What is the documents directory (NSDocumentDirecto

Question

Can someone explain to me what the documents directory is on an iOS app and when to use it?

Here is what I believe at present:

To me, it seems to be a central folder where the user can store any files needed for the app.

This would be a different location than where Core Data stores its data?

It seems like each app gets its own documents directory.

I am free to create a subdirectory of the documents directory, like documents directory/images, or documents directory/videos?

Answer 1

You can access documents directory using this code it is basically used for storing file in plist format:

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths firstObject];
return documentsDirectory;

Answer 2

Here's a useful little function, which makes using/creating iOS folders a little easier.

You pass it the name of a subfolder, it'll return the full path back to you, and make sure the directory exists.

(Personally, I stick this static function in my AppDelete class, but perhaps this isn't the smartest place to put it.)

Here's how you would call it, to get the "full path" of a MySavedImages subdirectory:

NSString* fullPath = [AppDelegate getFullPath:@"MySavedImages"];

And here's the full function:

+(NSString*)getFullPath:(NSString*)folderName
{
    //  Check whether a subdirectory exists in our sandboxed Documents directory.
    //  Returns the full path of the directory.
    //
    NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
    if (paths.count < 1)
        return nil;

    NSString *rootFolder = [paths firstObject];
    NSString* fullFolderPath = [rootFolder stringByAppendingPathComponent:folderName];

    BOOL isDirectory;
    NSFileManager* manager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];

    if (![manager fileExistsAtPath:fullFolderPath isDirectory:&isDirectory] || !isDirectory) {
        NSError *error = nil;
        NSDictionary *attr = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:NSFileProtectionComplete
                                                         forKey:NSFileProtectionKey];
        [manager createDirectoryAtPath:fullFolderPath
           withIntermediateDirectories:YES
                            attributes:attr
                                 error:&error];
        if (error) {
            NSLog(@"Error creating directory path: %@", [error localizedDescription]);
            return nil;
        }
    }
    return fullFolderPath;
}

Using this little function, it's easy to create a directory in your app's Documents directory (if it doesn't already exist), and to write a file into it.

Here's how I would create the directory, and write the contents of one of my image files into it:

//  Let's create a "MySavedImages" subdirectory (if it doesn't already exist)
NSString* fullPath = [AppDelegate getFullPath:@"MySavedImages"];

//  As an example, let's load the data in one of my images files
NSString* imageFilename = @"icnCross.png";

UIImage* image = [UIImage imageNamed:imageFilename];
NSData *imageData = UIImagePNGRepresentation(image);

//  Obtain the full path+filename where we can write this .png to, in our new MySavedImages directory
NSString* imageFilePathname = [fullPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:imageFilename];

//  Write the data
[imageData writeToFile:imageFilePathname atomically:YES];

Hope this helps !

Answer 3

It can be cleaner to add an extension to FileManager for this kind of awkward call, for tidiness if nothing else. Something like:

extension FileManager {
    static var documentDir : URL {
        return FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first!
    }
}

Answer 4

Swift 3 and 4 as global var:

var documentsDirectory: URL {
    return FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).last!
}

As FileManager extension:

extension FileManager {
    static var documentsDirectory: URL {
        return `default`.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).last!
    }

    var documentsDirectory: URL {
        return urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).last!
    }
}

Answer 5

I couldn't find the code in the doc suggested by the accepted answer but I found the updated equivalent here:

File System Programming Guide :: Accessing Files and Directories »

- (NSURL*)applicationDataDirectory {
    NSFileManager* sharedFM = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
    NSArray* possibleURLs = [sharedFM URLsForDirectory:NSApplicationSupportDirectory
                                 inDomains:NSUserDomainMask];
    NSURL* appSupportDir = nil;
    NSURL* appDirectory = nil;

    if ([possibleURLs count] >= 1) {
        // Use the first directory (if multiple are returned)
        appSupportDir = [possibleURLs objectAtIndex:0];
    }

    // If a valid app support directory exists, add the
    // app's bundle ID to it to specify the final directory.
    if (appSupportDir) {
        NSString* appBundleID = [[NSBundle mainBundle] bundleIdentifier];
        appDirectory = [appSupportDir URLByAppendingPathComponent:appBundleID];
    }

    return appDirectory;
}

It discourages use of NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomain:

The NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains function behaves like the URLsForDirectory:inDomains: method but returns the directory’s location as a string-based path. You should use the URLsForDirectory:inDomains: method instead.

