How to copy remote server file in document directory in swift

Question

I know how to get a remote URL in Swift

let remoteURL = NSURL(string: "https://myserver/file.txt")!

I know how to get a local URL in Swift

let localURL = NSURL(fileURLWithPath: documentsFolder + "/my_local_file.txt")

and unfortunately this does not work

NSFileManager.defaultManager().copyItemAtURL(remoteURL, toURL: localURL)

with the following error

The file “file.txt” couldn’t be opened because URL type https isn’t supported.

Is there a way how to perform this?

Khundragpan · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-05T09:28:37.783

You can use NSURLSessionDownloadTask to download the file:

func downloadFile(url: URL) {
    let downloadRequest = URLRequest(url: url)
    URLSession.shared.downloadTask(with: downloadRequest) { location, response, error in
        // To do check resoponse before saving
        guard  let tempLocation = location where error == nil else { return }
        let documentDirectory = FileManager.default.urlsForDirectory(.documentDirectory, inDomains: .userDomainMask).last
        do {
            let fullURL = try documentDirectory?.appendingPathComponent((response?.suggestedFilename!)!)
            try FileManager.default.moveItem(at: tempLocation, to: fullURL!)
            print("saved at \(fullURL) ")
        } catch NSCocoaError.fileReadNoSuchFileError {
            print("No such file")
        } catch {
            // other errors
            print("Error downloading file : \(error)")
        }
    }.resume()
}

let stringURL = "https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/readme.txt"
downloadImage(url: URL(string: stringURL)!)

Update: SWIFT 2.2

func downloadFile(url: NSURL) {
    let downloadRequest = NSURLRequest(URL: url)
    NSURLSession.sharedSession().downloadTaskWithRequest(downloadRequest){ (location, response, error) in

        guard  let tempLocation = location where error == nil else { return }
        let documentDirectory = NSFileManager.defaultManager().URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask).first
        let fullURL = documentDirectory?.URLByAppendingPathComponent((response?.suggestedFilename)!)

        do {
            try NSFileManager.defaultManager().moveItemAtURL(tempLocation, toURL: fullURL!)
        } catch NSCocoaError.FileReadNoSuchFileError {
            print("No such file")
        } catch {
            print("Error downloading file : \(error)")
        }

        }.resume()
}

 let stringURL = "https://wordpress.org/plugins/about/readme.txt"
 let url = NSURL.init(string: stringURL)
 downloadFile(url!)

Sorry I haven't move to Swift 3, unfortunately I know I should. Please keep Swift 3 version for the future :) — Nicholas, Aug 05 '16 at 08:25
no need I found the Swift 2.x implementation here http://stackoverflow.com/a/29475376/1139044 — Nicholas, Aug 05 '16 at 08:50

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

1

You should download it first, then save it to a local file.

Code example can be found here: (using AFNetworking)

How I properly setup an AFNetworking Get Request?

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

1
1

answered Aug 05 '16 at 08:05

Hoang Tran

296
1
6

anything swift related? – Nicholas Aug 05 '16 at 08:06
It's just a simple piece of code. You can translate it to Swift very easily. – Hoang Tran Aug 05 '16 at 08:08
anything else without the need of importing an external library? Does not exist a simple way in pure Swift with Apple frameworks? – Nicholas Aug 05 '16 at 08:14
In the easy way, you can use contentOfUrl to get remote File. But if you want asynchronous, you can use NSURLsession. – Tho Nguyen Aug 05 '16 at 08:19

How to copy remote server file in document directory in swift

2 Answers2