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# init(contentsOfFile:)

Initializes a newly allocated array with the contents of the file specified by a given path.

```
convenience init?(contentsOfFile path: String)
```

## Parameters

`path`

The path to a file containing a representation of an array produced by the [`write(toFile:atomically:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSArray/write(toFile:atomically:)) method.

## Return Value

An array initialized to contain the contents of the file specified by `aPath` or `nil` if the file can’t be opened or the contents of the file can’t be parsed into an array. The returned object might be different than the original receiver.

## Discussion

The array representation in the file identified by `aPath` must contain only property list objects (`NSString`, `NSData`, `NSArray`, or `NSDictionary` objects). The objects contained by this array are immutable, even if the array is mutable.

## See Also

[`write(toFile:atomically:)`](/documentation/Foundation/NSArray/write(toFile:atomically:))

Writes the contents of the array to a file at a given path.

[`arrayWithContentsOfFile:`](/documentation/Foundation/NSArray/arrayWithContentsOfFile:)

Creates and returns an array containing the contents of the file specified by a given path.


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