Swift – Read Text File
To read a Text File in Swift, we can prepare the file url and then use String initializer init(contentsOf: url) that returns file content as a string.
In this tutorial, we will learn how to read a text file.
Consider the following file, sample.txt, present in Documents folder of the user.
![Swift - Read Text File - Input](https://www.tutorialkart.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/swift-read-text-file-input.png)
In the following swift program, main.swift,
- We are locating the folder, in this case Documents folder, using FileManager.default.urls.
- Then appending the text file name to the folder location, using appendingPathComponent().
- Finally, we use String() initializer method String(contentsOf: , encoding: ) to read the file contents to a string.
main.swift
import Foundation let file = "sample.txt" var result = "" //if you get access to the directory if let dir = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first { //prepare file url let fileURL = dir.appendingPathComponent(file) do { result = try String(contentsOf: fileURL, encoding: .utf8) } catch {/* handle if there are any errors */} } print(result)
Run the program, and for the first time, if build is successful, you may see the following pop up in your Mac. Click on OK.
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![Swift - Read Text File](https://www.tutorialkart.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/swift-read-text-file.png)
After you click Ok, you should see the following output.
Terminal Output
Welcome to Swift Tutorial by www.tutorialkart.com! Program ended with exit code: 0
Conclusion
In this Swift Tutorial, we learned how to read a text file to a string in Swift.