Deleting files from local app Documents folder - ios

Question

So far I have managed to delete rows from my table view but it won't update in the given Documents folder. How would I achieve this? Below is the code I'm using.
I tried to implement the code from here How to delete files from a folder which is placed in documents folder.
My goal is to have the ability to delete any file, not just a desired file.
Thanks in advance.
#import "Documents.h"
#interface DocumentsViewController ()
#end
#implementation DocumentsViewController
- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewStyle)style
{
self = [super initWithStyle:style];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Uncomment the following line to preserve selection between presentations.
// self.clearsSelectionOnViewWillAppear = NO;
// Uncomment the following line to display an Edit button in the navigation bar for this view controller.
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = self.editButtonItem;
NSString *temp = [[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath];
self.directoryPath = [temp stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"Documents"];
[self.tableView setEditing:NO animated:YES];
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView
{
// Return the number of sections.
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
return [directoryContents count];
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier] autorelease];
}
// Configure the cell.
cell.textLabel.text = [directoryContents objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
return cell;
}
-(NSString*)directoryPath{
return directoryPath;
}
-(void)setDirectoryPath:(NSString*)a{
[a retain];
[directoryPath release];
directoryPath = a;
[self loadDirectoryContents];
[table reloadData];
}
-(void)loadDirectoryContents{
[directoryContents release];
directoryContents = [[NSFileManager defaultManager] directoryContentsAtPath: directoryPath];
[directoryContents retain];
}
// Override to support conditional editing of the table view.
- (BOOL)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView canEditRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Return NO if you do not want the specified item to be editable.
return YES;
}
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath { //implement the delegate method
if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete) {
// Update data source array here, something like [array removeObjectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
[directoryContents removeObjectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
[tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationFade];
[tableView reloadData];
NSString *extension = #"png";
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSArray *contents = [fileManager contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:documentsDirectory error:NULL];
NSEnumerator *e = [contents objectEnumerator];
NSString *filename;
while ((filename = [e nextObject])) {
if ([[filename pathExtension] isEqualToString:extension]) {
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:[documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename] error:NULL];
}
}
}
}
#pragma mark - Table view delegate
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
// Navigation logic may go here. Create and push another view controller.
/*
<#DetailViewController#> *detailViewController = [[<#DetailViewController#> alloc] initWithNibName:#"<#Nib name#>" bundle:nil];
// ...
// Pass the selected object to the new view controller.
[self.navigationController pushViewController:detailViewController animated:YES];
*/
}
-(void)dealloc{
[super dealloc];
[directoryContents release];
directoryContents = nil;
self.directoryPath = nil;
[table release];
table = nil;
}
#end
WORKING CODE FOR ME:
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView commitEditingStyle:(UITableViewCellEditingStyle)editingStyle forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
if (editingStyle == UITableViewCellEditingStyleDelete){
NSString *fileName = [directoryContents objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
NSString *path;
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
path = [[paths objectAtIndex:0] stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"downloads"];
path = [path stringByAppendingPathComponent:fileName];
NSError *error;
//Remove cell
[directoryContents removeObjectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
[tableView deleteRowsAtIndexPaths:[NSArray arrayWithObject:indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationLeft];
[tableView reloadData];
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:path]) //Does file exist?
{
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtPath:path error:&error]) //Delete it
{
NSLog(#"Delete file error: %#", error);
}
}
}
}

Answer 1

NSFileManager is very useful in removing files:
[[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtPath: pathToFile error: &error];
Also take a look at this article it has some useful codes. Although a bit old but the codes works just fine.
http://iphonedevsdk.com/forum/iphone-sdk-development/3576-how-do-i-delete-a-file-in-my-documents-directory.html
Here is some more code example
// Get the Documents directory path
NSString *temPath = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#%d",#"Documents/Media_", Key_mediaID];
//This temPath look line ../../../Documents/Media_1
NSString *documentsDirectoryPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:temPath];
// Delete the file using NSFileManager
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:[documentsDirectoryPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:Your File Name] error:nil];
Here is another link with some more helpful code
http://ios.biomsoft.com/2012/01/17/delete-all-files-in-documents-directory/
Hope this helps you out.
Edit:
To remove a files with specific extension say for example jpg you can try the following
NSString *extension = #"jpg";
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSArray *contents = [fileManager contentsOfDirectoryAtPath:documentsDirectory error:NULL];
NSEnumerator *e = [contents objectEnumerator];
NSString *filename;
while ((filename = [e nextObject])) {
if ([[filename pathExtension] isEqualToString:extension]) {
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:[documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:filename] error:NULL];
}
}
In addition to the above if you know the path to the file you want to delete the following is a useful code:
// Get the Documents directory path
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectoryPath = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
// Delete the file using NSFileManager
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
[fileManager removeItemAtPath:[documentsDirectoryPath stringByAppendingPathComponent:yourFile.txt] error:nil];
Edit 2:
To delete the document in a specific folder:
NSError *error;
NSFileManager *fileMgr = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];
NSString *documents= [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"YourFolder"];
NSString *filePath = [documents stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"file2.txt"];
[fileMgr removeItemAtPath:filePath error:&error]