Moving, Copying, and Deleting Files

The following examples show file manipulation using the URL-based methods of NSFileManager that are available in Mac OS X v10.6 and later.

To move or rename a file or directory, use moveItemAtURL:toURL:error:, as illustrated by this code fragment:

NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];

NSURL *srcURL = <#Get the source URL#>;

NSURL *destinationURL = <#Create the destination URL#>;

NSError *error = nil;

if (![fileManager moveItemAtURL:srcURL toURL:destinationURL error:&error]) {

    // Handle the error.

}

To copy a file or directory, use copyItemAtURL:toURL:error:, as illustrated by this code fragment:

NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];

NSURL *srcURL = <#Get the source URL#>;

NSURL *destinationURL = <#Create the destination URL#>;

NSError *error = nil;

if (![fileManager copyItemAtURL:srcURL toURL:destinationURL error:&error]) {

    // Handle the error.

}

To delete a file or directory, use removeItemAtURL:error:, as illustrated by this code fragment:

NSFileManager *fileManager = [NSFileManager defaultManager];

NSURL *url = <#Get the URL of the item to delete#>;

NSError *error = nil;

if (![fileManager removeItemAtURL error:&error]) {

    // Handle the error.

}

You can also replace a file or directory with another file or directory, renaming the original item with a name to signify that it it is a backup using replaceItemAtURL:withItemAtURL:backupItemName:options:resultingItemURL:error: (for Carbon developers, this is a replacement for the FSExchangeObjects function). You typically need this functionality when saving documents; since NSDocument performs this operation itself when saving a document, there may generally be little reason for you to use it yourself.

Finder-Like Operations

In Mac OS X v10.6 and later, NSWorkspace provides two methods you can use to duplicate files or move them to the trash in the same way that Finder does.

NSWorkspace *workspace = [NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace];

NSArray *URLs = <#An array of file URLs#>;

[workspace recycleURLs:URLs completionHandler:^(NSDictionary *newURLs, NSError *error) {

    if (error != nil) {

        // Deal with any errors here.

    }

}];

NSWorkspace *workspace = [NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace];

NSArray *URLs = <#An array of file URLs#>;

[workspace duplicateURLs:URLs completionHandler:^(NSDictionary *newURLs, NSError *error) {

    if (error != nil) {

        // Deal with any errors here.

    }

}];