As I need to read a file when my app is launched and write it sometimes while using it, I tried to reach it with :
NSString *dataFile = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"data" ofType:@"txt"];
NSLog(@"%@",dataFile);
And the file, that should be in my project folder, is instead in the simulator folder :
2012-06-13 17:36:56.398 MyFileApp[610:15203] /Users/Rob/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/5.1/Applications/1FFD4436-DCCA-4280-9E47-F6474BEE0183/MyFileApp.app/myFile.txt
So if I want to read/write it in using the simulator as well as the real device, what should I do ?
Thanks for your advices
To read the file from the bundle do the following
NSString *dataFile = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"data" ofType:@"txt"];
To read it from your sandbox storage (documents)
NSString *docPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents/YourFile.txt"];
NSString *dataFile = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:docPath
usedEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:NULL];
To write to document folder
NSString *docPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents/YourFile.txt"];
[dataFile writeToFile:docPath
atomically:YES
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:NULL];
Please note you will not be able to write the file in the bundle folder of your application
Here is what you need to write and read a file text:
Write a file:
-(void) writeStringToFile:(NSString *)aString{
NSString *filePath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *fileName = @"textFile.txt";
NSString *fileAtPath = [filePath stringByAppendingString:fileName];
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:fileAtPath]) {
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] createFileAtPath:fileAtPath contents:nil attributes:nil];
}
[[aString dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding] writeToFile:fileAtPath atomically:NO];
}
and read a file:
-(NSString *)readStringFromFile{
NSString *filePath = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *fileName = @"textFile.txt";
NSString *fileAtPath = [filePath stringByAppendingString:fileName];
return [[NSString alloc] initWithData:[NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:fileAtPath] encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
}
and finally I test my code at viewDidLoad
:
NSString *text = @"I'm an iOS developer and I'm living at HCM city";
[self writeStringToFile:text];
NSString *strResult = [self readStringFromFile];
NSLog(@"%@", strResult);
For write files the methods are -[NSData writeToURL:atomically:]
and -[NSString writeToURL:atomically:encoding:error:]
can be used if you link to the Foundation framework.
For reading files the methods are -[NSData initWithContentsOfURL:options:error:]
and -[NSString initWithContentsOfURL:encoding:error:]
.
#import "ViewController.h"
@interface ViewController ()
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UITextView *txtWriteText;
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIButton *btnWriteFile;
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIButton *btnReadFile;
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *lblReadText;
- (IBAction)btnWriteFileTouched:(id)sender;
- (IBAction)btnReadFileTouched:(id)sender;
@property NSFileManager *filemgr;
@property NSString *docsDir;
@end
@implementation ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
_filemgr =[NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *dirPaths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory,NSUserDomainMask, YES);
_docsDir = dirPaths[0];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
}
- (IBAction)btnWriteFileTouched:(id)sender {
NSString *filePath = [_docsDir stringByAppendingPathComponent: @"texfile.txt"];
NSData *databuffer = [@"PREFIX: " dataUsingEncoding: NSASCIIStringEncoding];
[_filemgr createFileAtPath: filePath contents: databuffer attributes:nil];
NSFileHandle *file = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForWritingAtPath: filePath];
if (file == nil){
NSLog(@"Failed to open file");
return;
}
NSMutableData *data = [NSMutableData dataWithData:[_txtWriteText.text dataUsingEncoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding]];
[file seekToEndOfFile];
[file writeData: data];
[file closeFile];
}
- (IBAction)btnReadFileTouched:(id)sender {
NSString *filePath = [_docsDir stringByAppendingPathComponent: @"texfile.txt"];
NSData *databuffer;
NSFileHandle *file = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForReadingAtPath: filePath];
if (file == nil){
NSLog(@"Failed to open file");
return;
}
databuffer = [file readDataToEndOfFile];
[file closeFile];
NSString *datastring = [[NSString alloc] initWithData: databuffer encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];
_lblReadText.text = datastring;
}
@end