Read and write a String from text file

Question

I need to read and write data to/from a text file, but I haven\'t been able to figure out how.

I found this sample code in the Swift\'s iBook, but I still don\'t kno

Answer 1

New simpler and recommended method: Apple recommends using URLs for filehandling and the other solutions here seem deprecated (see comments below). The following is the new simple way of reading and writing with URL's (don't forget to handle the possible URL errors):

Swift 5+, 4 and 3.1

import Foundation  // Needed for those pasting into Playground

let fileName = "Test"
let dir = try? FileManager.default.url(for: .documentDirectory, 
      in: .userDomainMask, appropriateFor: nil, create: true)

// If the directory was found, we write a file to it and read it back
if let fileURL = dir?.appendingPathComponent(fileName).appendingPathExtension("txt") {

    // Write to the file named Test
    let outString = "Write this text to the file"
    do {
        try outString.write(to: fileURL, atomically: true, encoding: .utf8)
    } catch {
        print("Failed writing to URL: \(fileURL), Error: " + error.localizedDescription)
    }

    // Then reading it back from the file
    var inString = ""
    do {
        inString = try String(contentsOf: fileURL)
    } catch {
        print("Failed reading from URL: \(fileURL), Error: " + error.localizedDescription)
    }
    print("Read from the file: \(inString)")
}