Swift - Generate an Address Format from Reverse Geocoding

Question

I am trying to generate a Formatted Full address using CLGeocoder in Swift 3. I referred to this SO thread to get the code given below.

However, sometimes the app crashes with a 'nil' error at the line:

//Address dictionary
print(placeMark.addressDictionary ?? "")

Questions:

1. How can I concatenate these values retrieved from the GeoCoder to form a full address? (Street + City + etc)
2. How do I handle the nil error I get when the func is unable to find an address?

Full code:

func getAddress() -> String {
        var address: String = ""

        let geoCoder = CLGeocoder()
        let location = CLLocation(latitude: selectedLat, longitude: selectedLon)
        //selectedLat and selectedLon are double values set by the app in a previous process

        geoCoder.reverseGeocodeLocation(location, completionHandler: { (placemarks, error) -> Void in

            // Place details
            var placeMark: CLPlacemark!
            placeMark = placemarks?[0]

            // Address dictionary
            //print(placeMark.addressDictionary ?? "")

            // Location name
            if let locationName = placeMark.addressDictionary!["Name"] as? NSString {
                //print(locationName)
            }

            // Street address
            if let street = placeMark.addressDictionary!["Thoroughfare"] as? NSString {
                //print(street)
            }

            // City
            if let city = placeMark.addressDictionary!["City"] as? NSString {
                //print(city)
            }

            // Zip code
            if let zip = placeMark.addressDictionary!["ZIP"] as? NSString {
                //print(zip)
            }

            // Country
            if let country = placeMark.addressDictionary!["Country"] as? NSString {
                //print(country)
            }

        })

        return address;
    } 

Answer 1

func getAddressFromLatLon(pdblLatitude: String, withLongitude pdblLongitude: String) {
        var center : CLLocationCoordinate2D = CLLocationCoordinate2D()
        let lat: Double = Double("\(pdblLatitude)")!
        //21.228124
        let lon: Double = Double("\(pdblLongitude)")!
        //72.833770
        let ceo: CLGeocoder = CLGeocoder()
        center.latitude = lat
        center.longitude = lon

        let loc: CLLocation = CLLocation(latitude:center.latitude, longitude: center.longitude)


        ceo.reverseGeocodeLocation(loc, completionHandler:
            {(placemarks, error) in
                if (error != nil)
                {
                    print("reverse geodcode fail: \(error!.localizedDescription)")
                }
                let pm = placemarks! as [CLPlacemark]

                if pm.count > 0 {
                    let pm = placemarks![0]
                    print(pm.country)
                    print(pm.locality)
                    print(pm.subLocality)
                    print(pm.thoroughfare)
                    print(pm.postalCode)
                    print(pm.subThoroughfare)
                    var addressString : String = ""
                    if pm.subLocality != nil {
                        addressString = addressString + pm.subLocality! + ", "
                    }
                    if pm.thoroughfare != nil {
                        addressString = addressString + pm.thoroughfare! + ", "
                    }
                    if pm.locality != nil {
                        addressString = addressString + pm.locality! + ", "
                    }
                    if pm.country != nil {
                        addressString = addressString + pm.country! + ", "
                    }
                    if pm.postalCode != nil {
                        addressString = addressString + pm.postalCode! + " "
                    }


                    print(addressString)
              }
        })

    }

Answer 2

To concatenate you can simply replace return address by this :

return "\(locationName), \(street), \(city), \(zip), \(country)"

Answer 3

1. For fixing the empty address issue, either you can use a class property to hold the appended value or you can use a closure to return the value back to the calling function
2. For fixing the crash you need to avoid the force unwrapping of optionals

Using a closure you can do it like:

// Using closure
func getAddress(handler: @escaping (String) -> Void)
{
    var address: String = ""
    let geoCoder = CLGeocoder()
    let location = CLLocation(latitude: selectedLat, longitude: selectedLon)
    //selectedLat and selectedLon are double values set by the app in a previous process
    
    geoCoder.reverseGeocodeLocation(location, completionHandler: { (placemarks, error) -> Void in
        
