Swift: Dictionary with multi-types value - swift

Question

I get difficulties to deal with below code, the value in dict sectionMoviesBundle = [HomeSection: [T]] could be MovieViewModel or ActorViewModel which two are struct type.
So generally how could I deal with this dict [String: [typeA or typeB...]], using generic or AnyObject like nowPlaying.results.map(MovieViewModel.init) as AnyObject? And how to implement it in code?
import SwiftUI
import Combine
class MovieListViewModel: ObservableObject {
private var webService = WebService()
private var cancellableSet: Set<AnyCancellable> = []
#Published var sectionMoviesBundle = [HomeSection: [T]]() // Don't know how to deal with it now=.=!
func getSectionMoviesBundle() {
webService.getSectionsPublisher()
.receive(on: DispatchQueue.main)
.sink(receiveCompletion: { status in
switch status {
case .finished:
break
case .failure(let error):
print("ERROR: \(error)")
break
}
}) { (nowPlaying, popular, upComing, topActor) in
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.NowPlaying] = nowPlaying.results.map(MovieViewModel.init)
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Popular] = popular.results.map(MovieViewModel.init)
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Upcoming] = upComing.results.map(MovieViewModel.init)
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.TopActor] = topActor.results.map(ActorViewModel.init)
}.store(in: &self.cancellableSet)
}
}

Answer 1

Some alternative that I think you can try
[String: [Any]]
Create a Protocol and implement it to all Struct that you want to use in the dictionary and use [String: [someProtocol]]
to insert it to the Dictionary, you can use your current code

Answer 2

One of the many approach that you can use is:
enum MovieSectionType {
case actor, movie
}
protocol MovieSectionViewModelProtocol {
var sectionType: MovieSectionType { get }
var name: String { get set }
}
struct MovieViewModel: MovieSectionViewModelProtocol{
var sectionType: MovieSectionType = .movie
var name: String
var title: String
}
struct ActorViewModel: MovieSectionViewModelProtocol {
var sectionType: MovieSectionType = .actor
var name: String
var birthday: Date
}
class MovieListViewModel: ObservableObject {
private var webService = WebService()
private var cancellableSet: Set<AnyCancellable> = []
#Published var sectionMoviesBundle = [HomeSection: [MovieSectionViewModelProtocol]]() // Don't know how to deal with it now=.=!
func getSectionMoviesBundle() {
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Upcoming] = [MovieViewModel(name: "Movie", title: "Movie Title")]
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.TopActor] = [ActorViewModel(name: "Actor", birthday: Date())]
let item = self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Upcoming]!.first!
switch item.sectionType {
case .actor:
guard let actor = item as? ActorViewModel else {
return
}
print(actor.birthday)
break
case .movie:
guard let movie = item as? MovieViewModel else {
return
}
print(movie.title)
break
}
}
}

Answer 3

You could use a “sum type”, which in Swift is an enum:
enum SectionContent {
case actors([ActorViewModel])
case movies([MovieViewModel])
}
#Published var sectionMoviesBundle = [HomeSection: SectionContent]()
func getSectionMoviesBundle() {
webService.getSectionsPublisher()
.receive(on: DispatchQueue.main)
.sink(receiveCompletion: { status in
switch status {
case .finished:
break
case .failure(let error):
print("ERROR: \(error)")
break
}
}) { (nowPlaying, popular, upComing, topActor) in
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.NowPlaying] = .movies(nowPlaying.results.map(MovieViewModel.init))
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Popular] = .movies(popular.results.map(MovieViewModel.init))
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.Upcoming] = .movies(upComing.results.map(MovieViewModel.init))
self.sectionMoviesBundle[.TopActor] = .actors(topActor.results.map(ActorViewModel.init))
}.store(in: &self.cancellableSet)
}