YouTube Video ID From URL - Swift or Objective-C

Question

I have a Youtube url as an NSString or Swift String, but I need to extract the video id that is displayed in the url. I found many tutorials on how to do this in php or and other web-based programming languages, but none in Objective-C or Swift for Apple platforms...

I'm looking for a method that asks for an NSString url as the parameter and returns the video id as another NSString...

Answer 1

Here is RegExp it cover these cases

Objective C

- (NSString *)extractYoutubeIdFromLink:(NSString *)link {     NSString *regexString = @"((?<=(v|V)/)|(?<=be/)|(?<=(\\?|\\&)v=)|(?<=embed/))([\\w-]++)";     NSRegularExpression *regExp = [NSRegularExpression regularExpressionWithPattern:regexString                                                                             options:NSRegularExpressionCaseInsensitive                                                                               error:nil];      NSArray *array = [regExp matchesInString:link options:0 range:NSMakeRange(0,link.length)];     if (array.count > 0) {         NSTextCheckingResult *result = array.firstObject;         return [link substringWithRange:result.range];     }     return nil; } 

Swift

func extractYoutubeIdFromLink(link: String) -> String? {     let pattern = "((?<=(v|V)/)|(?<=be/)|(?<=(\\?|\\&)v=)|(?<=embed/))([\\w-]++)"     guard let regExp = try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: pattern, options: .CaseInsensitive) else {         return nil     }     let nsLink = link as NSString     let options = NSMatchingOptions(rawValue: 0)     let range = NSRange(location: 0,length: nsLink.length)     let matches = regExp.matchesInString(link as String, options:options, range:range)     if let firstMatch = matches.first {         return nsLink.substringWithRange(firstMatch.range)     }     return nil } 

Swift 3

func extractYoutubeIdFromLink(link: String) -> String? {     let pattern = "((?<=(v|V)/)|(?<=be/)|(?<=(\\?|\\&)v=)|(?<=embed/))([\\w-]++)"     guard let regExp = try? NSRegularExpression(pattern: pattern, options: .caseInsensitive) else {         return nil     }     let nsLink = link as NSString     let options = NSRegularExpression.MatchingOptions(rawValue: 0)     let range = NSRange(location: 0, length: nsLink.length)     let matches = regExp.matches(in: link as String, options:options, range:range)     if let firstMatch = matches.first {         return nsLink.substring(with: firstMatch.range)     }     return nil } 

Answer 2

After spending ages trying to find the correct syntax for the regex, I've come across this which has helped me.

NSString *regexString = @"(?<=v(=|/))([-a-zA-Z0-9_]+)|(?<=youtu.be/)([-a-zA-Z0-9_]+)"; 

Taken from here. This works for the following URL formats:

 - www.youtube.com/v/VIDEOID    - www.youtube.com?v=VIDEOID  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFPtWedl7wg&feature=youtu.be  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkTD2Y4LXcM   - youtu.be/KFPtWedl7wg_U923  - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=biVLGTAMC_U#t=31s