Xcode / Swift default files at installation - iOS - swift

Question

I need to add some "default" file during the installation or the first launch of my app in the "Document" directory to let user access to "demo" files or presets. Is there a way to do it properly ?
It's mostly for iOS Apps.

Answer 1

It's very straightforward to get to the app's Documents directory:
func getDocumentsDirectory() -> URL {
let paths = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)
let documentsDirectory = paths[0]
return documentsDirectory
}
Using the above function, you would be able to easily refer to the Documents folder to install files (or a folder containing your demo files) into the Documents directory and then read them out of there.
To copy a default file from your iOS application bundle, you could do something like:
let sourceURL = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "defaultfile", withExtension: ".png") // whatever kind of file it is
let destinationFolderURL = self.getDocumentsDirectory()
let fullDestURL = destinationFolderURL.appendingPathComponent("defaultfile.png")
let fileManager = FileManager.default
do{
try fileManager.copyItem(at: sourceURL, to: destURL)
} catch {
print(error)
}
Hopefully I didn't make any typos in the above example. :-)

Answer 2

Obj-C solution for anyone interested
If you want user to just read/view those files, all you need to do is to drag&drop them to your project files in Xcode, and then you can access them programmatically like this:
[[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath] stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"relative/path/to/your/files"]
Alternatively, if you want your users to modify/re-save those files, you'll need to copy-paste them from your NSBundle to Documents directory on the first launch.
- (void)copyDemoFilesToDocumentsFolder {
NSError *error;
NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];
NSString *demoFilesPath = [DOCUMENTS_DIR stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"path/to/your/demo/files"];
if (![fileManager fileExistsAtPath:demoFilesPath]) {
NSString *sourceFolderPath = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] bundlePath]
stringByAppendingPathComponent:#"path/to/your/demo/files"];
[fileManager copyItemAtPath:sourceFolderPath
toPath:demoFilesPath
error:&error];
}
}