setNeedsDisplayInMapRect doesn't trigger new drawMapRect: call

Question

I'm using a custom MKOverlay/MKOverlayView to completely cover the Google basemap with my own tiles, which are loaded asynchronously. I follow the pattern of requesting unloaded tiles when I receive a canDrawMapRect:zoomScale: call to my overlay view (and returning FALSE in that case), then calling setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale: once the tile is available.

This all generally works, and appears to work perfectly in the simulator.

However, on the device I sometimes get a 'hole' in the overlay - a missing tile.

I can see that the tile is requested, and that the request completes. I can see that I call setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale:, and that I am passing the original MKMapRect and MKZoomScale which were provided in canDrawMapRect:zoomScale:. But I can also see that the overlay is never asked to redraw that tile (neither canDrawMapRect:zoomScale: nor drawMapRect:zoomScale:inContext: is ever again called for that tile).

I need to understand why this is happening and how to correct it.

Here's the relevant code from my MKOverlayView subclass:

- (BOOL) canDrawMapRect: (MKMapRect) mapRect zoomScale: (MKZoomScale) zoomScale 
{
    NSUInteger zoomLevel = [self zoomLevelForZoomScale:zoomScale];
    CGPoint mercatorPoint = [self mercatorTileOriginForMapRect:mapRect];
    NSUInteger tilex = floor(mercatorPoint.x * [self worldTileWidthForZoomLevel:zoomLevel]);
    NSUInteger tiley = floor(mercatorPoint.y * [self worldTileWidthForZoomLevel:zoomLevel]);

    NSURL* tileUrl = [self tileURLForZoomLevel: zoomLevel tileX: tilex tileY: tiley];

    ASIHTTPRequest* tileRequest = [ASIHTTPRequest requestWithURL: tileUrl];
    tileRequest.downloadCache = [ASIDownloadCache sharedCache];
    [tileRequest setCacheStoragePolicy:ASICachePermanentlyCacheStoragePolicy];

    if ( NO == [[ASIDownloadCache sharedCache] isCachedDataCurrentForRequest: tileRequest] )
    {
        [tileRequest setCachePolicy: ASIAskServerIfModifiedWhenStaleCachePolicy];
        tileRequest.delegate = self;
        tileRequest.userInfo = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
                                [NSValue value: &mapRect withObjCType: @encode( MKMapRect )],       @"mapRect",
                                [NSValue value: &zoomScale withObjCType: @encode( MKZoomScale )],   @"zoomScale",
                                [NSNumber numberWithInt: tilex], @"tilex",
                                [NSNumber numberWithInt: tiley], @"tiley",
                                nil];

        [_tileRequestStack addOperation: tileRequest];

        NSLog( @"canDrawMapRect: %d, %d - REQUESTING", tilex, tiley );

        return NO;
    }

    NSLog( @"canDrawMapRect: %d, %d - READY", tilex, tiley );

    return YES;
}

- (void) drawMapRect: (MKMapRect) mapRect zoomScale: (MKZoomScale) zoomScale inContext: (CGContextRef) context 
{
    NSUInteger zoomLevel = [self zoomLevelForZoomScale:zoomScale];

    CGPoint mercatorPoint = [self mercatorTileOriginForMapRect:mapRect];

    NSUInteger tilex = floor(mercatorPoint.x * [self worldTileWidthForZoomLevel:zoomLevel]);
    NSUInteger tiley = floor(mercatorPoint.y * [self worldTileWidthForZoomLevel:zoomLevel]);

    NSLog( @"drawMapRect:  %d, %d", tilex, tiley );

    NSURL* tileUrl = [self tileURLForZoomLevel: zoomLevel tileX: tilex tileY: tiley];
    NSData* tileData = [[ASIDownloadCache sharedCache] cachedResponseDataForURL: tileUrl];

    UIGraphicsPushContext(context);

    if ( tileData != nil )
    {
        UIImage* img = [UIImage imageWithData: tileData];

        if ( img != nil )
        {
            [img drawInRect: [self rectForMapRect: mapRect] blendMode: kCGBlendModeNormal alpha: 1.0 ];
        }
        else 
        {
            NSLog( @"oops - no image" );
        }

        CGSize s = CGContextConvertSizeToUserSpace( context, CGSizeMake( 40, 1 ));

