SwiftUI: #ObservedObject redraws every view - swift

I try to implement the MVVM way correctly in SwiftUI, so I came up with this (simplified) Model and ViewModel:
struct Model {
var property1: String
var property2: String
}
class ViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var model = Model(property1: "this is", property2: "a test")
}
Using this in a View works fine, but I experienced some bad performance issues, as I extended the ViewModel with some computed properties and some functions (as well the Model itself is more complicated). But let's stay with this example, because it demonstrates perfectly, what I think is a big problem in SwiftUI itself.
Imagine, you have those views to display the data:
struct ParentView: View {
#ObservedObject var viewModel: ViewModel
var body: some View {
print("redrawing ParentView")
return ChildView(viewModel: self.viewModel)
}
}
struct ChildView: View {
#ObservedObject var viewModel: ViewModel
var body: some View {
print("redrawing ChildView")
return VStack {
ViewForTextField(property: self.$viewModel.model.property1)
ViewForTextField(property: self.$viewModel.model.property2)
}
}
}
struct ViewForTextField: View {
#Binding var property: String
var body: some View {
print("redrawing textView of \(self.property)")
return TextField("...", text: self.$property)
.textFieldStyle(RoundedBorderTextFieldStyle())
}
}
Now entering text into one of the TextField leads to a redraw of every View in my window! The print output is:
redrawing ParentView
redrawing ChildView
redrawing textView of this is
redrawing textView of a test
redrawing ParentView
redrawing ChildView
redrawing textView of this isa
redrawing textView of a test
redrawing ParentView
redrawing ChildView
redrawing textView of this isab
redrawing textView of a test
...
As I can see, SwiftUI redraws every view, because every view is listening to the ObservedObject.
How can I tell SwiftUI, that it only should redraw those views, where really happened any changes?

Actually MVVM means own model for every view, which is updated on model changes, not one model for all views.
So there is no needs to observe viewModel in ParentView as it does not depend on it
struct ParentView: View {
var viewModel: ViewModel // << just member to pass down in child
var body: some View {
print("redrawing ParentView")
return ChildView(viewModel: self.viewModel)
}
}
Alternate is to decompose view model so every view has own view sub-model, which would manage updates of own view.

If all your views observe the same thing, and that thing changes, then all your views will re-render. This is by definition. There's no option to configure to optionally update certain views.
That being said, you can work around it by manipulating what changes you'd like to publish.
E.g.;
class ViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var model = Model(property1: "this is", property2: "a test")
var mytext = "some text" // pass this as binding instead of model.propertyX
}
Now when textfield changes, mytext changes, but this change won't be published thus won't trigger further view updates. And you still can access it from view model.
I personally would recommend using #State and #EnvironmentObject instead of "view model". They are the built-in way to handle binding and view updates with tons of safe-guards and supports.
Also you should use value type instead of reference type as much as possible. MVVM from other languages didn't take this into consideration.

Related

SwiftUI: How do I share an ObservedObject between child views without affecting the parent view

TL;DR: If I have a view containing a NavigationSplitView(sidebar:detail:), with a property (such as a State or StateObject) tracking user selection, how should I make it so that the sidebar and detail views observe the user selection, but the parent view does not?
Using SwiftUI's new NavigationSplitView (or the deprecated NavigationView), a common paradigm is to have a list of selectable items in the sidebar view, with details of the selected item in the detail view. The selection, of course, needs to be observed, usually from within an ObservedObject.
struct ExampleView: View {
#StateObject private var viewModel = ExampleViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationSplitView {
SidebarView(selection: $viewModel.selection)
} detail: {
DetailView(item: viewModel.selection)
}
}
}
struct SidebarView: View {
let selectableItems: [Item] = []
#Binding var selection: Item?
var body: some View {
List(selectableItems, selection: $viewModel.selected) { item in
NavigationLink(value: item) { Text(item.name) }
}
}
}
struct DetailView: View {
let item: Item?
var body: some View {
// Details of the selected item
}
}
#MainActor
final class ExampleViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var selection: Item? = nil
}
This, however, poses a problem: the ExampleView owns the ExampleViewModel used for tracking the selection, which means that it gets recalculated whenever the selection changes. This, in turn, causes its children SidebarView and DetailView to be redrawn.
Since we want those children to be recalculated, one might be forgiven for thinking that everything is as intended. However, the ExampleView itself should not be recalculated in my opinion, because doing so will not only update the child views (intended), but also everything in the parent view (not intended). This is especially true if its body is composed of other views, modifiers, or setup work. Case in point: in this example, the NavigationSplitView itself will also be recalculated, which I don't think is what we want.
Almost all tutorials, guides and examples I see online use a version of the above example - sometimes the viewModel is passed as an ObservedObject, or as an EnvironmentObject, but they all share the same trait in that the parent view containing the NavigationSplitView is observing the property that should only be observed by the children of NavigationSplitView.
My current solution is to initiate the viewmodel in the parent view, but not observe it:
struct ExampleView: View {
let viewModel = ExampleViewModel()
...
}
#MainActor
final class ExampleViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var selection: Item? = nil
nonisolated init() { }
}
This way, the parent view will remain intact (at least in regards to user selection); however, this will cause the ExampleViewModel to be recreated if anything else would cause the ExampleView to be redrawn - effectively resetting our user selection. Additionally, we are unable to pass any of the viewModel's properties as bindings. So while it works for my current use-case, I don't consider this an effective solution.

