How to get the byte[] of the photo in Xamarin.iOS

Question

I'm developing a photography software in Xamarin.iOS. I'm using the PHPhoto class.

When I take a photo, I'm trying to send it to the web. I plan to send them in byte[]. Where can I get the data for the photo in the DidFinishCapture method? When I start the debug launch, I see that PHPhotoLibrary.SharedPhotoLibrary.PerformChanges() will automatically save the photos to the photo library.

How do I retrieve photos by byte[]? I couldn't find it in PhotoData.

I thought there was a path for the saved photos in LivePhotoCompanionMovieUrl, but this is always null.

    public partial class PhotoCaptureDelegate : AVCapturePhotoCaptureDelegate
    {
        public override void DidFinishCapture(AVCapturePhotoOutput captureOutput, 
                                              AVCaptureResolvedPhotoSettings resolvedSettings, 
                                              NSError error)
        {
            PHPhotoLibrary.RequestAuthorization(status =>
            {
                if (status == PHAuthorizationStatus.Authorized)
                {
                    PHPhotoLibrary.SharedPhotoLibrary.PerformChanges(() =>
                    {
                        var creationRequest = PHAssetCreationRequest.CreationRequestForAsset();
                        creationRequest.AddResource(PHAssetResourceType.Photo, PhotoData, null);

                        var url = LivePhotoCompanionMovieUrl;
                        if (url != null)
                        {
                            var livePhotoCompanionMovieFileResourceOptions = new PAssetResourceCreationOptions
                            {
                                ShouldMoveFile = true
                            };
                            creationRequest.AddResource(PHAssetResourceType.PairedVideo, url, livePhotoCompanionMovieFileResourceOptions);
                        }
                    }, (success, err) =>
                    {
                        if (err != null)
                            Debug.WriteLine($"Error occurered while saving photo to photo library: {error.LocalizedDescription}");
                    });
                }
            });
        }
    }
}

Answer 1

If you want to convert the photo to Byte array , you could use the plugin Media.Plugin from Nuget to pick or take photo .

await CrossMedia.Current.Initialize();
    
    if (!CrossMedia.Current.IsCameraAvailable || !CrossMedia.Current.IsTakePhotoSupported)
    {
        DisplayAlert("No Camera", ":( No camera available.", "OK");
        return;
    }

    var file = await CrossMedia.Current.TakePhotoAsync(new Plugin.Media.Abstractions.StoreCameraMediaOptions
    {
        SaveToAlbum = true,
        Name = "test.jpg"
    });

    if (file == null)
        return;

Then convert it to Stream firstly before convert it to byte array .

 Stream stream = file.GetStream();

public byte[] GetImageStreamAsBytes(Stream input)
{
  var buffer = new byte[16*1024];
  using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
  {
    int read;
    while ((read = input.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
    {
                ms.Write(buffer, 0, read);
    }
      return ms.ToArray();
   }
}

Now you can get the byte array like following

var imgDate = GetImageStreamAsBytes(stream);

Update

You could use UIImagePickerController

 UIImagePickerController imagePicker;

And invoke the following lines when need to take photo

      imagePicker = new UIImagePickerController
        {
            SourceType = UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.Camera,
            MediaTypes = UIImagePickerController.AvailableMediaTypes(UIImagePickerControllerSourceType.Camera)
        };

        // Set event handlers
        imagePicker.FinishedPickingMedia += ImagePicker_FinishedPickingMedia; ;
        imagePicker.Canceled += ImagePicker_Canceled; ;

        // Present UIImagePickerController;
        this.PresentViewController(imagePicker, true, null);

        private void ImagePicker_Canceled(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            imagePicker.DismissModalViewController(true);
        }

        private void ImagePicker_FinishedPickingMedia(object sender, UIImagePickerMediaPickedEventArgs args)
        {
            UIImage image = args.EditedImage ?? args.OriginalImage;

            if (image != null)
            {
                // Convert UIImage to .NET Stream object
                NSData data;
                if (args.ReferenceUrl.PathExtension.Equals("PNG") || args.ReferenceUrl.PathExtension.Equals("png"))
                {
                    data = image.AsPNG();
                }
                else
                {
                    data = image.AsJPEG(1);
                }

                Stream stream = data.AsStream();

              
            }
            else
            {
               
            }
            imagePicker.DismissModalViewController(true);
        }

public byte[] GetImageStreamAsBytes(Stream input)
{
  var buffer = new byte[16*1024];
  using (MemoryStream ms = new MemoryStream())
  {
    int read;
    while ((read = input.Read(buffer, 0, buffer.Length)) > 0)
    {
                ms.Write(buffer, 0, read);
    }
      return ms.ToArray();
   }
}

Now you can get the byte array like following

var imgDate = GetImageStreamAsBytes(stream);