Question

To get to my application documents folder, I use this code:

[NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES) lastObject];

I want to access this folder, however:

~/Library/Mobile Documents

How can i easily access this as a path value? Can I do this in a similar way?

Answer 1

The benefit of using the constants to access system provided directories is that if Apple decide to change the structure, your application will still work. Hardcoding in something like ~/Library/Mobile Documents is brittle.

However, you can access the Library directory with the same NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomain with the NSLibraryDirectory constant. Then, you should just append the Mobile Documents directory path.

// Set the NO to YES to get the full path, not the ~ version.
NSString *path = [NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSLibraryDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, NO) lastObject]; 
path = [path stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Mobile Documents"];

Looking at the constant values in http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/Cocoa/Reference/Foundation/Miscellaneous/Foundation_Constants/Reference/reference.html#//apple_ref/doc/c_ref/NSSearchPathDirectory, it appears there is no specific constant for the Mobile Documents directory, so the hardcoding approach might be your only option.