Swift IP Address Handler

Introduction

This struct/protocol is a basic standalone struct and String extension that makes handling IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses quite simple.

Its principal use is to take a string that was generated by something like a text entry, and establish a proper IP address from that string. It’s a smart parser.

What Problem Does This Solve?

This was designed to allow us to simply represent IP addresses properly. This was mainly due to the complex nature of IPv6 addressing; with its “shortcut” syntax, representing contiguous runs of zeroes.

This class reads these, and will also give you properly formatted (and shortened) strings.

Requirements

It should work fine for macOS, tvOS, WatchOS, and iOS. It only depends on the Swift Foundation library.

This requires Swift Version 4.0 or above (tested up to 5).

WHERE TO GET

Here is the GitHub Repo for This Project.

Here is the online documentation page for this project.

USAGE

As A Swift Package

You can include the Library, using the Swift Package Manager, simply by referring to its GitHub Repository URI (SSH: git@github.com:RiftValleySoftware/RVS_IPAddress.git or HTTPS: https://github.com/RiftValleySoftware/RVS_IPAddress.git).

You will then need to import the module, by adding the following to the source files that will be accessing the spinner:

import RVS_IPAddress

Using Carthage

You can install it, using Carthage as your dependency manager.

Simply add the following to your Cartfile:

github "RiftValleySoftware/RVS_IPAddress"

That will bring the project into a “Carthage” directory.

You should probably add the single file from the project (as opposed to the product). That can be found in “Checkins”.

If you do that, then no need to import.

If you include the product (in the “Build” subdirectory), you will need to import the module, by adding the following to the source files that will be accessing the spinner:

import RVS_IPAddress

Note that Carthage may not sign the module, and you may have issues submitting it.

Directly From GitHub

This is a simple source file; not a module.

To use this, simply add the RVS_IPAddress/RVS_IPAddress.swift file to your project; copying it wherever you want.

All the rest of the stuff in the project is for testing, validating and sharing.

Start With A String

The struct can be instantiated by supplying a String, with a valid representation of either an IPv4 IP address, or an IPv6 IP address. The struct will parse the String, and will store an internal Array of Ints, representing that IP address. It will then be able to return the IP address in whatever format is required.

It validates the correctness of the address before storing it, so you know that the address is always in a valid form.

It does not verify that the address actually leads anywhere. It merely ensures that it is a correctly-formed IP address.

You can submit any string, and the factory method will ensure that an instance of the correct IP version handler is generated.

Example

if let testIP = RVS_IPAddressExtractIPAddress("1.2.3.4") {
    print("This should be an IPv4 Address: \(String(describing: testIP))")
}

if let testIP = RVS_IPAddressExtractIPAddress("1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8") {
    print("This should be an IPv6 Address: \(String(describing: testIP))")
}

You can also add TCP ports to the address:

if let testIP = RVS_IPAddressExtractIPAddress("1.2.3.4:5") {
    print("This should be an IPv4 Address: \(String(describing: testIP))")
}

if let testIP = RVS_IPAddressExtractIPAddress("[1:2:3:4:5:6:7:8]:9") {
    print("This should be an IPv6 Address: \(String(describing: testIP))")
}

The resulting addresses can be accessed as Arrays of Int, or as String, either with or without the TCP port.

DEPENDENCIES

There are no dependencies to use RVS_IPAddress in your project. In order to test it and run it in the module project, you should use CocoaPods to install SwiftLint, although that is not required. It’s just good practice.

LICENSE

MIT License

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

The Great Rift Valley Software Company: https://riftvalleysoftware.com