Swift - Sort table view cells by creation date

Question

In my app user can record audio (Like Voice Memos). After finishing record, it takes input from the user to give the record a name and audios are shown in UITableView. Recorded audios are sorted by their name (Alphabetically). I need to sort them by creation date - last created audio will be appeared first. I used two arrays -

1.recordedAudioFilesURLArray (Type: URL) & 2.recordedAudioFileName (Type: String).

Recorded audios are saved in document directory. Here is my code sample...

func getRecordedAudioFilesFromDocDirectory() {
    let documentsUrl =  FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first!
    do {
        let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory( at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: [])
        recordedAudioFilesURLArray = directoryContents.filter{ $0.pathExtension == "m4a" }
    } catch let error as NSError {
        print(error.localizedDescription)
    }
    recordedAudioFileNames = recordedAudioFilesURLArray.flatMap({$0.deletingPathExtension().lastPathComponent})
}

func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
    return 1
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
    return recordedAudioFilesURLArray.count
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = UITableViewCell()
    cell.textLabel?.text = recordedAudioFileNames[indexPath.row] as! NSString as String
    return cell
}

Do you have dates of the audios in an array ? if yes then share sample dates array. — Umair Afzal, Jan 11 '17 at 07:34
How are you willing to sort on the basis of dates if you do not have any ? — Umair Afzal, Jan 11 '17 at 07:41
@pigeon_39 actually you can get the file creation date by using the `FileManager` api — Luca D'Alberti, Jan 11 '17 at 07:44

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:13

This stackoverflow answer shows how can we get file creation date using NSFileManager API.

Using the above answer, I have tried a sample.

   //This array will hold info like filename and creation date. You can choose to create model class for this
    var fileArray = [[String:NSObject]]()

    //traverse each file in the array
    for path in recordedAudioFilesURLArray!
    {
        //get metadata (attibutes) for each file
        let dictionary = try? NSFileManager.defaultManager().attributesOfItemAtPath(path.path!)

        //save creationDate for each file, we will need this to sort it
        let fileDictionary = ["fileName":path.lastPathComponent!, NSFileCreationDate:dictionary?[NSFileCreationDate] as! NSDate]
        fileArray.append(fileDictionary)
    }

    //sorting goes here
    fileArray.sortInPlace { (obj1, obj2) -> Bool in

        let date1 = obj1[NSFileCreationDate] as! NSDate
        let date2 = obj2[NSFileCreationDate] as! NSDate

        return (date2.compare(date1) == .OrderedDescending)
    }

    //Let's check the result
    for dictionary in fileArray
    {
        NSLog("\(dictionary["fileName"])")
    }

It's working for me. Hope that helps.

Note: This is just a sample I tried. You may need some modification to work for your case.

Akhil Shrivastav · Answer 2 · 2017-01-11T11:14:18.243

0

Try following code func getRecordedAudioFilesFromDocDirectory() { var temprecordedAudioFilesArray: [NSDictionary] = []

    let documentsUrl =  FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first!
    do {
        let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory( at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: [])
        recordedAudioFilesURLArray = directoryContents.filter{ $0.pathExtension == "mp3" }

    } catch let error as NSError {
        print(error.localizedDescription)
    }
    for item in recordedAudioFilesURLArray {
        var fileName: String?
        var creationDate : Date?
        let path: String = item.path
        do{
            let attr = try FileManager.default.attributesOfItem(atPath: path)
            creationDate = attr[FileAttributeKey.creationDate] as? Date
            fileName = item.lastPathComponent

            let fileInfo = ["filepath": item, "name": fileName!, "createnDate": creationDate!]
            temprecordedAudioFilesArray.append(fileInfo as NSDictionary)


        }
        catch {

        }

    }
    temprecordedAudioFilesArray.sort(by: { (($0 as! Dictionary<String, AnyObject>)["createnDate"] as? NSDate)?.compare(($1 as! Dictionary<String, AnyObject>)["createnDate"] as? NSDate as! Date) == .orderedAscending})

    for file in temprecordedAudioFilesArray{
        recordedAudioFileNames.append((file["name"] as? String)!)
        print(file["name"])
    }

}

edited Jan 11 '17 at 11:14

answered Jan 11 '17 at 09:58

Akhil Shrivastav

427
3
13

the elements in **temprecordedAudioFilesArray** are sorted perfectly. But according to this I need to sort **recordedAudioFilesURLArray** because this array contains URL of recorded sounds whick are needed to play them. How to do so ?? Can you help ? – pigeon_39 Jan 11 '17 at 10:24
declare `temprecordedAudioFilesArray` outside function(where u declared recordedAudioFilesURLArray) and add one more key in file info dictionary `let fileInfo = ["filepath": item, "name": fileName!, "createnDate": creationDate!] as [String : Any]` and when u want to play refer `temprecordedAudioFilesArray` instead of `recordedAudioFilesURLArray `Hope this helps – Akhil Shrivastav Jan 11 '17 at 10:28
also make `recordedAudioFilesURLArray` as local variable and use `temprecordedAudioFilesArray ` in place of it. you need code changes for this as `temprecordedAudioFilesArray ` is array of `URL` but `temprecordedAudioFilesArray ` is array of dictionary. – Akhil Shrivastav Jan 11 '17 at 10:52
sorry...it seems complex to me....can you just add an extra field for URL in your dictionary and edit your code please... By the way thank you very much for your co-operation. – pigeon_39 Jan 11 '17 at 11:00
edited the code and to access url u can use `print(temprecordedAudioFilesArray[indexPath.row]["filepath"])` – Akhil Shrivastav Jan 11 '17 at 11:14

Swift - Sort table view cells by creation date

2 Answers2