Check if an URL has got http:// prefix

Question

In my application, when the user add an object, can also add a link for this object and then the link can be opened in a webView.
I tried to save a link without http://

Answer 1

I wrote an extension for String in Swift, to see if url string got http or https

extension String{

    func isValidForUrl()->Bool{

        if(self.hasPrefix("http") || self.hasPrefix("https")){
            return true
        }
        return false
    }
}

if(urlString.isValidForUrl())
    {
      //Do the thing here.
}

Answer 2

First, you should create a new category for NSURL: File > New File > Objective-C Category. You can call the category something along the lines of HTTPURLWithString, make it a category of NSURL, press next and add it to your target. Then in the NSURL+HTTPURLFromString.m implement the following message (and declare the message in your .h)

@implementation NSURL (HTTPURLFromString)
+(NSURL *)HTTPURLFromString:(NSString *)string
{
    NSString *searchString = @"http";
    NSRange prefixRange = [string rangeOfString:searchString options:(NSCaseInsensitiveSearch | NSAnchoredSearch)];

    if (prefixRange.length == 4) {
        return [NSURL URLWithString:string];
    }
    return [NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"http://%@", string]];

}
@end

To open a link in the WebView is simply

NSString *urlString = @"www.google.com";
NSURL *url = [NSURL HTTPURLFromString:urlString];
NSURLRequest *request = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:url];
[webView.mainFrame loadRequest:request];

Answer 3

You can use scheme property for check it out. For example...

if ([yourURL.scheme isEqualToString:@"http"] || [yourURL.scheme isEqualToString:@"https"]) {
    ...
} 

Answer 4

You can use the - (BOOL)hasPrefix:(NSString *)aString method on NSString to see if an NSString containing your URL starts with the http:// prefix, and if not add the prefix.

NSString *myURLString = @"www.google.com";
NSURL *myURL;
if ([myURLString.lowercaseString hasPrefix:@"http://"]) {
    myURL = [NSURL URLWithString:myURLString];
} else {
    myURL = [NSURL URLWithString:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"http://%@",myURLString]];
}

I'm currently away from my mac and can't compile/test this code, but I believe the above should work.

Answer 5

If you're checking for "http://" you'll probably want case-insensitive search:

// probably better to check for just http instead of http://
NSRange prefixRange = 
    [temp rangeOfString:@"http" 
                options:(NSAnchoredSearch | NSCaseInsensitiveSearch)];
if (prefixRange.location == NSNotFound)

Although I think the url scheme check is a better answer depending on your circumstances, as URLs can begin with http or https and other prefixes depending on what your use case is.

Answer 6

NSString * urlString = ...;
NSURL * url = [NSURL URLWithString:urlString];
if (![[url scheme] length])
{
  url = [NSURL URLWithString:[@"http://" stringByAppendingString:urlString]];
}