Check if string contains special characters in Swift

Question

I have to detect whether a string contains any special characters. How can I check it? Does Swift support regular expressions?

var characterSet:NSCharacterSet         


        

Answer 1

Mahendra's answer can be stripped down a bit by using an inversion(^) within the regex clause. Additionally, you don't need A-Z and a-z when using the caseInsensitive option, as Swift covers that eventuality for you:

extension String {

  func containsSpecialCharacters(string: String) -> Bool {
        
        do {
            let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: "[^a-z0-9 ]", options: .caseInsensitive)
            if let _ = regex.firstMatch(in: string, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, string.count)) {
                return true
            } else {
                return false
            }
        } catch {
            debugPrint(error.localizedDescription)
            return true
        }
    }