How to format JSON using Codable and pretty printing
When you use JSONEncoder and Codable to create JSON from your Swift data, it comes out in a compressed format by default – it has all its excess whitespace removed. This makes it efficient for transferring over the network, but hard to debug because it’s just a big jumble of words.
For debugging purposes, it’s a good idea to enable pretty printing for your encoded JSON, which will tell JSONEncoder to separate everything using line breaks and spaces so you can read it more easily.
To make this happen, set the outputFormatting property of your JSON encoder to be .prettyPrinted, like this:
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
encoder.outputFormatting = .prettyPrintedAvailable from iOS 8.0
Did this solution work for you? Please pass it on!
Other people are reading…
- How to conform to the Equatable protocol
- What is a lazy sequence?
- What are the changes in Swift 3?
- How to use the forEach method to loop over an array
- How to use compiler directives to detect the iOS Simulator
About the Swift Knowledge Base
This is part of the Swift Knowledge Base, a free, searchable collection of solutions for common iOS questions.
Test your Swift today
Think you know Swift? My book Swift Coding Challenges will put your Swift skills to the test – it's perfect for job interviews and more!
