Grocery Sync for iOS

This is a simple demo app showing how to use the TouchDB and CouchCocoa frameworks to embed a nonrelational ("NoSQL") CouchDB-compatible database in an iOS app and sync it with a database server in "the cloud".

Here's the "user story":

"So this dude is at the grocery store picking up produce and checking it off on his phone. He's all proud looking when he is about to check off the last item on the list, but then ... suddenly new items start appearing. Cut to his wife at home with the kids, and she's adding items.

"'Okra? Ok. Coconut milk? But I already got regular milk!' He checks them off as he goes. Cut to his wife who sees them marked done; she gets a big grin and starts adding cookies and ice cream and paper towels or whatever."

The app just presents a simple editable list of textual items with checkboxes, which are stored persistently in a local database, and shared in realtime with all other users who are synced with the same cloud database.

Syncing is not enabled by default. To sync, press the "Configure" button and enter the URL of a CouchDB-compatible database. Your choices for a database include:

• Signing up for a free account at IrisCouch or Cloudant, or
• Installing your own instance of Apache CouchDB, or
• Using a (rather anarchic) grocery list database we've set up at http://couchbase.iriscouch.com/grocery-sync

Getting Started

These instructions assume you are familiar with how to make an iPhone app. Please follow them fully and in order the first time you build.

If you have questions or get stuck or just want to say hi, please visit the Mobile Couchbase group on Google Groups.

Prerequisite: Xcode 4.2 or later with the SDK for iOS 4 or later.

Building The Demo App

Get the main repository

git clone git://github.com/couchbaselabs/iOS-Couchbase-Demo.git

Get the frameworks (CouchCocoa as well as the embedded Couchbase server)

1. Either download a compiled build of TouchDB, or check out and build it yourself (be sure to follow its README.)
2. Likewise, either download a compiled build of CouchCocoa, or check out and build it yourself (be sure to follow its README.)
3. Copy both Couchbase.framework and CouchCocoa.framework (the ones for iOS, not Mac OS!) into the Frameworks directory of this repo.

Open the Xcode workspace

open CouchDemo.xcworkspace

Build and run the demo app

1. Select the "CouchDemo" scheme and the appropriate destination (an iOS device or simulator) from the pop-up menu in the Xcode toolbar.
2. Click the Run button

That's it! Now that you're set up, you can just use the Run command again after making changes to the demo code.

To add the framework to your existing Xcode project

Please see the documentation for TouchDB and CouchCocoa.

Stress Testing the Demo App

There is a ruby script in the Scripts directory which can help load large numbers of large documents into the Demo App. See Scripts/StressTest/README.MD for instructions on how to use this script.

License

Released under the Apache license, 2.0.

Copyright 2011-2012, Couchbase, Inc.