How do I share files using share sheet in iOS?

Question

I want to share some files I have locally in my app using Share Sheet functionality on iPhone. I display the file in a UIWebView and when the user clicks the share sheet, I want to show options (email, WhatsApp, etc. ) to share the file displayed on the UIWebView. I know that we can use

func displayShareSheet(shareContent:String) {                                                                                let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: [shareContent as NSString], applicationActivities: nil)     presentViewController(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: {})     } 

to share a string for example. How do I change this code to share documents?

Answer 1

Swift 4.2 and Swift 5

If you already have a file in a directory and want to share it, just add it's URL into activityItems:

let fileURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: "The path where the file you want to share is located")  // Create the Array which includes the files you want to share var filesToShare = [Any]()  // Add the path of the file to the Array filesToShare.append(fileURL)  // Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)  // Show the share-view self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) 

If you need to make the file:

I'm using this extension to make files from Data (read the comments in the code for explanation how it works):

As in the typedef's answer, get the current documents directory:

/// Get the current directory /// /// - Returns: the Current directory in NSURL func getDocumentsDirectory() -> NSString {     let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)     let documentsDirectory = paths[0]     return documentsDirectory as NSString } 

Extension for Data:

extension Data {      /// Data into file     ///     /// - Parameters:     ///   - fileName: the Name of the file you want to write     /// - Returns: Returns the URL where the new file is located in NSURL     func dataToFile(fileName: String) -> NSURL? {          // Make a constant from the data         let data = self          // Make the file path (with the filename) where the file will be loacated after it is created         let filePath = getDocumentsDirectory().appendingPathComponent(fileName)          do {             // Write the file from data into the filepath (if there will be an error, the code jumps to the catch block below)             try data.write(to: URL(fileURLWithPath: filePath))              // Returns the URL where the new file is located in NSURL             return NSURL(fileURLWithPath: filePath)          } catch {             // Prints the localized description of the error from the do block             print("Error writing the file: \(error.localizedDescription)")         }          // Returns nil if there was an error in the do-catch -block         return nil      }  } 

Examples how to use:

Share image-files:

// Your image let yourImage = UIImage() 

in png-file

// Convert the image into png image data let pngImageData = yourImage.pngData()  // Write the png image into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL let pngImageURL = pngImageData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourImageFile.png")  // Create the Array which includes the files you want to share var filesToShare = [Any]()  // Add the path of png image to the Array filesToShare.append(pngImageURL!)  // Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)  // Show the share-view self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) 

in jpg-file

// Convert the image into jpeg image data. compressionQuality is the quality-compression ratio in % (from 0.0 (0%) to 1.0 (100%)); 1 is the best quality but have bigger filesize let jpgImageData = yourImage.jpegData(compressionQuality: 1.0)  // Write the jpg image into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL let jpgImageURL = jpgImageData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourImageFile.jpg")  // Create the Array which includes the files you want to share var filesToShare = [Any]()  // Add the path of jpg image to the Array filesToShare.append(jpgImageURL!)  // Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)  // Show the share-view self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) 

Share text-files:

// Your String including the text you want share in a file let text = "yourText"  // Convert the String into Data let textData = text.data(using: .utf8)  // Write the text into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL // Specify the file type you want the file be by changing the end of the filename (.txt, .json, .pdf...) let textURL = textData?.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourFile.txt")  // Create the Array which includes the files you want to share var filesToShare = [Any]()  // Add the path of the text file to the Array filesToShare.append(textURL!)  // Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)  // Show the share-view self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) 

Other files:

You can make a file from anything which is in Data format and as far as I know, almost everything in Swift can be converted into Data like String, Int, Double, Any...:

// the Data you want to share as a file let data = Data()  // Write the data into a filepath and return the filepath in NSURL // Change the file-extension to specify the filetype (.txt, .json, .pdf, .png, .jpg, .tiff...) let fileURL = data.dataToFile(fileName: "nameOfYourFile.extension")  // Create the Array which includes the files you want to share var filesToShare = [Any]()  // Add the path of the file to the Array filesToShare.append(fileURL!)  // Make the activityViewContoller which shows the share-view let activityViewController = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: filesToShare, applicationActivities: nil)  // Show the share-view self.present(activityViewController, animated: true, completion: nil) 

Answer 2

I want to share my solution of UIActivityViewController and sharing text as a image file. This solution works for sharing via Mail and even Save to Dropbox.

@IBAction func shareCsv(sender: AnyObject) {     //Your CSV text     let str = self.descriptionText.text!     filename = getDocumentsDirectory().stringByAppendingPathComponent("file.png")      do {         try str.writeToFile(filename!, atomically: true, encoding: NSUTF8StringEncoding)          let fileURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: filename!)          let objectsToShare = [fileURL]         let activityVC = UIActivityViewController(activityItems: objectsToShare, applicationActivities: nil)          self.presentViewController(activityVC, animated: true, completion: nil)      } catch {         print("cannot write file")         // failed to write file – bad permissions, bad filename, missing permissions, or more likely it can't be converted to the encoding     }  }  func getDocumentsDirectory() -> NSString {     let paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true)     let documentsDirectory = paths[0]     return documentsDirectory }