Secure file I/O API details

The AppConnect for iOS SDK provides the following types of secure file I/O APIs:

•POSIX-style secure file APIs

•ACFileHandle class for AppConnect secure file I/O

•Objective-C categories for AppConnect secure file I/O

These APIs:

•Encrypt all file contents when writing, and decrypt the contents when reading.

•Allow an app to share encrypted files with other AppConnect apps. See Secure file I/O API details.

•Fail if secure services are not available. See Secure services API details.

•Some of the ACFileHandle secure methods and some of the category methods take a pointer to an NSError object as a parameter. See NSError objects that secure Objective-C methods return.

Note the following:

•Do not use other file I/O methods on a file if you use AppConnect secure file I/O methods on the file.

When you use secure file I/O APIs on a file, the first step is always to create the file using a secure file I/O API. After that, use only secure file I/O APIs on the file.

Using both AppConnect secure file I/O methods and other file I/O methods can sometimes irreparably corrupt the files. You can use both POSIX-style AppConnect secure file I/O methods and the AppConnect secure file Objective-C subclass and category methods.

•Do not use AppConnect secure file I/O methods on a file if it contains no secure information.

Apps that write secure data sometimes also write data that does not need to be secured. For example, user settings and preferences typically do not need to be secured. Use regular file I/O methods to save this information.

•Do not use AppConnect secure file I/O methods to read files bundled with you app, such as strings files, images, and plists.