(The code is for Swift 2.2/Xcode 7.3 now. Older versions can be found in the edit history if somebody needs it. An updated version for Swift 3 is provided at the end.)
The following Swift code is heavily inspired by the various answers to
How to read data from NSFileHandle line by line?. It reads from the file in chunks, and converts complete lines to strings.
The default line delimiter (\n), string encoding (UTF-8) and chunk size (4096)
can be set with optional parameters.
class StreamReader {
let encoding : UInt
let chunkSize : Int
var fileHandle : NSFileHandle!
let buffer : NSMutableData!
let delimData : NSData!
var atEof : Bool = false
init?(path: String, delimiter: String = "\n", encoding : UInt = NSUTF8StringEncoding, chunkSize : Int = 4096) {
self.chunkSize = chunkSize
self.encoding = encoding
if let fileHandle = NSFileHandle(forReadingAtPath: path),
delimData = delimiter.dataUsingEncoding(encoding),
buffer = NSMutableData(capacity: chunkSize)
{
self.fileHandle = fileHandle
self.delimData = delimData
self.buffer = buffer
} else {
self.fileHandle = nil
self.delimData = nil
self.buffer = nil
return nil
}
}
deinit {
self.close()
}
/// Return next line, or nil on EOF.
func nextLine() -> String? {
precondition(fileHandle != nil, "Attempt to read from closed file")
if atEof {
return nil
}
// Read data chunks from file until a line delimiter is found:
var range = buffer.rangeOfData(delimData, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, buffer.length))
while range.location == NSNotFound {
let tmpData = fileHandle.readDataOfLength(chunkSize)
if tmpData.length == 0 {
// EOF or read error.
atEof = true
if buffer.length > 0 {
// Buffer contains last line in file (not terminated by delimiter).
let line = NSString(data: buffer, encoding: encoding)
buffer.length = 0
return line as String?
}
// No more lines.
return nil
}
buffer.appendData(tmpData)
range = buffer.rangeOfData(delimData, options: [], range: NSMakeRange(0, buffer.length))
}
// Convert complete line (excluding the delimiter) to a string:
let line = NSString(data: buffer.subdataWithRange(NSMakeRange(0, range.location)),
encoding: encoding)
// Remove line (and the delimiter) from the buffer:
buffer.replaceBytesInRange(NSMakeRange(0, range.location + range.length), withBytes: nil, length: 0)
return line as String?
}
/// Start reading from the beginning of file.
func rewind() -> Void {
fileHandle.seekToFileOffset(0)
buffer.length = 0
atEof = false
}
/// Close the underlying file. No reading must be done after calling this method.
func close() -> Void {
fileHandle?.closeFile()
fileHandle = nil
}
}
Usage:
if let aStreamReader = StreamReader(path: "/path/to/file") {
defer {
aStreamReader.close()
}
while let line = aStreamReader.nextLine() {
print(line)
}
}
You can even use the reader with a for-in loop
for line in aStreamReader {
print(line)
}
by implementing the SequenceType protocol (compare http://robots.thoughtbot.com/swift-sequences):
extension StreamReader : SequenceType {
func generate() -> AnyGenerator<String> {
return AnyGenerator {
return self.nextLine()
}
}
}
Update for Swift 3/Xcode 8 beta 6: Also “modernized” to
use guard and the new Data value type:
class StreamReader {
let encoding : String.Encoding
let chunkSize : Int
var fileHandle : FileHandle!
let delimData : Data
var buffer : Data
var atEof : Bool
init?(path: String, delimiter: String = "\n", encoding: String.Encoding = .utf8,
chunkSize: Int = 4096) {
guard let fileHandle = FileHandle(forReadingAtPath: path),
let delimData = delimiter.data(using: encoding) else {
return nil
}
self.encoding = encoding
self.chunkSize = chunkSize
self.fileHandle = fileHandle
self.delimData = delimData
self.buffer = Data(capacity: chunkSize)
self.atEof = false
}
deinit {
self.close()
}
/// Return next line, or nil on EOF.
func nextLine() -> String? {
precondition(fileHandle != nil, "Attempt to read from closed file")
// Read data chunks from file until a line delimiter is found:
while !atEof {
if let range = buffer.range(of: delimData) {
// Convert complete line (excluding the delimiter) to a string:
let line = String(data: buffer.subdata(in: 0..<range.lowerBound), encoding: encoding)
// Remove line (and the delimiter) from the buffer:
buffer.removeSubrange(0..<range.upperBound)
return line
}
let tmpData = fileHandle.readData(ofLength: chunkSize)
if tmpData.count > 0 {
buffer.append(tmpData)
} else {
// EOF or read error.
atEof = true
if buffer.count > 0 {
// Buffer contains last line in file (not terminated by delimiter).
let line = String(data: buffer as Data, encoding: encoding)
buffer.count = 0
return line
}
}
}
return nil
}
/// Start reading from the beginning of file.
func rewind() -> Void {
fileHandle.seek(toFileOffset: 0)
buffer.count = 0
atEof = false
}
/// Close the underlying file. No reading must be done after calling this method.
func close() -> Void {
fileHandle?.closeFile()
fileHandle = nil
}
}
extension StreamReader : Sequence {
func makeIterator() -> AnyIterator<String> {
return AnyIterator {
return self.nextLine()
}
}
}