Delete/Reset all entries in Core Data?

Question

Do you know of any way to delete all of the entries stored in Core Data? My schema should stay the same; I just want to reset it to blank.

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Edit

Answer 1

The accepted answer is correct with removing URL by NSFileManager is correct, but as stated in iOS 5+ edit, the persistent store is not represented only by one file. For SQLite store it's *.sqlite, *.sqlite-shm and *.sqlite-wal ... fortunately since iOS 7+ we can use method

[NSPersistentStoreCoordinator +removeUbiquitousContentAndPersistentStoreAtURL:options:error:]

to take care of removal, so the code should be something like this:

NSPersistentStore *store = ...;
NSError *error;
NSURL *storeURL = store.URL;
NSString *storeName = ...;
NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *storeCoordinator = ...;
[storeCoordinator removePersistentStore:store error:&error];
[NSPersistentStoreCoordinator removeUbiquitousContentAndPersistentStoreAtURL:storeURL.path options:@{NSPersistentStoreUbiquitousContentNameKey: storeName} error:&error];

Answer 2

One other method (apart from a delete batch request) I often use (based on app requirement) is to reset the persistent store. The implementation looks like this for iOS 10+ and Swift (assuming you have a CoreDataManager class):

let persistentContainer: NSPersistentContainer = {
    let container = NSPersistentContainer(name: "<Data-Model-Name>“)
    container.loadPersistentStores(completionHandler: { (storeDescription, err) in
        if let err = err {
            fatalError("loading of store failed: \(err)")
        }
    })
    return container
}()

func resetPersistentStore() {

    if let persistentStore = persistentContainer.persistentStoreCoordinator.persistentStores.last {
        let storeURL = persistentContainer.persistentStoreCoordinator.url(for: persistentStore)

        do {
            try persistentContainer.persistentStoreCoordinator.destroyPersistentStore(at: storeURL, ofType: NSSQLiteStoreType, options: nil)
        } catch {
            print("failed to destroy persistent store:", error.localizedDescription)
        }

        do {
            try persistentContainer.persistentStoreCoordinator.addPersistentStore(ofType: NSSQLiteStoreType, configurationName: nil, at: storeURL, options: nil)
        } catch {
            print("failed to re-add persistent store:", error.localizedDescription)
        }
    }

}

One advantage of this method is that it’s more straightforward especially when you have loads of data record for numerous entities in your core data. In which case a delete batch request would be memory intensive.

Answer 3

Updated Solution for iOS 10+

Use NSBatchDeleteRequest to delete all objects in the entity without having to load them into memory or iterate through them.

// create the delete request for the specified entity
let fetchRequest: NSFetchRequest<NSFetchRequestResult> = MyEntity.fetchRequest()
let deleteRequest = NSBatchDeleteRequest(fetchRequest: fetchRequest)

// get reference to the persistent container
let persistentContainer = (UIApplication.shared.delegate as! AppDelegate).persistentContainer

// perform the delete
do {
    try persistentContainer.viewContext.execute(deleteRequest)
} catch let error as NSError {
    print(error)
}

This code has been updated for iOS 10 and Swift 3. If you need to support iOS 9, see this question.

Sources:

• Core Data: Quickest way to delete all instances of an entity (includes Objective-C code)
• What's New in Core Data (WWDC 2015 video)
• What's New in Core Data (WWDC 2016 video)
• How to Use Core Data in iOS 10
• What’s new in Core Data Swift 3.0

Answer 4

I remove all data from core data on a button Event in a HomeViewController class: This article helped me so much I figured I'd contribute.

-(IBAction)buttonReset:(id)sender
{
    NSLog(@"buttonReset Pressed");

    //Erase the persistent store from coordinator and also file manager.
    NSPersistentStore *store = [self.persistentStoreCoordinator.persistentStores lastObject];
    NSError *error = nil;
    NSURL *storeURL = store.URL;
    [self.persistentStoreCoordinator removePersistentStore:store error:&error];
    [[NSFileManager defaultManager] removeItemAtURL:storeURL error:&error];


    NSLog(@"Data Reset");

    //Make new persistent store for future saves   (Taken From Above Answer)
    if (![self.persistentStoreCoordinator addPersistentStoreWithType:NSSQLiteStoreType configuration:nil URL:storeURL options:nil error:&error]) {
        // do something with the error
    }

}

Note that in order to call self.persistentStoreCoordinator I declared a property in the Home View Controller. (Don't worry about the managedObjectContext that I use for saving and loading.)

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSManagedObjectContext        *   managedObjectContext;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSPersistentStoreCoordinator  *   persistentStoreCoordinator;

Then in the AppDelegate ApplicationDidFinishLaunching right below creating a HomeViewController I have :

homeViewController = [[HomeViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"HomeViewController" bundle:nil];
homeViewController.managedObjectContext = self.managedObjectContext;
homeViewController.persistentStoreCoordinator = self.persistentStoreCoordinator;

Answer 5

Here is combined solution for purging Core Data.

- (void)deleteAllObjectsInCoreData
{
    NSArray *allEntities = self.managedObjectModel.entities;
    for (NSEntityDescription *entityDescription in allEntities)
    {
        NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [[NSFetchRequest alloc] init];
        [fetchRequest setEntity:entityDescription];

        fetchRequest.includesPropertyValues = NO;
        fetchRequest.includesSubentities = NO;

        NSError *error;
        NSArray *items = [self.managedObjectContext executeFetchRequest:fetchRequest error:&error];

        if (error) {
                NSLog(@"Error requesting items from Core Data: %@", [error localizedDescription]);
            }

        for (NSManagedObject *managedObject in items) {
            [self.managedObjectContext deleteObject:managedObject];
        }

        if (![self.managedObjectContext save:&error]) {
            NSLog(@"Error deleting %@ - error:%@", entityDescription, [error localizedDescription]);
        }
    }  
}

Answer 6

I took Grouchal's code and to speed it up I used enumeration with concurrent mode (NSEnumerationConcurrent), it got a bit faster compared to for loop (in my app I added this feature for Testers so that they can clear data and do testcases rather than delete and install app)

- (void)resetObjects
{
    [self deleteAllObjectsInEntity:@"Entity1"];
    [self deleteAllObjectsInEntity:@"Entity2"];
    [self deleteAllObjectsInEntity:@"Entity3"];
    [self deleteAllObjectsInEntity:@"Entity4"];
}

-(void) deleteAllObjectsInEntity:(NSString*) entityName
{
    MainDataContext *coreDataContext = [MainDataContext sharedInstance];
    NSManagedObjectContext *currentContext = coreDataContext.managedObjectContext;
    NSFetchRequest *fetchRequest = [[NSFetchRequest alloc] init];
    NSEntityDescription *entity = [NSEntityDescription entityForName:entityName inManagedObjectContext:currentContext];
    [fetchRequest setEntity:entity];

    NSError *error;
    NSArray *items = [currentContext executeFetchRequest:fetchRequest error:&error];

    [items enumerateObjectsWithOptions:NSEnumerationConcurrent usingBlock:^(NSManagedObject * obj, NSUInteger idx, BOOL *stop) {
        [currentContext deleteObject:obj];
    }];


    if (![currentContext save:&error]) {
        NSLog(@"Error deleting %@ - error:%@",entityName,error);
    }
}