        // Place details
        var placeMark: CLPlacemark?
        placeMark = placemarks?[0]
        
        // Address dictionary
        //print(placeMark.addressDictionary ?? "")
        
        // Location name
        if let locationName = placeMark?.addressDictionary?["Name"] as? String {
            address += locationName + ", "
        }
        
        // Street address
        if let street = placeMark?.addressDictionary?["Thoroughfare"] as? String {
            address += street + ", "
        }
        
        // City
        if let city = placeMark?.addressDictionary?["City"] as? String {
            address += city + ", "
        }
        
        // Zip code
        if let zip = placeMark?.addressDictionary?["ZIP"] as? String {
            address += zip + ", "
        }
        
        // Country
        if let country = placeMark?.addressDictionary?["Country"] as? String {
            address += country
        }
        
       // Passing address back
       handler(address)
    })
}

You can call the method like:

getAddress { (address) in
    print(address)
}

Answer 4

 func getAddressFromlatLong(lat: Double, long: Double, completion: @escaping (_ address: String) -> Void){
    let coordinate = CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: lat, longitude: long)
    let geocoder = GMSGeocoder()
    var add = ""
    geocoder.reverseGeocodeCoordinate(coordinate) { (response, error) in
      if let address = response?.firstResult() {
        
        guard let arrAddress = address.lines else {return}
        if arrAddress.count > 1 {
            add =  /(arrAddress[0]) + ", " + /(arrAddress[1])
    
        }else if arrAddress.count == 1 {
            add =  /(arrAddress[0])
        }
        completion(add)
      }
    }
  }

Answer 5

Formatting addresses is hard because each country has its own format.

With a few lines of code, you can get the correct address format for each country and let Apple handle the differences.

Since iOS 11, you can get a Contacts framework address:

extension CLPlacemark {
    @available(iOS 11.0, *)
    open var postalAddress: CNPostalAddress? { get }
}

This extension is part of the Contacts framework. This means, this feature is invisible to you in the XCode code completion until you do

import Contacts

With this additional import, you can do something like

CLGeocoder().reverseGeocodeLocation(location, preferredLocale: nil) { (clPlacemark: [CLPlacemark]?, error: Error?) in
    guard let place = clPlacemark?.first else {
        print("No placemark from Apple: \(String(describing: error))")
        return
    }

    let postalAddressFormatter = CNPostalAddressFormatter()
    postalAddressFormatter.style = .mailingAddress
    var addressString: String?
    if let postalAddress = place.postalAddress {
        addressString = postalAddressFormatter.string(from: postalAddress)
    }
}

and get the address formatted in the format for the country in the address.

The formatter even supports formatting as an attributedString.

Prior to iOS 11, you can convert CLPlacemark to CNPostalAddress yourself and still can use the country specific formatting of CNPostalAddressFormatter.

Answer 6

func getAddress(from coordinate: CLLocationCoordinate2D, completion: @escaping (String) -> Void) {
        let geoCoder = CLGeocoder()
        let location = CLLocation.init(latitude: coordinate.latitude, longitude: coordinate.longitude)
        
        geoCoder.reverseGeocodeLocation(location, completionHandler: { (placemarks, error) -> Void in
            
            // check for errors
            guard let placeMarkArr = placemarks else {
                completion("")
                debugPrint(error ?? "")
                return
            }
            // check placemark data existence
            
            guard let placemark = placeMarkArr.first, !placeMarkArr.isEmpty else {
                completion("")
                return
            }
            // create address string
            
            let outputString = [placemark.locality,
                                placemark.subLocality,
                                placemark.thoroughfare,
                                placemark.postalCode,
                                placemark.subThoroughfare,
                                placemark.country].compactMap { $0 }.joined(separator: ", ")
            
            completion(outputString)
        })
    }

Answer 7

func convertLatLongToAddress(latitude:Double, longitude:Double) {
    let geoCoder = CLGeocoder()
    let location = CLLocation(latitude: latitude, longitude: longitude)
    var labelText = ""
    geoCoder.reverseGeocodeLocation(location, completionHandler: { (placemarks, error) -> Void in

