[ios] Getting list of files in documents folder

What is wrong with my code for getting the filenames in the document folder?

func listFilesFromDocumentsFolder() -> [NSString]?{
    var theError = NSErrorPointer()
    let dirs = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSSearchPathDirectory.DocumentDirectory, NSSearchPathDomainMask.AllDomainsMask, true) as? [String]
    if dirs != nil {
        let dir = dirs![0] as NSString
        let fileList = NSFileManager.defaultManager().contentsOfDirectoryAtPath(dir, error: theError) as [NSString]
        return fileList
    }else{
        return nil
    }
}

I thought I read the documents correctly and I am very sure about what is in the documents folder, but "fileList" does not show anything? "dir" shows the path to the folder.

Swift 2.0 Compability

func listWithFilter () {

    let fileManager = NSFileManager.defaultManager()
           // We need just to get the documents folder url
    let documentsUrl = fileManager.URLsForDirectory(.DocumentDirectory, inDomains: .UserDomainMask)[0] as NSURL

    do {
    // if you want to filter the directory contents you can do like this:
    if let directoryUrls = try? NSFileManager.defaultManager().contentsOfDirectoryAtURL(documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: NSDirectoryEnumerationOptions.SkipsSubdirectoryDescendants) {
        print(directoryUrls)
       ........
        }

    }

}

OR

 func listFiles() -> [String] {

    var theError = NSErrorPointer()
    let dirs = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSSearchPathDirectory.DocumentDirectory, NSSearchPathDomainMask.AllDomainsMask, true) as? [String]
    if dirs != nil {
        let dir = dirs![0]
        do {
        let fileList = try NSFileManager.defaultManager().contentsOfDirectoryAtPath(dir)
        return fileList as [String]
        }catch {

        }

    }else{
        let fileList = [""]
        return fileList
    }
    let fileList = [""]
    return fileList

}

This code prints out all the directories and files in my documents directory:

Some modification of your function:

func listFilesFromDocumentsFolder() -> [String]
{
    let dirs = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(FileManager.SearchPathDirectory.documentDirectory, FileManager.SearchPathDomainMask.allDomainsMask, true)
    if dirs != [] {
        let dir = dirs[0]
        let fileList = try! FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(atPath: dir)
        return fileList
    }else{
        let fileList = [""]
        return fileList
    }
}

Which gets called by:

    let fileManager:FileManager = FileManager.default
    let fileList = listFilesFromDocumentsFolder()

    let count = fileList.count

    for i in 0..<count
    {
        if fileManager.fileExists(atPath: fileList[i]) != true
        {
            print("File is \(fileList[i])")
        }
    }

Simple and dynamic solution (Swift 5):

extension FileManager {

  class func directoryUrl() -> URL? {
      let paths = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)
      return paths.first
  }

  class func allRecordedData() -> [URL]? {
     if let documentsUrl = FileManager.directoryUrl() {
        do {
            let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil)
            return directoryContents.filter{ $0.pathExtension == "m4a" }
        } catch {
            return nil
        }
     }
     return nil
  }}

Swift 5

// Get the document directory url
let documentsUrl =  FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first!

do {
    // Get the directory contents urls (including subfolders urls)
    let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsUrl, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil)
    print(directoryContents)

    // if you want to filter the directory contents you can do like this:
    let mp3Files = directoryContents.filter{ $0.pathExtension == "mp3" }
    print("mp3 urls:",mp3Files)
    let mp3FileNames = mp3Files.map{ $0.deletingPathExtension().lastPathComponent }
    print("mp3 list:", mp3FileNames)

} catch {
    print(error)
}

Apple states about NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(_:_:_:):

You should consider using the FileManager methods urls(for:in:) and url(for:in:appropriateFor:create:) which return URLs, which are the preferred format.

With Swift 5, FileManager has a method called contentsOfDirectory(at:includingPropertiesForKeys:options:). contentsOfDirectory(at:includingPropertiesForKeys:options:) has the following declaration:

Performs a shallow search of the specified directory and returns URLs for the contained items.

func contentsOfDirectory(at url: URL, includingPropertiesForKeys keys: [URLResourceKey]?, options mask: FileManager.DirectoryEnumerationOptions = []) throws -> [URL]

Therefore, in order to retrieve the urls of the files contained in documents directory, you can use the following code snippet that uses FileManager's urls(for:in:) and contentsOfDirectory(at:includingPropertiesForKeys:options:) methods:

guard let documentsDirectory = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first else { return }

do {
    let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsDirectory, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: [])

    // Print the urls of the files contained in the documents directory
    print(directoryContents)
} catch {
    print("Could not search for urls of files in documents directory: \(error)")
}

As an example, the UIViewController implementation below shows how to save a file from app bundle to documents directory and how to get the urls of the files saved in documents directory:

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBAction func copyFile(_ sender: UIButton) {
        // Get file url
        guard let fileUrl = Bundle.main.url(forResource: "Movie", withExtension: "mov") else { return }

        // Create a destination url in document directory for file
        guard let documentsDirectory = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first else { return }
        let documentDirectoryFileUrl = documentsDirectory.appendingPathComponent("Movie.mov")

        // Copy file to document directory
        if !FileManager.default.fileExists(atPath: documentDirectoryFileUrl.path) {
            do {
                try FileManager.default.copyItem(at: fileUrl, to: documentDirectoryFileUrl)
                print("Copy item succeeded")
            } catch {
                print("Could not copy file: \(error)")
            }
        }
    }

    @IBAction func displayUrls(_ sender: UIButton) {
        guard let documentsDirectory = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first else { return }

        do {
            let directoryContents = try FileManager.default.contentsOfDirectory(at: documentsDirectory, includingPropertiesForKeys: nil, options: [])

            // Print the urls of the files contained in the documents directory
            print(directoryContents) // may print [] or [file:///private/var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/.../Documents/Movie.mov]
        } catch {
            print("Could not search for urls of files in documents directory: \(error)")
        }
    }

}

A shorter syntax for SWIFT 3

func listFilesFromDocumentsFolder() -> [String]?
{
    let fileMngr = FileManager.default;

    // Full path to documents directory
    let docs = fileMngr.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask)[0].path

    // List all contents of directory and return as [String] OR nil if failed
    return try? fileMngr.contentsOfDirectory(atPath:docs)
}

Usage example:

override func viewDidLoad()
{
    print(listFilesFromDocumentsFolder())
}

Tested on xCode 8.2.3 for iPhone 7 with iOS 10.2 & iPad with iOS 9.3