Updating property wrapper like #StateObject, affects other view rendering that does not use that property

When using different property wrappers associated with view updates, changes in one place affect rendering of views that do not use that property.
struct ContentView: View {
#StateObject var viewModel = MyViewModel()
#State var thirdTitle = "thirdTitle"
var body: some View {
VStack {
Text(viewModel.firstTitle)
.background(.random)
Text(viewModel.secondTitle)
.background(.random)
Text(thirdTitle)
.background(.random)
Button("Change First Title") {
viewModel.chageFirstTitle()
}
}
}
}
class MyViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var firstTitle = "firstTitle"
#Published var secondTitle = "secondTitle"
func chageFirstTitle() {
firstTitle = "hello world"
}
}
I understand that the reason why the Text exposing the viewModel.secondTitle is re-rendered is because the #StateObject varviewModel = MyViewModel() dependency changed when the `viewModel.firstTitle changed.
However, I don't know why Text using #State var thirdTitle = "thirdTitle" is re-rendered too. In WWDC21 session Demystify SwiftUI, I saw that the view is re-rendered only when the related dependency is updated according to the dependency graph. But, even though the thirdTitle is irrelevant to the change of the viewModel, third Text using that dependency is re-rendered and the background color is changed.
What's even more confusing is that if I seperate the third Text into a separate view ( ThirdView ) and receive the thirdTitle using #Binding, the background color does not change because it is not re-rendering at that time.
struct ContentView: View {
#StateObject var viewModel = MyViewModel()
#State var thirdTitle = "thirdTitle"
var body: some View {
VStack {
Text(viewModel.firstTitle)
.background(.random)
Text(viewModel.secondTitle)
.background(.random)
ThirdView(text: $thirdTitle)
.background(.random)
Button("Change First Title") {
viewModel.chageFirstTitle()
}
}
}
}
struct ThirdView: View {
#Binding var text: String
var body: some View {
Text(text)
.background(.random)
}
}
Regarding the situation I explained, could you help me to understand the rendering conditions of the view?
To render SwiftUI calls body property of a view (it is computable, i.e. executes completely on call). This call is performed whenever any view dependency, i.e. dynamic property, is changed.
So, viewModel.chageFirstTitle() changes dependency for ContentView and ContentView.body is called and every primitive in it is rendered. ThirdView also created but as far as its dependency is not changed, its body is not called, so content is not re-rendered.
A few things wrong here. We don't use view model objects in SwiftUI for view data, it's quite inefficient/buggy to do so. Instead, use a struct with mutating funcs with an #State. Pass in params to sub-Views as lets for read access, #Binding is only when you need write access. In terms of rendering, first of all body is only called if the let property is different from the last time the sub-View is init, then it diffs the body from the last time it was called, if there are any differences then SwiftUI adds/removes/updates actual UIKit UIViews on your behalf, then actual rendering of those UIViews, e.g. drawRect, is done by CoreGraphics.
struct ContentViewConfig {
var firstTitle = "firstTitle"
var secondTitle = "secondTitle"
mutating func changeFirstTitle() {
firstTitle = "hello world"
}
}
struct ContentView: View {
#State var config = Config()
...
struct ThirdView: View {
let text: String
...
Combine's ObservableObject is usually only used when needing to use Combine, e.g. using combineLatest with multiple publishers or for a Store object to hold the model struct arrays in #Published properties that are not tied to a View's lifetime like #State. Your use case doesn't look like a valid use of ObservableObject.

SwiftUI and MVVM: Is using multiple viewModels in one view 'valid'?

