Workaround for EKParcipant URL accessing crash?

Question

Some of my users have been sent me logs identifying a EXC_BREAKPOINT (SIGTRAP) Error on this line of code. I've been been trying to make it safe but all of the properties of EKParticipant are non optional so comparing to nil just gives me a warning saying it will always be true. If something is nil here how should I handle it?

Error Line

let participantEmail : String? = participant.url.absoluteString.lowercased().replacingOccurrences(of: "mailto:", with: "")

Apple Error Description

Trace Trap [EXC_BREAKPOINT // SIGTRAP]

Similar to an Abnormal Exit, this exception is intended to give an attached debugger the chance to interrupt the process at a specific point in its execution. You can trigger this exception from your own code using the __builtin_trap() function. If no debugger is attached, the process is terminated and a crash report is generated. Lower-level libraries (e.g, libdispatch) will trap the process upon encountering a fatal error. Additional information about the error can be found in the Additional Diagnostic Information section of the crash report, or in the device's console. Swift code will terminate with this exception type if an unexpected condition is encountered at runtime such as: a non-optional type with a nil value a failed forced type conversion Look at the Backtraces to determine where the unexpected condition was encountered. Additional information may have also been logged to the device's console. You should modify the code at the crashing location to gracefully handle the runtime failure. For example, use Optional Binding instead of force unwrapping an optional."

Full Method

    /**
Parses participants for a given event.
 Goes through the EKEvents attendees array to build Attendee objects used to model a participant.

 - parameter event: The calendar event we'll be finding the participants for.
 - returns: An array of Attendee objects with the participants name, email, required/optional status and whether they've accepted their invitation to the event.
 */
private static func parseParticipantsIn(event: EKEvent) -> [Attendee] {
var participants = [Attendee]()

if let attendees = event.attendees, event.attendees?.isEmpty == false {
    for participant in attendees {
        let participantName : String? = parse(EKParticipantName: participant)
            let participantEmail : String? = participant.url.absoluteString.lowercased().replacingOccurrences(of: "mailto:", with: "")

            let isRequiredParticipant : Bool = participant.participantRole == EKParticipantRole.required
            let hasAccepted : Bool = participant.participantStatus == EKParticipantStatus.accepted

             guard (participantName != nil && participantEmail !=  nil)
                else
            {
                log.error("Participant could not be parsed")
                continue
            }
            let attendee = Attendee(name: participantName!, email: participantEmail!, required: isRequiredParticipant, hasAccepted: hasAccepted)
            participants.append(attendee)
        }
    }
    return participants
}

Answer 1

This appears to be a problem with the EKParticipant.url property. Any attempted access of EKParticipant.url causes a crash if you have a participant with the following email field within it.

"Bill Gates" <[email protected]>

I'd guess the quotation marks end the String prematurely. It is fine when accessed from EKParticipant.description so I intend to parse it from there.