How to count the number of lines in an Objective-C string (NSString)?

Question

I want to count the lines in an NSString in Objective-C.

  NSInteger lineNum = 0;
  NSString *string = @"abcde\nfghijk\nlmnopq\nrstu";
  NSInteger length = [string length];
  NSRange range = NSMakeRange(0, length);
  while (range.location < length) {
      range = [string lineRangeForRange:NSMakeRange(range.location, 0)];
      range.location = NSMaxRange(range);
      lineNum += 1;
  }

Is there an easier way?

Answer 1

Apple recommends this method:

NSString *string;
unsigned numberOfLines, index, stringLength = [string length];

for (index = 0, numberOfLines = 0; index < stringLength; numberOfLines++)
    index = NSMaxRange([string lineRangeForRange:NSMakeRange(index, 0)]);

See the article. They also explain how to count lines of wrapped text.