Error Handling with the Native SDK for iOS

Overview

Error codes have the term ErrorCode in the name. For example:

	kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeLoadFailed

Events have the word Event in the name. For example:

	kBCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEventFail

Playback errors

Playback errors are handled through events. Generally speaking you would receive playback errors using the lifecycle event delegate callback on the BCOVPlaybackController:

	- (void)playbackController:(id<BCOVPlaybackController>)controller
          playbackSession:(id<BCOVPlaybackSession>)session
 didReceiveLifecycleEvent:(BCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEvent *)lifecycleEvent;

To get further information, do the following:

1. If you get an error event such as kBCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEventFail, kBCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEventError or kBCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEventFailedToPlayToEndTime, check the event's properties dictionary for the kBCOVPlaybackSessionEventKeyError (@"error") key. kBCOVPlaybackSessionLifecycleEventResumeFail does not carry an error.

   This will provide an NSError object with information about the problem.

2. Each NSError will have an error domain, like the following:

   • NSCocoaErrorDomain
   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorDomain
    

   Each error domain will have an associated error code and error description, like the following:

   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeLoadFailed
   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeNoPlayableSource

3. Some errors will also have an underlying error that can be retrieved from the error object's userInfo dictionary with the NSUnderlyingErrorKey key. This will typically be a system NSError that can provide more information.

4. To find all the error domains in the SDK, search the headers for the following:

   	ErrorDomain

   Here is a list of headers that have ErrorDomain references:

   • BrightcovePlayerSDK-Swift.h (FairPlay, offline video manager, and Playback Service APIs)
   • BCOVPlaybackSessionConstants.h (playback session events and errors)

5. To find all the error codes, search each ErrorDomain for the following:

   	ErrorCode

   For example, in BCOVPlaybackSessionConstants.h, you'll see kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorDomain with the following error codes:

   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeLoadFailed
   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeFailedToPlayToEnd
   • kBCOVPlaybackSessionErrorCodeNoPlayableSource

6. Other domains may return errors differently. For example, the BCOVPlaybackService object will return errors in its completion blocks if there are network errors when requesting videos from the online catalog. It uses the error domain BCOVPlaybackService.ErrorDomain.

Playback errors table

Here is a list of possible playback errors from the Native SDK for iOS. Be aware that errors can also be passed through from the underlying framework.