Group Conversations by Type

IMKit supports grouping (collapsing) conversations by type in the conversation list. After enabling grouping for specific conversation types, conversations of those types will be displayed as a single aggregated entry in the list.

By default, IMKit's conversation list displays all local conversations in a flat structure.

tip

The illustration below demonstrates the effect of grouping one-to-one chat conversations. In the conversation list, all one-to-one chats are collapsed under "One-to-One Chats" (left). Tapping this entry navigates to the grouped conversation list (right). IMKit allows global configuration to customize the title and avatar of grouped conversations.

Usage

tip

• Grouped conversation entries in the list cannot be pinned using the conversation pinning feature.

Configure Grouped Conversation Types

When initializing the conversation list RCConversationListViewController or its subclass, you can specify which conversation types to group. Supported types include one-to-one chat, group chat, and system conversation.

Call the initialization method of RCConversationListViewController to create the conversation list. Use displayConversationTypeArray to define which conversation types should appear in the list, and collectionConversationTypeArray to specify which types should be grouped (collapsed).

Note: Convert RCConversationType to NSNumber when constructing the Array.

Parameter Description

Parameter	Type	Description
displayConversationTypeArray	NSArray (NSNumber *)	Array of conversation types to display. Convert RCConversationType to NSNumber.
collectionConversationTypeArray	NSArray (NSNumber *)	Array of conversation types to group. Convert RCConversationType to NSNumber.

Sample Code

NSArray *displayConversationTypeArray = @[@(ConversationType_PRIVATE), @(ConversationType_GROUP), @(ConversationType_SYSTEM)];
NSArray *collectionConversationTypeArray = @[@(ConversationType_SYSTEM)];

RCConversationListViewController *conversationListVC = [[RCDChatListViewController alloc] initWithDisplayConversationTypes:displayConversationTypeArray collectionConversationType:collectionConversationTypeArray];

[self.navigationController pushViewController:conversationListVC animated:YES];

Navigate to Grouped Conversation List

1. Handle tap events in the conversation list to navigate to the subgroup list when a grouped entry is tapped.

   /*!
    Callback when tapping a cell in the conversation list
   
    @param conversationModelType   Model type of the tapped conversation
    @param model                   Conversation model
    @param indexPath               Index of the conversation in the data source
   
    @discussion Override this method to navigate to the corresponding conversation.
    When entering a subgroup list from a grouped entry, set isEnteredToCollectionViewController to YES.
    */
   - (void)onSelectedTableRow:(RCConversationModelType)conversationModelType
            conversationModel:(RCConversationModel *)model
                  atIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath;

2. Before navigating to the subgroup list, set the isEnteredToCollectionViewController property of the RCConversationListViewController subclass to YES.

   // Grouped conversation type (customize as needed)
   if (conversationModelType == RC_CONVERSATION_MODEL_TYPE_COLLECTION) {
       YouConversationListViewController *temp = [[YouConversationListViewController alloc] init];
       NSArray *array = [NSArray arrayWithObject:[NSNumber numberWithInteger:model.conversationType]];
       [temp setDisplayConversationTypes:array];
       [temp setCollectionConversationType:nil];
       temp.isEnteredToCollectionViewController = YES;
       [self.navigationController pushViewController:temp animated:YES];
   }

Customization

You can globally configure the title and avatar of grouped conversation entries through IMKit settings.

Customize Grouped Conversation Title

tip

Supported since IMKit SDK 5.2.3.

In IMKit, the title of a grouped entry corresponds to its conversation type. Below are the default titles:

Grouped Type	Default Title	Resource Name
One-to-One	"Chat Assistant"	conversation_private_collection_title
Group	"Group Assistant"	conversation_group_collection_title
System	"System Assistant"	conversation_systemMessage_collection_title
Discussion	"Discussion Assistant"	conversation_discussion_collection_title

To customize titles, configure the globalConversationCollectionTitleDic property before initializing the conversation list:

Interface

/*!
 Title for grouped conversations in the SDK conversation list

 @discussion Uses default titles if not configured.
 key: RCConversationType
 value: Custom title (NSString)
 */
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSDictionary<NSNumber *, NSString *> *globalConversationCollectionTitleDic;

Parameters

Property	Type	Description
globalConversationCollectionTitleDic	NSDictionary	Custom title configuration
key	NSNumber(RCConversationType)	Conversation type
value	NSString	Custom title

Sample Code

RCKitConfigCenter.ui.globalConversationCollectionTitleDic = @{
            @(ConversationType_PRIVATE): @"Custom Group Title"
        };

Customize Grouped Conversation Avatar

tip

Supported since IMKit SDK 5.2.3.

IMKit uses the default RC avatar for all grouped conversations. To customize avatars, configure the globalConversationCollectionAvatarDic property before initializing the conversation list:

Interface

/*!
 Avatar for grouped conversations in the SDK conversation list

 @discussion Uses default avatars if not configured.
 key: RCConversationType
 value: Image path (local or remote URL)
 */
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSDictionary<NSNumber *, NSString *> *globalConversationCollectionAvatarDic;

Parameters

Property	Type	Description
globalConversationCollectionAvatarDic	NSDictionary	Custom avatar configuration
key	NSNumber(RCConversationType)	Conversation type
value	NSString	Image URI

Sample Code

// Remote image
RCKitConfigCenter.ui.globalConversationCollectionAvatarDic = @{
            @(ConversationType_PRIVATE): @"http://example.pic"
};

// Local image
RCKitConfigCenter.ui.globalConversationCollectionAvatarDic = @{
            @(ConversationType_PRIVATE): [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"example" ofType:@"png"]
};