Converting a string back into an array

Question

I have a variable that has a string thats has an array in it. How do I convert it to just an array again in swift?

var featCatName2 = "[home, pages, books, stores, groups, trips]"

Convert to:

var featCatName2 = [home, pages, books, stores, groups, trips]

Why do you store the array as a string like this? What if one of the strings contains a comma? — Martin R
– Martin R, Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:24

mbogh · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-17 20:23:47Z

4

The short answer is this one-liner:

var featCatName2 = "[home, pages, books, stores, groups, trips]"
let result = featCatName2.stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet(NSCharacterSet(charactersInString: "[]")).componentsSeparatedByString(", ")

This is also safe to call even when the array is empty :)

var featCatName2 = "[home, pages, books, stores, groups, trips]"
Declare your string "array"
featCatName2 = featCatName2.stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet(NSCharacterSet(charactersInString: "[]"))
Trim away [] in both ends.
let result = featCatName2.componentsSeparatedByString(", ")
Explode the string into an array of strings.

answered Dec 17, 2014 at 20:23

mbogh

1,36112 silver badges28 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

cmyr Over a year ago

I was just going to suggest this. I'd probably make it a two-liner, though.

Leo Dabus · Accepted Answer · 2014-12-17 20:20:07Z

1

public extension String {
    var count: Int {
        return countElements(self)
    }

    subscript (i: Int) -> String {
        return String(Array(self)[i])
    }
    subscript (r: Range<Int>) -> String {
        var start = advance(startIndex, r.startIndex)
        var end = advance(startIndex, r.endIndex)
        return substringWithRange(Range(start: start, end: end))
    }
}

var featCatName2 = "[home, pages, books, stores, groups, trips]"

let resultArray = featCatName2[1...featCatName2.count-2].componentsSeparatedByString(", ") // ["home", "pages", "books", "stores", "groups", "trips"]

answered Dec 17, 2014 at 20:20

Leo Dabus

237k61 gold badges512 silver badges624 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Converting a string back into an array

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

2 Answers 2

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related