CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-ciosfilensstringappend
Devos50
Devos50

Reputation: 2035

iOS - appending text to a file in the application bundle

I'm trying to append some text to a file that resides in the application bundle with the following code:

NSString *dotsStr = [NSString stringWithFormat:@"%i", dots];

NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%i_500", dots] ofType:@"txt"];
NSString *contents = [NSString stringWithContentsOfFile:path encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding error:nil];

NSString *newpath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%i_50", dots] ofType:@"txt"];
[contents appendToFile:newpath encoding:NSASCIIStringEncoding];

When appending to the file, I'm using a category on NSString:

- (BOOL) appendToFile:(NSString *)path encoding:(NSStringEncoding)enc;
{
    BOOL result = YES;
    NSFileHandle *fh = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForWritingAtPath:path];
    if (!fh)
    {
        [[NSFileManager defaultManager] createFileAtPath:path contents:nil attributes:nil];
        fh = [NSFileHandle fileHandleForWritingAtPath:path];
    }
    if (!fh) return NO;
    @try {
        [fh seekToEndOfFile];
        [fh writeData:[self dataUsingEncoding:enc]];
    }
    @catch (NSException * e)
    {
        result = NO;
    }
    [fh closeFile];
    return result;
}

This is working fine on the simulator, however, when I restart the app, the old file gets loaded, without the appended text. I have no idea how this is possible.

Does anyone know how I could change this category so that the changes are persistent?

Thanks in advance! :)

Upvotes: 0

Views: 555

Answers (2)

user529758
user529758

Reputation:

You can't write to the app bundle.

(For quite obvious security reasons, by the way.)

If you're intending to change a file, copy it to a writable location, for example in the Documents directory.

(Oh, and before you ask it: the simulator uses OS X's file system, where this restriction is not present, so that's why it works on the simulator. Another thing the simulator fails to simulate.)

Upvotes: 4

Jeepston
Jeepston

Reputation: 1359

Application bundle is read-only. You need to copy your file to application's Documents directory before modifying it.

Upvotes: 2

Related Questions