        var placeMark: CLPlacemark!
        placeMark = placemarks?[0]

        if placeMark != nil {
            if let name = placeMark.name {
                labelText = name
            }
            if let subThoroughfare = placeMark.subThoroughfare {
                if (subThoroughfare != placeMark.name) && (labelText != subThoroughfare) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + subThoroughfare : subThoroughfare
                }
            }
            if let subLocality = placeMark.subLocality {
                if (subLocality != placeMark.subThoroughfare) && (labelText != subLocality) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + subLocality : subLocality
                }
            }
            if let street = placeMark.thoroughfare {
                if (street != placeMark.subLocality) && (labelText != street) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + street : street
                }
            }
            if let locality = placeMark.locality {
                if (locality != placeMark.thoroughfare) && (labelText != locality) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + locality : locality
                }
            }
            if let city = placeMark.subAdministrativeArea {
                if (city != placeMark.locality) && (labelText != city) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + city : city
                }
            }
            if let state = placeMark.postalAddress?.state {
                if (state != placeMark.subAdministrativeArea) && (labelText != state) {
                    labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + state : state
                }

            }
            if let country = placeMark.country {
                labelText = (labelText != "") ? labelText + "," + country : country
            }
            // labelText gives you the address of the place
        }
    })
}

Here as an improvement I added place name as well. It makes address more meaningful.

Answer 8

CLGeocoder().reverseGeocodeLocation(CLLocation(latitude: vehicleLocation.latitude, longitude: vehicleLocation.latitude), completionHandler: {(placemarks, error) -> Void in

  guard error == nil else {completionHandler(nil); return}

  guard let place = placemarks else {completionHandler(nil); return}

  if place.count > 0 {
    let pm = place[0]

    var addArray:[String] = []
    if let name = pm.name {
      addArray.append(name)
    }
    if let thoroughfare = pm.thoroughfare {
      addArray.append(thoroughfare)
    }
    if let subLocality = pm.subLocality {
      addArray.append(subLocality)
    }
    if let locality = pm.locality {
      addArray.append(locality)
    }
    if let subAdministrativeArea = pm.subAdministrativeArea {
      addArray.append(subAdministrativeArea)
    }
    if let administrativeArea = pm.administrativeArea {
      addArray.append(administrativeArea)
    }
    if let country = pm.country {
      addArray.append(country)
    }
    if let postalCode = pm.postalCode {
      addArray.append(postalCode)
    }

    let addressString = addArray.joined(separator: ",\n")

    print(addressString)

    completionHandler(addressString)
  }
  else { completionHandler(nil)}
})

Answer 9

Here's a 2-3 line version of the answers here:

    func getAddress(placemarks: [CLPlacemark]) -> String {
        guard let placemark = placemarks.first, !placemarks.isEmpty else {return ""}
        let outputString = [placemark.locality,
                            placemark.subLocality,
                            placemark.thoroughfare,
                            placemark.postalCode,
                            placemark.subThoroughfare,
                            placemark.country].compactMap{$0}.joined(separator: ", ")
        print(outputString)
        return outputString
    }

Answer 10

I create my own static class for Geocoding and get attributes of CLPlacemark and obtain a complete address, like "usually" returns Google:

import Foundation
import CoreLocation

class ReverseGeocoding {

    static func geocode(latitude: Double, longitude: Double, completion: @escaping (CLPlacemark?, _ completeAddress: String?, Error?) -> ())  {
        CLGeocoder().reverseGeocodeLocation(CLLocation(latitude: latitude, longitude: longitude)) { placemarks, error in
            guard let placemark = placemarks?.first, error == nil else {
                completion(nil, nil, error)
                return
            }

            let completeAddress = getCompleteAddress(placemarks)

            completion(placemark, completeAddress, nil)
        }
    }

    static private func getCompleteAddress(_ placemarks: [CLPlacemark]?) -> String {
        guard let placemarks = placemarks else {
            return ""
        }

