Implement Document Picker in swift (iOS)

I want to pick a file of any type(.pdf, .docs, .xlsx, .jpeg, .txt, .rtf, etc) functionality in my iOS app. On clicking on Upload button, I want my app to open a directory and select files(DocumentsPicker)

@IBAction pickDocument(sender: UIButton) {
    //Open Document Picker
}

Any approach to do so in Swift?

Update for iOS 14: You do not need any capabilities. Just create a UIDocumentPickerViewController with the appropriate types, implement the delegate, and you are done.

More info in this answer. Code from there:

import UIKit
import MobileCoreServices
import UniformTypeIdentifiers

func selectFiles() {
    let types = UTType.types(tag: "json", 
                             tagClass: UTTagClass.filenameExtension, 
                             conformingTo: nil)
    let documentPickerController = UIDocumentPickerViewController(
            forOpeningContentTypes: types)
    documentPickerController.delegate = self
    self.present(documentPickerController, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

---

From your project's capabilities, enable both the iCloud and the Key-Sharing.

Import MobileCoreServices in your class and then extend the following three classes inside your UIViewController:

UIDocumentMenuDelegate,UIDocumentPickerDelegate,UINavigationControllerDelegate

Implement the following functions:

public func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
    guard let myURL = urls.first else {
        return
    }
    print("import result : \(myURL)")
}
      

public func documentMenu(_ documentMenu:UIDocumentMenuViewController, didPickDocumentPicker documentPicker: UIDocumentPickerViewController) {
    documentPicker.delegate = self
    present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
}


func documentPickerWasCancelled(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController) {
    print("view was cancelled")
    dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

How do you call all of this? Add the following bit of code to your click function:

func clickFunction(){

let importMenu = UIDocumentMenuViewController(documentTypes: [String(kUTTypePDF)], in: .import)
    importMenu.delegate = self
    importMenu.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet       
    self.present(importMenu, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

Click your button. The following menu will pop up ..

In the case of Dropbox. Upon clicking on any item. You will be redirected back to your app and the URL will be logged in your terminal.

Manipulate the documentTypes to your need. In my app, Users permitted to Pdf only. So, suit yourself.

kUTTypePDF kUTTypePNG kUTTypeJPEG ...

Also if you feel like customizing your own menu bar. Add the following code and customize your own function inside the handler

importMenu.addOption(withTitle: "Create New Document", image: nil, order: .first, handler: { print("New Doc Requested") })

Enjoy it.

You can use UIDocumentPickerViewController to get the files from the Files apps or iCloud Drive.

1. Activate the Key-value storage and iCloud Documents from iCloud capability:

2. Import the following framework on the view controller you want to open the document picker:

    import MobileCoreServices
   
    // For iOS 14+
    import UniformTypeIdentifiers
   

3. Implement the following method from UIDocumentPickerDelegate:

    func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
         // you get from the urls parameter the urls from the files selected
    }
   

4. Create an UIDocumentPickerViewController to display the File picker or iCloud Drive:

   // Use this code if your are developing prior iOS 14
   let types: [String] = [kUTTypePDF as String]
   let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: types, in: .import)
   documentPicker.delegate = self
   documentPicker.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet
   self.present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
   
   // For iOS 14+
   let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(forOpeningContentTypes: [UTType.item], asCopy: false)
   documentPicker.delegate = self
   documentPicker.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet
    
   self.present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
   

If you want the user can import more types of files to your app, you have to add more UTTypes to the types NSArray. To see all the types available, you can check the UTType Docs

When the document picker opens on iOS 11 and you try to select a file inside the Google Drive, it is possible the file is disable due a bug: http://www.openradar.me/24187873

The UIDocumentMenuViewController is deprecated since iOS11. I also found it buggy when presented from a modal view controller. Here's a direct way of using the picker:

import MobileCoreServices

private func attachDocument() {
    let types = [kUTTypePDF, kUTTypeText, kUTTypeRTF, kUTTypeSpreadsheet]
    let importMenu = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: types as [String], in: .import)

    if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
        importMenu.allowsMultipleSelection = true
    }

    importMenu.delegate = self
    importMenu.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet

    present(importMenu, animated: true)
}

extension AViewController: UIDocumentPickerDelegate, UINavigationControllerDelegate {
    func documentPicker(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController, didPickDocumentsAt urls: [URL]) {
        viewModel.attachDocuments(at: urls)
    }

     func documentPickerWasCancelled(_ controller: UIDocumentPickerViewController) {
        controller.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
    }
}

As usual don't forget to add iCloud support:

UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: [String], in: UIDocumentPickerMode) was deprecated in iOS 14.0

It is now UIDocumentPickerViewController(forOpeningContentTypes: [UTType])

