Search code examples
cmacoscore-foundationnsbundle

How can I find the path to a file in an application bundle (NSBundle) using C?


Is there a C API for finding the path to a file in an application bundle?

I know that this can be done in Objective-C with the following syntax.

NSString *path = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"MyImage" ofType:@"bmp"];

Is there a corresponding function that I can call from C or C++ code, as well?


Solution

  • After Mike K pointed me in the right direction, I was able to retrieve the path to a file in an application bundle with the following code.

    // Get a reference to the main bundle
    CFBundleRef mainBundle = CFBundleGetMainBundle();
    
    // Get a reference to the file's URL
    CFURLRef imageURL = CFBundleCopyResourceURL(mainBundle, CFSTR("MyImage"), CFSTR("bmp"), NULL);
    
    // Convert the URL reference into a string reference
    CFStringRef imagePath = CFURLCopyFileSystemPath(imageURL, kCFURLPOSIXPathStyle);
    
    // Get the system encoding method
    CFStringEncoding encodingMethod = CFStringGetSystemEncoding();
    
    // Convert the string reference into a C string
    const char *path = CFStringGetCStringPtr(imagePath, encodingMethod);
    
    fprintf(stderr, "File is located at %s\n", path);
    

    This seems to be a bit longer than it needs to be, but at least it works!