        let place = placemarks as [CLPlacemark]
        if place.count > 0 {
            let place = placemarks[0]
            var addressString : String = ""
            if place.thoroughfare != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.thoroughfare! + ", "
            }
            if place.subThoroughfare != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.subThoroughfare! + ", "
            }
            if place.locality != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.locality! + ", "
            }
            if place.postalCode != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.postalCode! + ", "
            }
            if place.subAdministrativeArea != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.subAdministrativeArea! + ", "
            }
            if place.country != nil {
                addressString = addressString + place.country!
            } 

            return addressString
        }
        return ""
    }
}

Then the implementation:

    ReverseGeocoding.geocode(coordinate: coordinate, completion: { (placeMark, completeAddress, error) in

        if let placeMark = placeMark, let completeAddress = completeAddress {
            print(placeMark.postalCode)
            print(placeMark)
            print(completeAddress)
        } else {
            // do something with the error
        }

Finaly the print:

15172
Calle del Arenal, 4, Calle del Arenal, 4, 15172 Oleiros, A Coruña, España @ <+43.33190337,-8.37144380> +/- 100.00m, region CLCircularRegion (identifier:'<+43.33190337,-8.37144380> radius 70.84', center:<+43.33190337,-8.37144380>, radius:70.84m)
Calle del Arenal, 4, Oleiros, 15172, A Coruña, España

Answer 11

This is my code for swift 3

func getAdressName(coords: CLLocation) {

    CLGeocoder().reverseGeocodeLocation(coords) { (placemark, error) in
            if error != nil {
                print("Hay un error")
            } else {

                let place = placemark! as [CLPlacemark]
                if place.count > 0 {
                    let place = placemark![0]
                    var adressString : String = ""
                    if place.thoroughfare != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.thoroughfare! + ", "
                    }
                    if place.subThoroughfare != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.subThoroughfare! + "\n"
                    }
                    if place.locality != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.locality! + " - "
                    }
                    if place.postalCode != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.postalCode! + "\n"
                    }
                    if place.subAdministrativeArea != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.subAdministrativeArea! + " - "
                    }
                    if place.country != nil {
                        adressString = adressString + place.country!
                    }

                    self.lblPlace.text = adressString
                }
            }
        }
  }

You can esaily call above funcation like:

let cityCoords = CLLocation(latitude: newLat, longitude: newLon)
cityData(coord: cityCoords)

Answer 12

Keeping it simple - A full Swift 3 & 4 compatible View Controller example for obtaining a formatted address string from user's location (add in the other keys available in CLPlacemark if you want more information in your string):

import UIKit
import CoreLocation

class ViewController: UIViewController, CLLocationManagerDelegate {

let manager = CLLocationManager()
let geocoder = CLGeocoder()

var locality = ""
var administrativeArea = ""
var country = ""

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    manager.delegate = self
    manager.desiredAccuracy = kCLLocationAccuracyBest
    manager.requestWhenInUseAuthorization()
    manager.startUpdatingLocation()

func locationManager(_ manager: CLLocationManager, didUpdateLocations locations: [CLLocation]) {
        let location = locations[0]
        manager.stopUpdatingLocation()

    geocoder.reverseGeocodeLocation(location, completionHandler: {(placemarks, error) in
        if (error != nil) {
            print("Error in reverseGeocode")
            }

        let placemark = placemarks! as [CLPlacemark]
        if placemark.count > 0 {
            let placemark = placemarks![0]
            self.locality = placemark.locality!
            self.administrativeArea = placemark.administrativeArea!
            self.country = placemark.country!
        }
    })
}

func userLocationString() -> String {
    let userLocationString = "\(locality), \(administrativeArea), \(country)"
    return userLocationString
}

}

Calling print(userLocationString()) in this example will print: suburb, state, country

Don't forget to add Privacy - Location When In Use Usage Description to your Info.plist file beforehand, to allow the user to grant permissions to your app to utilise location services.