🐛 RN 0.74, RNVC 4.3.2. Take a photo or snapshot on iOS, the file does not exist at the path indicated by the response about react-native-vision-camera

[maintenance-hans]

Guten Tag, Hans here.

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[mrousavy]

Add a file:// prefix

[davidburson]

Thanks, @mrousavy, but the file:// prefix is already included in res.path returned from const res = await camera.current.takePhoto();

As I tried to explain in my original post, the folder the file was saved in doesn't exist when program control returns from takePhoto(). For example, if res.path returned from takePhoto() is "file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/629FC6E1-1F8F-46B9-8D08-1CAF06EC450A/tmp/29A98AB6-0B9C-4F34-9846-23D036EAD751.jpeg", then when takePhoto() returns, the folder "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/" exists, but the folder "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/629FC6E1-1F8F-46B9-8D08-1CAF06EC450A/" does NOT exist.

I edited PhotoCaptureDelegate.swift to log the path and whether the file exists. It DOES exist immediately after taking the picture, but if I add code to check if that same file still exists, pod install, and re-run the app, the first file NO LONGER exists.

So, it seems to me the photo file along with its containing folder [uuid]/tmp is being deleted before control returns from takePhoto().

Here's the photoOutput with my edits:

func photoOutput(_: AVCapturePhotoOutput, didFinishProcessingPhoto photo: AVCapturePhoto, error: Error?) {
    defer {
      removeGlobal()
    }
    if let error = error as NSError? {
      promise.reject(error: .capture(.unknown(message: error.description)), cause: error)
      return
    }

    do {
      let path = try FileUtils.writePhotoToTempFile(photo: photo, metadataProvider: metadataProvider)

      // Does the path of a previous photo still exist?
      if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: "/private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/629FC6E1-1F8F-46B9-8D08-1CAF06EC450A/tmp/29A98AB6-0B9C-4F34-9846-23D036EAD751.jpeg") {
        print("Old path exists:  /private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/629FC6E1-1F8F-46B9-8D08-1CAF06EC450A/tmp/29A98AB6-0B9C-4F34-9846-23D036EAD751.jpeg")
      } else {
        print("Old path does not exist:  /private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/629FC6E1-1F8F-46B9-8D08-1CAF06EC450A/tmp/29A98AB6-0B9C-4F34-9846-23D036EAD751.jpeg")
      }

      // path of the photo we just took
      print("Photo saved to path: \(path.absoluteString)")

      let exif = photo.metadata["{Exif}"] as? [String: Any]
      let width = exif?["PixelXDimension"]
      let height = exif?["PixelYDimension"]
      let exifOrientation = photo.metadata[String(kCGImagePropertyOrientation)] as? UInt32 ?? CGImagePropertyOrientation.up.rawValue
      let cgOrientation = CGImagePropertyOrientation(rawValue: exifOrientation) ?? CGImagePropertyOrientation.up
      let orientation = getOrientation(forExifOrientation: cgOrientation)
      let isMirrored = getIsMirrored(forExifOrientation: cgOrientation)

      // Verify the file exists for the photo we just took
      if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: path.path) {
        print("File exists at path: \(path.path)")
      } else {
        print("File does not exist at path: \(path.path)")
      }

      promise.resolve([
        "path": path.absoluteString,
        "width": width as Any,
        "height": height as Any,
        "orientation": orientation,
        "isMirrored": isMirrored,
        "isRawPhoto": photo.isRawPhoto,
        "metadata": photo.metadata,
        "thumbnail": photo.embeddedThumbnailPhotoFormat as Any,
      ])
    } catch let error as CameraError {
      promise.reject(error: error)
    } catch {
      promise.reject(error: .capture(.unknown(message: "An unknown error occured while capturing the photo!")), cause: error as NSError)
    }
  }

I hope this clarification is helpful! I very much appreciate help in resolving this issue. It seems so strange that takePhoto() would create a file in a [uuid]/tmp folder, then delete that whole folder before returning. I'm guessing the delete is happening in the Swift code, or due to some Apple "feature". Or possibly, there is also a permissions issue such that the [uuid]/tmp folder used in RNVC's Swift code cannot be seen in an app that uses RNVC.

In case it matters: I'm running Xcode 15.1 on an M1 mac Mini, running macOS Sonoma 14.5.

[davidburson]

I have a workaround!

const destPath = [where you want to store the photo]
const res = await camera.current.takePhoto();

// THE WORKAROUND:
const sourcePath = Platform.OS === 'ios' ? res.path.replace('file:///private', '') : res.path;

await RNFetchBlob.fs.mv(sourcePath, destPath);

So I was barking up a forest of wrong trees because I thought I had already checked that workaround. I'm a dummy, but at least I learned a little bit this week. (The fact that I'm a dummy I already knew.)

I'll leave this issue open since it seems to me that this is a bug: on iOS, res.path in my opinion should return a useable path like it does on Android.

@mrousavy thanks again for an outstandingly helpful component!