Here are some other useful directory constants to play with. No doubt not all of these are supported in iOS. Also you can use the NSHomeDirectory() function which:

In iOS, the home directory is the application’s sandbox directory. In OS X, it is the application’s sandbox directory or the current user’s home directory (if the application is not in a sandbox)

From NSPathUtilities.h

NSApplicationDirectory = 1,             // supported applications (Applications)
    NSDemoApplicationDirectory,             // unsupported applications, demonstration versions (Demos)
    NSDeveloperApplicationDirectory,        // developer applications (Developer/Applications). DEPRECATED - there is no one single Developer directory.
    NSAdminApplicationDirectory,            // system and network administration applications (Administration)
    NSLibraryDirectory,                     // various documentation, support, and configuration files, resources (Library)
    NSDeveloperDirectory,                   // developer resources (Developer) DEPRECATED - there is no one single Developer directory.
    NSUserDirectory,                        // user home directories (Users)
    NSDocumentationDirectory,               // documentation (Documentation)
    NSDocumentDirectory,                    // documents (Documents)
    NSCoreServiceDirectory,                 // location of CoreServices directory (System/Library/CoreServices)
    NSAutosavedInformationDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 11,   // location of autosaved documents (Documents/Autosaved)
    NSDesktopDirectory = 12,                // location of user's desktop
    NSCachesDirectory = 13,                 // location of discardable cache files (Library/Caches)
    NSApplicationSupportDirectory = 14,     // location of application support files (plug-ins, etc) (Library/Application Support)
    NSDownloadsDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_5, 2_0) = 15,              // location of the user's "Downloads" directory
    NSInputMethodsDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 16,           // input methods (Library/Input Methods)
    NSMoviesDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 17,                 // location of user's Movies directory (~/Movies)
    NSMusicDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 18,                  // location of user's Music directory (~/Music)
    NSPicturesDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 19,               // location of user's Pictures directory (~/Pictures)
    NSPrinterDescriptionDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 20,     // location of system's PPDs directory (Library/Printers/PPDs)
    NSSharedPublicDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 21,           // location of user's Public sharing directory (~/Public)
    NSPreferencePanesDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 22,        // location of the PreferencePanes directory for use with System Preferences (Library/PreferencePanes)
    NSApplicationScriptsDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_8, NA) = 23,      // location of the user scripts folder for the calling application (~/Library/Application Scripts/code-signing-id)
    NSItemReplacementDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_6, 4_0) = 99,       // For use with NSFileManager's URLForDirectory:inDomain:appropriateForURL:create:error:
    NSAllApplicationsDirectory = 100,       // all directories where applications can occur
    NSAllLibrariesDirectory = 101,          // all directories where resources can occur
    NSTrashDirectory NS_ENUM_AVAILABLE(10_8, NA) = 102                   // location of Trash directory

And finally, some convenience methods in an NSURL category http://club15cc.com/code/ios/easy-ios-file-directory-paths-with-this-handy-nsurl-category

Answer 6

This has changed in iOS 8. See the following tech note: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/technotes/tn2406/_index.html

The Apple sanctioned way (from the link above) is as follows:

// Returns the URL to the application's Documents directory.
- (NSURL *)applicationDocumentsDirectory
{
    return [[[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLsForDirectory:NSDocumentDirectory inDomains:NSUserDomainMask] lastObject];
}