AlamoFire does not respect timeout interval

Question

class APIClient {
    var user = User()
    let alamoFireManager : Alamofire.Manager?
    let center = NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter()


    init(){
        let configuration = NSURLSessionConfiguration.defaultSessionConfiguration()
        configuration.timeoutIntervalForRequest = 4 // seconds
        configuration.timeoutIntervalForResource = 4
        self.alamoFireManager = Alamofire.Manager(configuration: configuration)
    }

    func test(){
        //This does not respect the 4 second time out. Why?
        self.alamoFireManager!.request(.POST, CONSTANTS.APIEndpoint+"/test", parameters: parameters).responseJSON {
                        (req, res, json, error)  in
                        if let json = self.handleAPIResponse(req, res: res, json_data: json, error: error){
                        }
                    }
    }

Answer 1

Are you sure that the 4 seconds timeout is not enforced? I have created an experiment:

    let center = NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter()
    var alamoFireManager : Alamofire.Manager?

    let configuration = NSURLSessionConfiguration.defaultSessionConfiguration()
    configuration.timeoutIntervalForRequest = 4 // seconds
    configuration.timeoutIntervalForResource = 4
    self.alamoFireManager = Alamofire.Manager(configuration: configuration)

    self.alamoFireManager!.request(.POST, "http://oznet.go.ro/iDorMobile/ConfigServer/api.php/timeout/2", parameters: nil).responseJSON {
        (req, res, json, error)  in
        println("First json \(json)")
        println("First error \(error)")
    }

    self.alamoFireManager!.request(.POST, "http://oznet.go.ro/iDorMobile/ConfigServer/api.php/timeout/6", parameters: nil).responseJSON {
        (req, res, json, error)  in
        println("Second \(json)")
        println("Second \(error)")
    }

and the console output i got:

First json Optional({
    name = timeoutTest;
    value = 2;
})
First error nil
Second nil
Second Optional(Error Domain=NSURLErrorDomain Code=-1001 "The request timed out." UserInfo=0x7f91dc8223e0 {NSErrorFailingURLKey=http://oznet.go.ro/iDorMobile/ConfigServer/api.php/timeout/6, NSLocalizedDescription=The request timed out., NSErrorFailingURLStringKey=http://oznet.go.ro/iDorMobile/ConfigServer/api.php/timeout/6})

The URLs from my example are currently down, i will try to put them back online. You can use the urls from the example to test. By setting a different number at the end you can modify the timeout (in seconds).

I have used the cocoapods last version of Alamofire.

Answer 2

You need create a global variable for the request manager:

var alamoFireManager = Alamofire.Manager.sharedInstance

And after configure the custom parameters:

 let configuration = NSURLSessionConfiguration.defaultSessionConfiguration()
    configuration.timeoutIntervalForRequest = 4 // seconds
    configuration.timeoutIntervalForResource = 4
    self.alamoFireManager = Alamofire.Manager(configuration: configuration)

Answer 3

Here's the Swift 3.0 / Alamofire 4.0 code to get an alamofireManager that has a 5 second timeout:

    let configuration = URLSessionConfiguration.default
    configuration.timeoutIntervalForResource = 5 // seconds

    let alamofireManager = Alamofire.SessionManager(configuration: configuration)