How do I share files using share sheet in iOS? - ios

Question

I want to share some files I have locally in my app using Share Sheet functionality on iPhone. I display the file in a UIWebView and when the user clicks the share sheet, I want to show options (email, WhatsApp, etc. ) to share the file displayed on the UIWebView. I know that we can use
func displayShareSheet(shareContent:String) {
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [shareContent as NSString], applicationActivities: nil)
presentViewController(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: {})
}
to share a string for example. How do I change this code to share documents?

Answer 1

Swift 4.2 and Swift 5
If you already have a file in a directory and want to share it, just add it's URL into activityItems:
let fileURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: "The path where the file you want to share is located")
// Create the Array which includes the files you want to share
var filesToShare = [Any]()
// Add the path of the file to the Array
filesToShare.append(fileURL)
// Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
// Show the share-view
self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
If you need to make the file:
I'm using this extension to make files from Data (read the comments in the code for explanation how it works):
As in the typedef's answer, get the current documents directory:
/// Get the current directory
///
/// - Returns: the Current directory in NSURL
func getDocumentsDirectory() -> NSString {
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)
let documentsDirectory = paths[0]
return documentsDirectory as NSString
}
Extension for Data:
extension Data {
/// Data into file
///
/// - Parameters:
/// - fileName: the Name of the file you want to write
/// - Returns: Returns the URL where the new file is located in NSURL
func dataToFile(fileName: String) -> NSURL? {
// Make a constant from the data
let data = self
// Make the file path (with the filename) where the file will be loacated after it is created
let filePath = getDocumentsDirectory().appendingPathComponent(fileName)
do {
// Write the file from data into the filepath (if there will be an error, the code jumps to the catch block below)
try data.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: filePath))
// Returns the URL where the new file is located in NSURL
return NSURL(fileURLWithPath: filePath)
} catch {
// Prints the localized description of the error from the do block
print("Error writing the file: \(error.localizedDescription)")
}
// Returns nil if there was an error in the do-catch -block
return nil
}
}
Examples how to use:
Share image-files:
// Your image
let yourImage = UIImage()
in png-file
// Convert the image into png image data
let pngImageData = yourImage.pngData()
// Write the png image into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL
let pngImageURL = pngImageData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourImageFile.png")
// Create the Array which includes the files you want to share
var filesToShare = [Any]()
// Add the path of png image to the Array
filesToShare.append(pngImageURL!)
// Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
// Show the share-view
self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
in jpg-file
// Convert the image into jpeg image data. compressionQuality is the quality-compression ratio in % (from 0.0 (0%) to 1.0 (100%)); 1 is the best quality but have bigger filesize
let jpgImageData = yourImage.jpegData(compressionQuality: 1.0)
// Write the jpg image into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL
let jpgImageURL = jpgImageData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourImageFile.jpg")
// Create the Array which includes the files you want to share
var filesToShare = [Any]()
// Add the path of jpg image to the Array
filesToShare.append(jpgImageURL!)
// Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
// Show the share-view
self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
Share text-files:
// Your String including the text you want share in a file
let text = "yourText"
// Convert the String into Data
let textData = text.data(using: .utf8)
// Write the text into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL
// Specify the file type you want the file be by changing the end of the filename (.txt, .json, .pdf...)
let textURL = textData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourFile.txt")
// Create the Array which includes the files you want to share
var filesToShare = [Any]()
// Add the path of the text file to the Array
filesToShare.append(textURL!)
// Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
// Show the share-view
self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)
Other files:
You can make a file from anything which is in Data format and as far as I know, almost everything in Swift can be converted into Data like String, Int, Double, Any...:
// the Data you want to share as a file
let data = Data()
// Write the data into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL
// Change the file-extension to specify the filetype (.txt, .json, .pdf, .png, .jpg, .tiff...)
let fileURL = data.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourFile.extension")
// Create the Array which includes the files you want to share
var filesToShare = [Any]()
// Add the path of the file to the Array
filesToShare.append(fileURL!)
// Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view
let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
// Show the share-view
self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil)

Answer 2

I want to share my solution of UIActivityViewController and sharing text as a image file. This solution works for sharing via Mail and even Save to Dropbox.
#IBAction func shareCsv(sender: AnyObject) {
//Your CSV text
let str = self.descriptionText.text!
filename = getDocumentsDirectory().stringByAppendingPathComponent("file.png")
do {
try str.writeToFile(filename!, atomically: true, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)
let fileURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: filename!)
let objectsToShare = [fileURL]
let activityVC = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: objectsToShare, applicationActivities: nil)
self.presentViewController(activityVC, animated: true, completion: nil)
} catch {
print("cannot write file")
// failed to write file – bad permissions, bad filename, missing permissions, or more likely it can't be converted to the encoding
}
}
func getDocumentsDirectory() -> NSString {
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true)
let documentsDirectory = paths[0]
return documentsDirectory
}

Answer 3

Here's the Swift 3 version:
let dictToSave: [String: Any] = [
"someKey": "someValue"
]
let jsonData = try JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: dictToSave, options: .prettyPrinted)
let filename = "\(self.getDocumentsDirectory())/filename.extension"
let fileURL = URL(fileURLWithPath: filename)
try jsonData.write(to: fileURL, options: .atomic)
let vc = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [fileURL], applicationActivities: [])
self.present(vc, animated: true)
func getDocumentsDirectory() -> String {
let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)
let documentsDirectory = paths[0]
return documentsDirectory
}