Delete files in iOS directory using Swift - ios

Question

I downloaded some PDF files in my app and want to delete these on closing the application.
For some reason it does not work:
Creating the file:
let reference = "test.pdf"
let RequestURL = "http://xx/_PROJEKTE/xx\(self.reference)"
let ChartURL = NSURL(string: RequestURL)
//download file
let documentsUrl = NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask).first! as NSURL
let destinationUrl = documentsUrl.URLByAppendingPathComponent(ChartURL!.lastPathComponent!)
if NSFileManager().fileExistsAtPath(destinationUrl.path!) {
print("The file already exists at path")
} else {
// if the file doesn't exist
// just download the data from your url
if let ChartDataFromUrl = NSData(contentsOfURL: ChartURL!){
// after downloading your data you need to save it to your destination url
if ChartDataFromUrl.writeToURL(destinationUrl, atomically: true) {
print("file saved")
print(destinationUrl)
} else {
print("error saving file")
}
}
}
Then I want to call the test() function to remove the items, like this:
func test(){
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
let documentsUrl = NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask).first! as NSURL
do {
let filePaths = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectoryAtPath("\(documentsUrl)")
for filePath in filePaths {
try fileManager.removeItemAtPath(NSTemporaryDirectory() + filePath)
}
} catch {
print("Could not clear temp folder: \(error)")
}
}

Answer 1

This code works for me. I removed all the images that were cached.
private func test(){
let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
let documentsUrl = NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.CachesDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask).first! as NSURL
let documentsPath = documentsUrl.path
do {
if let documentPath = documentsPath
{
let fileNames = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectoryAtPath("\(documentPath)")
print("all files in cache: \(fileNames)")
for fileName in fileNames {
if (fileName.hasSuffix(".png"))
{
let filePathName = "\(documentPath)/\(fileName)"
try fileManager.removeItemAtPath(filePathName)
}
}
let files = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectoryAtPath("\(documentPath)")
print("all files in cache after deleting images: \(files)")
}
} catch {
print("Could not clear temp folder: \(error)")
}
}
**** Update swift 3 ****
let fileManager = FileManager.default
let documentsUrl = FileManager.default.urls(for: .cachesDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first! as NSURL
let documentsPath = documentsUrl.path
do {
if let documentPath = documentsPath
{
let fileNames = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectory(atPath: "\(documentPath)")
print("all files in cache: \(fileNames)")
for fileName in fileNames {
if (fileName.hasSuffix(".png"))
{
let filePathName = "\(documentPath)/\(fileName)"
try fileManager.removeItem(atPath: filePathName)
}
}
let files = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectory(atPath: "\(documentPath)")
print("all files in cache after deleting images: \(files)")
}
} catch {
print("Could not clear temp folder: \(error)")
}

Answer 2

I believe your problem is on this line:
let filePaths = try fileManager.contentsOfDirectoryAtPath("\(documentsUrl)")
You're using contentsOfDirectoryAtPath() with something that is an NSURL. You choose either path strings or URLs, not try to mix them both. To pre-empty your possible next question, URLs are preferred. Try using contentsOfDirectoryAtURL() and removeItemAtURL().
Another curious thing you should look at once you resolve the above: why are you using NSTemporaryDirectory() for the file path when you try to delete? You're reading the document directory and should use that.

Answer 3

Swift 5:
Check out the FileManager.removeItem() method
// start with a file path, for example:
let fileUrl = FileManager.default.urls(
for: .documentDirectory,
in: .userDomainMask
).deletingPathExtension()
.appendingPathComponent(
"someDir/customFile.txt",
isDirectory: false
)
// check if file exists
// fileUrl.path converts file path object to String by stripping out `file://`
if FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: fileUrl.path) {
// delete file
do {
try FileManager.default.removeItem(atPath: fileUrl.path)
} catch {
print("Could not delete file, probably read-only filesystem")
}
}