This is more a general question: I'm working on my first SwiftUI project and using MVVM for the first time as well. After programming some views I realized that I need for almost each view two different view models. Often it's the view model for the current view and the view model of the previous/mother view. Is this "normal" or is this a hint that I've designed my project wrong and abusing MVVM?
For example:
I have a view where I list all flashcard decks. For this view I have a decksViewModelthat looks like this:
class DeckListViewModel: ObservableObject{
#Published var decks = [Deck]
#Published var showDeck = false // this value will be true if i tab on a deck and the deck will shown in a detailed view. This value is checked in the list
#Published var expandButton = false
#Published var showDownloadCenter = false
#Published var showCreateDeck = false
}
Now I have a deckDetailView for the detailed view of my deck. The deckDetailViewModel stores the selected item. But to remove this view I need to change the value of the showDeck? in decksViewModel`. So I need to pass this view model as well.
I wouldn't say that's a good way to use MVVM.
Instead of storing showDeck in DeckListViewModel, you could just have it as a local #State variable in whatever view you're using it in. Or if you're using a NavigationView, just use a NavigationLink, and there'll be no need for any state variable.
struct DecksView: View {
#ObservedObject var deckListVM = DeckListViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
VStack {
ForEach(deckListVM.decks) { deck in
NavigationLink(destination: DeckDetailView(deckDetailVM: DeckDetailViewModel(deck: deck))) {
// some view
}
}
}
}
}
}
I'm not sure how you implemented your DeckDetailViewModel, just guessing there.

SwiftUI - #Binding to a computed property which accesses value inside ObservableObject property duplicates the variable?

In the code below (a stripped-down version of some code in a project) I'm using a MVVM pattern with two views:
ViewA - displays a value stored in an ObservableObject ViewModel;
ViewB - displays the same value and has a Slider that changes that value, which is passed to the view using Binding.
Inside of ViewModelA I have a computed property which serves both to avoid the View from accessing the Model directly and to perform some other operations when the value inside the model (the one being displayed) is changed.
I'm also passing that computed value to a ViewModelB, using Binding, which acts as a StateObject for ViewB. However, when dragging the Slider to change that value, the value changes on ViewA but doesn't change on ViewB and the slider itself doesn't slide. As expected, when debugging, the wrappedValue inside the Binding is not changing. But how is the change propagated upwards (through the Binding's setters, I imagine) but not downwards back to ViewB?? I imagine this can only happen if the variable is being duplicated somewhere and changed only in one place, but I can't seem to understand where or if that's what's actually happening.
Thanks in advance!
Views:
import SwiftUI
struct ContentView: View {
#StateObject var viewModelA = ViewModelA()
var body: some View {
VStack{
ViewA(value: viewModelA.value)
ViewB(value: $viewModelA.value)
}
}
}
struct ViewA: View {
let value: Double
var body: some View {
Text("\(value)").padding()
}
}
struct ViewB: View {
#StateObject var viewModelB: ViewModelB
init(value: Binding<Double>){
_viewModelB = StateObject(wrappedValue: ViewModelB(value: value))
}
var body: some View {
VStack{
Text("\(viewModelB.value)")
Slider(value: $viewModelB.value, in: 0...1)
}
}
}
ViewModels:
class ViewModelA: ObservableObject {
#Published var model = Model()
var value: Double {
get {
model.value
}
set {
model.value = newValue
// perform other checks and operations
}
}
}
class ViewModelB: ObservableObject {
#Binding var value: Double
init(value: Binding<Double>){
self._value = value
}
}
Model:
struct Model {
var value: Double = 0
}
If you only look where you can't go, you might just miss the riches below
Breaking single source of truth, and breaching local (private) property of #StateObjectby sharing it via Binding are two places where you can't go.
#EnvironmentObject or more generally the concept of "shared object" between views are the riches below.
This is an example of doing it without MVVM nonsense:
import SwiftUI
final class EnvState: ObservableObject {#Published var value: Double = 0 }
struct ContentView: View {
#EnvironmentObject var eos: EnvState
var body: some View {
VStack{
ViewA()
ViewB()
}
}
}
struct ViewA: View {
#EnvironmentObject var eos: EnvState
var body: some View {
Text("\(eos.value)").padding()
}
}
struct ViewB: View {
#EnvironmentObject var eos: EnvState
var body: some View {
VStack{
Text("\(eos.value)")
Slider(value: $eos.value, in: 0...1)
}
}
}
Isn't this easier to read, cleaner, less error-prone, with fewer overheads, and without serious violation of fundamental coding principles?
MVVM does not take value type into consideration. And the reason Swift introduces value type is so that you don't pass shared mutable references and create all kinds of bugs.
Yet the first thing MVVM devs do is to introduce shared mutable references for every view and pass references around via binding...
Now to your question:
the only options I see are either using only one ViewModel per Model, or having to pass the Model (or it's properties) between ViewModels through Binding
Another option is to drop MVVM, get rid of all view models, and use #EnvironmentObject instead.
Or if you don't want to drop MVVM, pass #ObservedObject (your view model being a reference type) instead of #Binding.
E.g.;
struct ContentView: View {
#ObservedObject var viewModelA = ViewModelA()
var body: some View {
VStack{
ViewA(value: viewModelA)
ViewB(value: viewModelA)
}
}
}
On a side note, what's the point of "don't access model directly from view"?
It makes zero sense when your model is value type.
Especially when you pass view model reference around like cookies in a party so everyone can have it.
Really it looks like broken single-source or truth concept. Instead the following just works (ViewModelB might probably be needed for something, but not for this case)
Tested with Xcode 12 / iOS 14
Only modified parts:
struct ContentView: View {
#StateObject var viewModelA = ViewModelA()
var body: some View {
VStack{
ViewA(value: viewModelA.value)
ViewB(value: $viewModelA.model.value)
}
}
}
struct ViewB: View {
#Binding var value: Double
var body: some View {
VStack{
Text("\(value)")
Slider(value: $value, in: 0...1)
}
}
}

