Split String into groups with specific length

Question

How can I split the given String in Swift into groups with given length, reading from right to left?

For example, I have string 123456789 and group length of 3. The the string should be divided into 3 groups: 123, 456, 789. String 1234567 will be divided into 1, 234, 567

So, can you write some nice code in Swift:

func splitedString(string: String, length: Int) -> [String] {

}

BTW tried function split(), but as I understand it works only with finding some symbol

Answer 1

Swift 4

I adapted the answer given by cafedeichi to operate either left-to-right or right-to-left depending on a function parameter, so it's more versatile.

extension String {
    /// Splits a string into groups of `every` n characters, grouping from left-to-right by default. If `backwards` is true, right-to-left.
    public func split(every: Int, backwards: Bool = false) -> [String] {
        var result = [String]()

        for i in stride(from: 0, to: self.count, by: every) {
            switch backwards {
            case true:
                let endIndex = self.index(self.endIndex, offsetBy: -i)
                let startIndex = self.index(endIndex, offsetBy: -every, limitedBy: self.startIndex) ?? self.startIndex
                result.insert(String(self[startIndex..<endIndex]), at: 0)
            case false:
                let startIndex = self.index(self.startIndex, offsetBy: i)
                let endIndex = self.index(startIndex, offsetBy: every, limitedBy: self.endIndex) ?? self.endIndex
                result.append(String(self[startIndex..<endIndex]))
            }
        }

        return result
    }
}

Example:

"abcde".split(every: 2)                     // ["ab", "cd", "e"]
"abcde".split(every: 2, backwards: true)    // ["a", "bc", "de"]

"abcde".split(every: 4)                     // ["abcd", "e"]
"abcde".split(every: 4, backwards: true)    // ["a", "bcde"]

Answer 2

func split(every length:Int) -> [Substring] {
    guard length > 0 && length < count else { return [suffix(from:startIndex)] }

    return (0 ... (count - 1) / length).map { dropFirst($0 * length).prefix(length) }
}

func split(backwardsEvery length:Int) -> [Substring] {
    guard length > 0 && length < count else { return [suffix(from:startIndex)] }

    return (0 ... (count - 1) / length).map { dropLast($0 * length).suffix(length) }.reversed()
}

Tests:

    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(every:2), ["01", "23", "45", "67", "89"])
    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(backwardsEvery:2), ["01", "23", "45", "67", "89"])
    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(every:3), ["012", "345", "678", "9"])
    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(backwardsEvery:3), ["0", "123", "456", "789"])
    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(every:4), ["0123", "4567", "89"])
    XCTAssertEqual("0123456789".split(backwardsEvery:4), ["01", "2345", "6789"])