ContentTypes being and array any or the combination of the following:

UTType.image, UTType.text, UTType.plainText, UTType.utf8PlainText,    UTType.utf16ExternalPlainText, UTType.utf16PlainText,    UTType.delimitedText, UTType.commaSeparatedText,    UTType.tabSeparatedText, UTType.utf8TabSeparatedText, UTType.rtf,    UTType.pdf, UTType.webArchive, UTType.image, UTType.jpeg,    UTType.tiff, UTType.gif, UTType.png, UTType.bmp, UTType.ico,    UTType.rawImage, UTType.svg, UTType.livePhoto, UTType.movie,    UTType.video, UTType.audio, UTType.quickTimeMovie, UTType.mpeg,    UTType.mpeg2Video, UTType.mpeg2TransportStream, UTType.mp3,    UTType.mpeg4Movie, UTType.mpeg4Audio, UTType.avi, UTType.aiff,    UTType.wav, UTType.midi, UTType.archive, UTType.gzip, UTType.bz2,    UTType.zip, UTType.appleArchive, UTType.spreadsheet, UTType.epub

This is how it works for me:

let supportedTypes = [myArrayFromAnyOfTheAbove]

func openDocument() {
    let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(forOpeningContentTypes: supportedTypes, asCopy: true)
    documentPicker.delegate = self
    documentPicker.allowsMultipleSelection = false
    documentPicker.shouldShowFileExtensions = true
    present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

let docsTypes = ["public.text",
                          "com.apple.iwork.pages.pages",
                          "public.data",
                          "kUTTypeItem",
                          "kUTTypeContent",
                          "kUTTypeCompositeContent",
                          "kUTTypeData",
                          "public.database",
                          "public.calendar-event",
                          "public.message",
                          "public.presentation",
                          "public.contact",
                          "public.archive",
                          "public.disk-image",
                          "public.plain-text",
                          "public.utf8-plain-text",
                          "public.utf16-external-plain-​text",
                          "public.utf16-plain-text",
                          "com.apple.traditional-mac-​plain-text",
                          "public.rtf",
                          "com.apple.ink.inktext",
                          "public.html",
                          "public.xml",
                          "public.source-code",
                          "public.c-source",
                          "public.objective-c-source",
                          "public.c-plus-plus-source",
                          "public.objective-c-plus-​plus-source",
                          "public.c-header",
                          "public.c-plus-plus-header",
                          "com.sun.java-source",
                          "public.script",
                          "public.assembly-source",
                          "com.apple.rez-source",
                          "public.mig-source",
                          "com.apple.symbol-export",
                          "com.netscape.javascript-​source",
                          "public.shell-script",
                          "public.csh-script",
                          "public.perl-script",
                          "public.python-script",
                          "public.ruby-script",
                          "public.php-script",
                          "com.sun.java-web-start",
                          "com.apple.applescript.text",
                          "com.apple.applescript.​script",
                          "public.object-code",
                          "com.apple.mach-o-binary",
                          "com.apple.pef-binary",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​executable",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​dynamic-link-library",
                          "com.sun.java-class",
                          "com.sun.java-archive",
                          "com.apple.quartz-​composer-composition",
                          "org.gnu.gnu-tar-archive",
                          "public.tar-archive",
                          "org.gnu.gnu-zip-archive",
                          "org.gnu.gnu-zip-tar-archive",
                          "com.apple.binhex-archive",
                          "com.apple.macbinary-​archive",
                          "public.url",
                          "public.file-url",
                          "public.url-name",
                          "public.vcard",
                          "public.image",
                          "public.fax",
                          "public.jpeg",
                          "public.jpeg-2000",
                          "public.tiff",
                          "public.camera-raw-image",
                          "com.apple.pict",
                          "com.apple.macpaint-image",
                          "public.png",
                          "public.xbitmap-image",
                          "com.apple.quicktime-image",
                          "com.apple.icns",
                          "com.apple.txn.text-​multimedia-data",
                          "public.audiovisual-​content",
                          "public.movie",
                          "public.video",
                          "com.apple.quicktime-movie",
                          "public.avi",
                          "public.mpeg",
                          "public.mpeg-4",
                          "public.3gpp",
                          "public.3gpp2",
                          "public.audio",
                          "public.mp3",
                          "public.mpeg-4-audio",
                          "com.apple.protected-​mpeg-4-audio",
                          "public.ulaw-audio",
                          "public.aifc-audio",
                          "public.aiff-audio",
                          "com.apple.coreaudio-​format",
                          "public.directory",
                          "public.folder",
                          "public.volume",
                          "com.apple.package",
                          "com.apple.bundle",
                          "public.executable",
                          "com.apple.application",
                          "com.apple.application-​bundle",
                          "com.apple.application-file",
                          "com.apple.deprecated-​application-file",
                          "com.apple.plugin",
                          "com.apple.metadata-​importer",
                          "com.apple.dashboard-​widget",
                          "public.cpio-archive",
                          "com.pkware.zip-archive",
                          "com.apple.webarchive",
                          "com.apple.framework",
                          "com.apple.rtfd",
                          "com.apple.flat-rtfd",
                          "com.apple.resolvable",
                          "public.symlink",
                          "com.apple.mount-point",
                          "com.apple.alias-record",
                          "com.apple.alias-file",
                          "public.font",
                          "public.truetype-font",
                          "com.adobe.postscript-font",
                          "com.apple.truetype-​datafork-suitcase-font",
                          "public.opentype-font",
                          "public.truetype-ttf-font",
                          "public.truetype-collection-​font",
                          "com.apple.font-suitcase",
                          "com.adobe.postscript-lwfn​-font",
                          "com.adobe.postscript-pfb-​font",
                          "com.adobe.postscript.pfa-​font",
                          "com.apple.colorsync-profile",
                          "public.filename-extension",
                          "public.mime-type",
                          "com.apple.ostype",
                          "com.apple.nspboard-type",
                          "com.adobe.pdf",
                          "com.adobe.postscript",
                          "com.adobe.encapsulated-​postscript",
                          "com.adobe.photoshop-​image",
                          "com.adobe.illustrator.ai-​image",
                          "com.compuserve.gif",
                          "com.microsoft.bmp",
                          "com.microsoft.ico",
                          "com.microsoft.word.doc",
                          "com.microsoft.excel.xls",
                          "com.microsoft.powerpoint.​ppt",
                          "com.microsoft.waveform-​audio",
                          "com.microsoft.advanced-​systems-format",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wm",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wmv",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wmp",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wma",
                          "com.microsoft.advanced-​stream-redirector",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wmx",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wvx",
                          "com.microsoft.windows-​media-wax",
                          "com.apple.keynote.key",
                          "com.apple.keynote.kth",
                          "com.truevision.tga-image",
                          "com.sgi.sgi-image",
                          "com.ilm.openexr-image",
                          "com.kodak.flashpix.image",
                          "com.j2.jfx-fax",
                          "com.js.efx-fax",
                          "com.digidesign.sd2-audio",
                          "com.real.realmedia",
                          "com.real.realaudio",
                          "com.real.smil",
                          "com.allume.stuffit-archive",
                          "org.openxmlformats.wordprocessingml.document",
                          "com.microsoft.powerpoint.​ppt",
                          "org.openxmlformats.presentationml.presentation",
                          "com.microsoft.excel.xls",
                          "org.openxmlformats.spreadsheetml.sheet",
                         
