iPhone : Get the file path which is within subfolder of Resource folder - ios

Question

I am new to iPhone programming. I want to read the content of a text file located in a subfolder of the Resource folder.
The Resource folder structure is the following:
Resource
Folder1---->Data.txt
Folder2---->Data.txt
Folder3---->Folder1---->Data.txt
There are multiple files named "Data.txt", so how can I access the files in each folder? I know how to read the text file, but if the Resource structure is similar to the above structure then how can I get the path?
For example, if I want to access the "Data.txt" file from Folder3, how can I get the file path?
Please suggest.

Answer 1

Your "resource folder" is actually the contents of your main bundle, also know as the application bundle. You use pathForResource:ofType: or pathForResource:ofType:inDirectory: to get the full path for a resource.
Loading the contents of a file as a string is done with the stringWithContentsOfFile:encoding:error: method for an autoreleased string of with initWithContentsOfFile:encoding:error: if you want a retained string.
NSString *filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"Data"
ofType:#"txt"
inDirectory:#"Folder1"];
if (filePath != nil) {
theContents = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:filePath
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:NULL];
// Do stuff to theContents
}
This is almost the same answer as given by Shirkrin previously, but with the slight difference that it works on target. This is because initWithContentsOfFile: is deprecated on Mac OS X, and not available at all iPhone OS.

Answer 2

To continue psychotiks answer a full example would look like this:
NSBundle *thisBundle = [NSBundle bundleForClass:[self class]];
NSString *filePath = nil;
if (filePath = [thisBundle pathForResource:#"Data" ofType:#"txt" inDirectory:#"Folder1"]) {
theContents = [[NSString alloc] initWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
// when completed, it is the developer's responsibility to release theContents
}
Notice that you can use -pathForResource:ofType:inDirectory to access ressources in sub directories.

Answer 3

Shirkrin's answer and PeyloW's answer above were both useful, and I managed to use pathForResource:ofType:inDirectory: to access files with the same name in different folders in my app bundle.
I also found an alternative solution here that suited my requirements slightly better, so I thought I'd share it. In particular, see this link.
For example, say I have the following Folder References (blue icons, Groups are yellow):
Then I can access the image files like this:
NSString * filePath = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] resourcePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"pin_images/1/2.jpg"];
UIImage * image = [UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:filePath];
As a side note, the pathForResource:ofType:inDirectory: equivalent looks like this:
NSString * filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"2" ofType:#"jpg" inDirectory:#"pin_images/1/"];

Answer 4

NSBundle* bundle = [NSBundle mainBundle];
NSString* path = [bundle bundlePath];
This gives you the path to your bundle. From there on, you can navigate your folder structure.