How can we detect if user press the "Send/Return" button on keyboard with MessageKit?

Question

I would like the user to be able to send messages when he/she presses the "Send" button on the keyboard also. For a textField I know that can be achieved with the delagte. But could anyone please point me how can we do this in MessageKit? I was not able to find a proper method to use here. Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

A detailed explanation can be found in the example project on the MessageKit repo.

The code snippet for implemeting sending the message on a Send button tap, can be seen below:

import UIKit
import MessageKit
import InputBarAccessoryView

class MyViewController: MessagesViewController {
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        messageInputBar.delegate = self //set the delegate to receive notifications from the `InputBarAccessoryView`
    }
}

extension MyViewController: InputBarAccessoryViewDelegate {
    @objc internal func inputBar(_ inputBar: InputBarAccessoryView, didPressSendButtonWith text: String) {
        processInputBar(messageInputBar)
    }
    
    private func processInputBar(_ inputBar: InputBarAccessoryView) {
        let components = inputBar.inputTextView.components
        inputBar.inputTextView.text = String()
        inputBar.invalidatePlugins()
        inputBar.inputTextView.resignFirstResponder() // Resign first responder for iPad split view
        DispatchQueue.global(qos: .default).async {
            DispatchQueue.main.async { [weak self] in
                guard let self = self else {return}
                self.insertMessages(components)
                self.messagesCollectionView.scrollToLastItem(animated: true)
            }
        }
    }
    
    private func insertMessages(_ data: [Any]) {
        for component in data {
            if let string = component as? String {
                // Create a Message type and add it the the chat messages
                // let message = Message(sender: currentUser, messageId: UUID().uuidString, kind: .text(string))
            }
            else if let image = component as? UIImage {
                let item = ImageMediaItem(image: image)
                // Create a Message type and add it the the chat messages
                // let message = Message(sender: currentUser, messageId: UUID().uuidString, kind: .photo(item))
            }
        }
    }
}