        UIFont* f = [UIFont systemFontOfSize: s.width];

        [[UIColor blackColor] setFill];

        [[NSString stringWithFormat: @"%d,%d", tilex, tiley] drawInRect: [self rectForMapRect: mapRect] withFont: f];
    }

    UIGraphicsPopContext();
}


- (void) requestFinished: (ASIHTTPRequest *) tileRequest
{
    NSValue* mapRectValue =  [tileRequest.userInfo objectForKey: @"mapRect"];
    MKMapRect mapRect;  [mapRectValue getValue: &mapRect];

    NSValue *zoomScaleValue = [tileRequest.userInfo objectForKey:@"zoomScale"];
    MKZoomScale zoomScale; [zoomScaleValue getValue: &zoomScale];

    NSLog( @"requestFinished: %d, %d, %lf", 
          [[tileRequest.userInfo objectForKey:@"tilex"] intValue], 
          [[tileRequest.userInfo objectForKey:@"tiley"] intValue], 
          zoomScale  );

    [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect: mapRect zoomScale: zoomScale];
}

EDIT: I'm guessing that this is likely the issue.

Answer 1

I had an issue very similar to the one described here. In my case I couldn't reproduce the desired behaviour (described in http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/MapKit/Reference/MKOverlayView_class/Reference/Reference.html#//apple_ref/occ/instm/MKOverlayView/setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale:) even having the most simple code possible:

- (BOOL)canDrawMapRect:(MKMapRect)mapRect zoomScale:(MKZoomScale)zoomScale {
    NSLog(@"This should trace forever");

    [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:mapRect zoomScale:zoomScale];
    return NO;
}

or closer to my original code:

- (BOOL)canDrawMapRect:(MKMapRect)mapRect zoomScale:(MKZoomScale)zoomScale {
    NSLog(@"This should trace forever");

    [SomeAsynchronousRequestWithCompletionHandler:^{
        [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:mapRect zoomScale:zoomScale];
    }];
    return NO;
}

In both cases setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale: has never been called even once.

The situation changed, when I began running setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale: inside a dispatch_async dispatched to the same queue that canDrawMapRect runs on, like:

- (BOOL)canDrawMapRect:(MKMapRect)mapRect zoomScale:(MKZoomScale)zoomScale {

    dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_current_queue();

    NSLog(@"This should trace forever");

    dispatch_async(queue, ^{
        [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:mapRect zoomScale:zoomScale];
    });

    return NO;
}

or with asynchronous job included:

- (BOOL)canDrawMapRect:(MKMapRect)mapRect zoomScale:(MKZoomScale)zoomScale {
    NSLog(@"This should trace forever");

    dispatch_queue_t queue = dispatch_get_current_queue();

    [SomeAsynchronousRequestWithCompletionHandler:^{
        dispatch_async(queue, ^{
            [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:mapRect zoomScale:zoomScale];
        });
    }];
    return NO;
}

Using dispatch_async - I can see "This should trace forever" string being traced endlessly. My original problem is also disappeared completely.

LATER UPDATE: Currently, I use dispatch_get_main_queue() to call setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:zoomScale: like

- (BOOL)canDrawMapRect:(MKMapRect)mapRect zoomScale:(MKZoomScale)zoomScale {
    NSLog(@"This should trace forever");

    [SomeAsynchronousRequestWithCompletionHandler:^{
        dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
            [self setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:mapRect zoomScale:zoomScale];
        });
    }];
    return NO;
}

Answer 2

The answer above did not work for me. From the NSLog printout I used I could see that a different thread was being used for despite grabbing the dispatch_get_current_queue() in canDrawMapRect and storing it for later use. This was the case in the iPad 4.3 Simulator at least, I did not attempt on the device.

My solution was less satisfactory and more error prone solution of wait x time before calling.

-(void)setNeedsDisplay:(WebRequest*)webRequest
{  
   [webRequest retain];
   dispatch_after(dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, 0.25 * NSEC_PER_SEC), dispatch_get_main_queue(), 
   ^{
      [webRequest autorelease];
      [delegate setNeedsDisplayInMapRect:webRequest.request.requestedMapRect 
                              zoomScale:webRequest.request.requestedScale];
   });     
}