter class extends the CometChatTextFormatter class to provide a mechanism for handling shortcuts within messages. This guide will walk you through the process of using ShortCutFormatter to implement shortcut extensions in your CometChat application.

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Setup

  1. Create the ShortCutFormatter Class: Define the ShortCutFormatter class by extending the CometChatTextFormatter class.
class ShortcutFormatter: CometChatTextFormatter {

    private var messageShortcuts: [String: String] = [String: String]( )
    private var shortcuts: [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem] = []

}
  1. initializer: Sets the trackingCharacter to ’!’ in the initializer of the ShortcutFormatter class
   override init(trackingCharacter: Character) {
        super.init(trackingCharacter: "!")
    }
  1. Prepare Regex: Set the regular expression for shortcut detection in the getRegex() method of ShortcutFormatter class.
override func getRegex() -> String {
     return "(^|\\s)!\\w+"
}
  1. Prepare TrackingCharacter: Define the getTrackingCharacter() method to return ’!’ as the shortcut tracking character in ShortcutFormatter class.
override func getTrackingCharacter() -> Character {
     return "!"
}
  1. Override Search Method: Override the search() method to search for shortcuts based on the entered query.
override func search(string: String, suggestedItems: (([CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]) -> ())? = nil) {
        
        if messageShortcuts.isEmpty == true {
            CometChat.callExtension(slug: "message-shortcuts", type: .get, endPoint: "v1/fetch", body: nil) { [weak self] extensionResponseData in
                guard let this = self else { return }
                if let shotCutData = extensionResponseData?["shortcuts"] as? [String: String] {
                    this.messageShortcuts = shotCutData
                    var suggestedItemsList = [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]()
                    this.messageShortcuts.forEach({ (key, value) in
                        if key.hasPrefix(string) {
                            suggestedItemsList.append(CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem(id: key, name: value, visibleText: value))
                        }
                    })
                    suggestedItems?(suggestedItemsList)
                }             
            } onError: { error in
                print("Error occured while fetcing shot cuts: \(error?.errorDescription)")
            }

        } else {
            var suggestedItemsList = [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]()
            messageShortcuts.forEach({ (key, value) in
                if key.hasPrefix(string) {
                    suggestedItemsList.append(CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem(id: key, name: value, visibleText: value))
                }
            })
      suggestedItems?(suggestedItemsList)
    }

}
  1. Handle prepareMessageString: Implement the prepareMessageString() method to convert the base chat message into an attributed string for display in the ShortcutFormatter class.
override func prepareMessageString(baseMessage: BaseMessage, regexString: String, alignment: MessageBubbleAlignment = .left, formattingType: FormattingType) -> NSAttributedString {
let message = (baseMessage as? TextMessage)?.text ?? ""
return NSAttributedString(string: message)
}
  1. Handle onTextTapped: Override the onTextTapped() method if needed.
override func onTextTapped(baseMessage: BaseMessage, tappedText: String, controller: UIViewController?) {
     // Your code here
}
  • Below is an example of how a ShortcutFormatter Swift file might look:
ShortcutFormatter.swift
import Foundation
import CometChatSDK
import CometChatUIKitSwift

class ShortcutFormatter: CometChatTextFormatter {

    private var messageShortcuts: [String: String] = [String: String]()
    private var shortcuts: [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem] = []

    override init(trackingCharacter: Character) {
        super.init(trackingCharacter: "!")
    }

    override func getRegex() -> String {
        return "(^|\\s)!\\w+"
    }

    override func getTrackingCharacter() -> Character {
        return "!"
    }

    override func search(string: String, suggestedItems: (([CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]) -> ())? = nil) {

        if messageShortcuts.isEmpty == true {
            CometChat.callExtension(slug: "message-shortcuts", type: .get, endPoint: "v1/fetch", body: nil) { [weak self] extensionResponseData in
                guard let this = self else { return }
                if let shotCutData = extensionResponseData?["shortcuts"] as? [String: String] {
                    this.messageShortcuts = shotCutData
                    var suggestedItemsList = [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]()
                    this.messageShortcuts.forEach({ (key, value) in
                        if key.hasPrefix(string) {
                            suggestedItemsList.append(CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem(id: key, name: value, visibleText: value))
                        }
                    })
                    suggestedItems?(suggestedItemsList)
                }

            } onError: { error in
                print("Error occured while fetcing shot cuts: \(error?.errorDescription)")
            }

        } else {

            var suggestedItemsList = [CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem]()
            messageShortcuts.forEach({ (key, value) in
                if key.hasPrefix(string) {
                    suggestedItemsList.append(CometChatUIKitSwift.SuggestionItem(id: key, name: value, visibleText: value))
                }
            })
            suggestedItems?(suggestedItemsList)

        }

    }

    override func prepareMessageString(baseMessage: BaseMessage, regexString: String, alignment: MessageBubbleAlignment = .left, formattingType: FormattingType) -> NSAttributedString {
        let message = (baseMessage as? TextMessage)?.text ?? ""
        return NSAttributedString(string: message)
    }

    override func onTextTapped(baseMessage: BaseMessage, tappedText: String, controller: UIViewController?) {
        // Your code here
    }
}

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Usage

  1. Initialization: Initialize an instance of ShortCutFormatter in your application.
let shortcutFormatter = ShortcutFormatter(trackingCharacter: "!")
  1. Integration: Integrating the ShortCutFormatter into your CometChat application involves incorporating it within your project to handle message shortcuts. If you’re utilizing the CometChatConversationsWithMessages component, you can seamlessly integrate the ShortCutFormatter to manage shortcut functionalities within your application.
  • Your final integration code should look like this:
  let shortcutFormatter = ShortcutFormatter(trackingCharacter: "!")
  let messageComposerConfiguration = MessageComposerConfiguration()
    .set(textFormatter: [shortcutFormatter])

    let messageListConfiguration = MessageListConfiguration()
    .set(textFormatter: [shortcutFormatter])

    let messageConfiguration = MessagesConfiguration()
    .set(messageComposerConfiguration: messageComposerConfiguration)
    .set(messageListConfiguration: messageListConfiguration)

    let cometChatConversationsWithMessages = CometChatConversationsWithMessages()
    .set(messagesConfiguration: messageConfiguration)
Ensure to pass and present cometChatConversationsWithMessages. If a navigation controller is already in use, utilize the pushViewController function instead of directly presenting the view controller.

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Example