How to Delete an iCloud ubiquity containers on the iPhone? - ios

Question

I have the same issue as this question where the iCloud ubiquity container is not being cleaned up when I delete the app.
But when I try to delete the ubiquity container I get an error message (The operation couldn’t be completed. (Cocoa error 513.)). How can I delete it?
This is what I'm using:
NSString *path = #"/private/var/mobile/Library/Mobile Documents/XXXXXX";
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtPath:path error:&error];
EDIT: Even if I delete the App on the device and all iCloud data (Settings App->iCloud->Storage & Backup->Manage Storage->App Name) there's still some data left over on the iCloud ubiquity container. This is the data I want to delete the first time the app is launched (in case the user re-installs the app).

Answer 1

You should be able to remove files INSIDE the ubiquity container by going to Settings App->iCloud->Storage & Backup->Manage Storage->App Name and then delete any files. I think you may only see files in the iCloud/Documents directory though so you may need code to clear anything else.
Alternately use a Mac and go to ~/Library/Mobile Documents and remove files there.
To get the iCloud container use this:
NSURL *iCloudURL = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] URLForUbiquityContainerIdentifier:ubiquityID];
where ubiquityID is your apps iCloud container ID.
To list all files in the iCloud container use something like this passing in the iCloudURL
/*! Recursively lists all files
#param dir The directory to list
#param padding A string padding to indent the output depending on the level of recursion
*/
- (void)listAllFilesInDirectory:(NSURL*)dir padding:(NSString*)padding {
NSArray *docs = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] contentsOfDirectoryAtURL:dir includingPropertiesForKeys:nil options:0 error:nil];
for (NSURL* document in docs) {
FLOG(#" %# %#", padding, [document lastPathComponent]);
BOOL isDir;
BOOL fileExists = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:document.path isDirectory:&isDir];
if (fileExists && isDir) {
[self listAllFilesInDirectory:document padding:[NSString stringWithFormat:#" %#", padding]];
}
}
}
And to delete stuff from the ubiquity container you need to user a fileCoordinator something like this:
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_global_queue(DISPATCH_QUEUE_PRIORITY_DEFAULT, 0), ^(void) {
NSFileCoordinator* fileCoordinator = [[NSFileCoordinator alloc] initWithFilePresenter:nil];
[fileCoordinator coordinateWritingItemAtURL:fileURL options:NSFileCoordinatorWritingForDeleting
error:nil byAccessor:^(NSURL* writingURL) {
NSFileManager* fileManager = [[NSFileManager alloc] init];
NSError *er;
//FLOG(#" deleting %#", writingURL);
bool res = [fileManager removeItemAtURL:writingURL error:&er];
if (res) {
LOG(#" iCloud files removed");
}
else {
LOG(#" document NOT removed");
FLOG(#" error %#, %#", er, er.userInfo);
}
}];
}