ObervableObject being init multiple time, and not refreshing my view

I have a structure like this:
contentView {
navigationView {
foreach {
NavigationLink(ViewA(id: id))
}
}
}
/// where ViewA contains an request trigger when it appears
struct ViewA: View {
#State var filterString: String = ""
var id: String!
#ObservedObject var model: ListObj = ListObj()
init(id: String) {
self.id = id
}
var body: some View {
VStack {
SearchBarView(searchText: $filterString)
List {
ForEach(model.items.filter({ filterString.isEmpty || $0.id.contains(filterString) || $0.name.contains(filterString) }), id: \.id) { item in
NavigationLink(destination: ViewB(id: item.id)) {
VStack {
Text("\(item.name) ")
}
}
}
}
}
.onAppear {
self.model.getListObj(id: self.id) //api request, fill data and call objectWillChange.send()
}
}
}
ViewB has the same code as ViewA: It receives an id, stores and requests an API to collect data.
But the viewB list is not being refreshed.
I also noticed that viewB's model property
#ObservedObject var model: model = model()
was instantiated multiple times.
Debugging, I found that every navigationLink instantiates its destination even before it is triggered. That's not a problem usually, but in my case i feel like the ViewB model is being instantiated 2 times, and my onAppear call the wrong one, reason why self.objectWillChange.send() not refreshing my view.
There are two issues here:
SwiftUI uses value types that that get initialized over and over again each pass through body.
Related to #1, NavigationLink is not lazy.
#1
A new ListObj gets instantiated every time you call ViewA.init(...). ObservedObject does not work the same as #State where SwiftUI keeps careful track of it for you throughout the onscreen lifecycle. SwiftUI assumes that ultimate ownership of an #ObservedObject exists at some level above the View it's used in.
In other words, you should almost always avoid things like #ObservedObject var myObject = MyObservableObject().
(Note, even if you did #State var model = ListObj() it would be instantiated every time. But because it's #State SwiftUI will replace the new instance with the original before body gets called.)
#2
In addition to this, NavigationLink is not lazy. Each time you instantiate that NavigationLink you pass a newly instantiated ViewA, which instantiates your ListObj.
So for starters, one thing you can do is make a LazyView to delay instantiation until NavigationLink.destination.body actually gets called:
// Use this to delay instantiation when using `NavigationLink`, etc...
struct LazyView<Content: View>: View {
var content: () -> Content
var body: some View {
self.content()
}
}
Now you can do NavigationLink(destination: LazyView { ViewA() }) and instantiation of ViewA will be deferred until the destination is actually shown.
Simply using LazyView will fix your current problem as long as it's the top view in the hierarchy, like it is when you push it in a NavigationView or if you present it.
However, this is where #user3441734's comment comes in. What you really need to do is keep ownership of model somewhere outside of your View because of what was explained in #1.
If your #ObservedObject is being initialized multiple times, it is because the owner of the object is refreshed and recreated every time it has state changes. Try to use #StateObject if your app is iOS 14 and above. It prevents the object from being recreated when the view refreshes.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/stateobject
When a view creates its own #ObservedObject instance it is recreated
every time a view is discarded and redrawn. On the contrary a #State
variable will keep its value when a view is redrawn. A #StateObject is
a combination of #ObservedObject and #State - the instance of the
ViewModel will be kept and reused even after a view is discarded and
redrawn
What is the difference between ObservedObject and StateObject in SwiftUI