Converting URL to String and back again

Question

So I have converted an NSURL to a String. So if I println it looks like file:///Users/... etc.

Later I want this

Answer 1

2020 | SWIFT 5.1:

From STRING to URL:

let url = URL(fileURLWithPath: "//Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt")

From URL to STRING:

let a = String(describing: url)       // "file:////Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt"
let b = "\(url)"                      // "file:////Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt"
let c = url.absoluteString            // "file:////Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt"
let d = url.path                      // "/Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt" 

BUT value of d will be invisible due to debug process, so...

THE BEST SOLUTION:

let e = "\(url.path)"                 // "/Users/Me/Desktop/Doc.txt"

Answer 2

Swift 3 used with UIWebViewDelegate shouldStartLoadWith

  func webView(_ webView: UIWebView, shouldStartLoadWith request: URLRequest, navigationType: UIWebViewNavigationType) -> Bool {

    let urlPath: String = (request.url?.absoluteString)!
    print(urlPath)
    if urlPath.characters.last == "#" {
        return false
    }else{
        return true
    }

}

Answer 3

let url = URL(string: "URLSTRING HERE")
let anyvar =  String(describing: url)

Answer 4

Swift 3 version code:

let urlString = "file:///Users/Documents/Book/Note.txt"
let pathURL = URL(string: urlString)!
print("the url = " + pathURL.path)

Answer 5

NOTICE: pay attention to the url, it's optional and it can be nil. You can wrap your url in the quote to convert it to a string. You can test it in the playground.
Update for Swift 5, Xcode 11:

import Foundation

let urlString = "http://ifconfig.me"
// string to url
let url = URL(string: urlString)
//url to string
let string = "\(url)"
// if you want the path without `file` schema
// let string = "\(url.path)"

Answer 6

There is a nicer way of getting the string version of the path from the NSURL in Swift:

let path:String = url.path