    
  ]
let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: Utils.docsTypes, in: .import)
    documentPicker.delegate = self
    documentPicker.allowsMultipleSelection = true
    present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)

this will help you to implement download/upload functionality

UIDocumentMenuViewController *importMenu = [[UIDocumentMenuViewController alloc] initWithDocumentTypes:@[@"public.item"] inMode:UIDocumentPickerModeImport | UIDocumentPickerModeExportToService];

For more read Apple Documentation

iCloud access all type of files

func openiCloudDocuments(){
    let importMenu = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: [String("public.data")], in: .import)
    importMenu.delegate = self
    importMenu.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet
    self.present(importMenu, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

Something I struggled with was how to specify some specific formats for the PickerView, such as .pptx & .xlsx files. Here's some code to create a PickerView with some commonly required types...

let types: [String] = [
    kUTTypeJPEG as String,
    kUTTypePNG as String,
    "com.microsoft.word.doc",
    "org.openxmlformats.wordprocessingml.document",
    kUTTypeRTF as String,
    "com.microsoft.powerpoint.​ppt",
    "org.openxmlformats.presentationml.presentation",
    kUTTypePlainText as String,
    "com.microsoft.excel.xls",
    "org.openxmlformats.spreadsheetml.sheet",
    kUTTypePDF as String,
    kUTTypeMP3 as String
]
let documentPicker = UIDocumentPickerViewController(documentTypes: types, in: .import)
documentPicker.delegate = self
documentPicker.modalPresentationStyle = .formSheet
self.present(documentPicker, animated: true, completion: nil)

There are two places that I found useful in putting together this list:

https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/UTIRef/Articles/System-DeclaredUniformTypeIdentifiers.html

https://escapetech.eu/manuals/qdrop/uti.html

Hope that helps somebody!

You could implement what you describe using NSURLSession.

You will have to limit the target directory you show to your app's documents directory. Apps do not have full access to the file system.