Delete files in iOS directory using Swift

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.