How can I generate state variables from my database in Swift? - swift

Question

My solution requires that I hard-code placeholder state vars field_1, field_2 that are then passed to my TextField dynamically via an array.
How can I achieve this more dynamically? I would like to have arbitrary Firestore documents from my database map to matching arbitrary TextFields. I use this to generate a settings screen that varies by user.
Here is my current solution, referenced above:
import SwiftUI
struct ParentView: View {
var data = [
["field": "Account Number", "title": "Account Number"],
["field": "Account Number", "title": "Account Number"]
]
#State var settings: [Dictionary<String,Any>] = []
var fields: [Binding<String>] = []
#State var field_1: String = "1"
#State var field_2: String = "2"
init(){
self.fields.append(self.$field_1)
self.fields.append(self.$field_2)
}
func getSettingsObjects() { for item in data { settings.append(item)}}
var body: some View {
VStack {
ForEach(self.$settings.wrappedValue.indices, id: \.self) { i in
TextField(self.settings[i]["title"] as! String, text: self.fields[i])
}
}
.padding(.all,20)
.navigationBarTitle("Settings")
.onAppear {
_ = self.getSettingsObjects()
}
}
}

Answer 1

To handle firebase fields, I like to set up a global struct. Then, every time instead of typing the string, you can user variable DatabaseField.field1 instead.
struct DatabaseField { //Titles for fields in database
static let field1 = "field_one_title"
static let field2 = "field_two_title"
}
Here, you can access the String by calling...
let field: String = DatabaseField.field1
Separately, you could also create a global enum to handle states, items, etc. with a rawValue of type String. I would use this if the State is going to work like a Bool in your viewController.
enum FieldState: String { //ViewController states can be used in functions
case field1 = "field_one_title"
case field2 = "field_two_title"
}
Here, you can set variables to this new type...
var currentState: FieldState = .field1
You can access the String value of this type with...
let currentField: String = currentState.rawValue
As you have realized, you should try to avoid hard-coding variable Strings and database field names whenever possible. I usually make a separate Swift File and store all of the global Structs or Enums for my project there. This way you can hard code it once and never have to touch it again. If you ever have to change the field title, you only need to change it within the Struct/Enum! Side note: your project may include several Structs and Enums. If this is the case, try not to make both a Struct/Enum for the same field/string or it might get confusing to decipher which is which.