How to generate a randomString for every 1 hour in swift? - swift

Question

In my app I am we are sending TimeStamp along with parameters for API calls to get data from. I could use any random string to pass with the values but I am using TimeStamp because it will be different everytime so that I will get fresh data everytime without cashing. Now our requirement is to update TimeStamp every hour so that everytime when I make an API call instead of showing fresh data everytime, data will be updated every hour.
My API looks like this:
let url = "https://myurl.api.getthisapidata?id=\(someID)&nocache=\(timeStamp)"
Now in the place of TimeStamp I want to send some random string like "\(arc4random())". But I want this random string to be changed only after an hour so that I go to some other view or closes the app and opens it before an hour this random string should remain same.
I hope you understand what I am trying to convey.
TimeStamp extenstion:
extension Date {
var ticks: UInt64 {
let timeStamp = UInt64((self.timeIntervalSince1970 + 62_135_596_800) * 10_000_000)
return timeStamp
}
}
Usage:
print(Date().ticks)

Answer 1

Get current hour value from current date using component(_:from:) method. Then append a random string with it.
class RandomStringGenerator: NSObject {
static let shared = RandomStringGenerator()
var oldString:String {
get {
return UserDefaults.standard.string(forKey: "oldString") ?? ""
}
set {
UserDefaults.standard.set(newValue, forKey: "oldString")
}
}
func getString() -> String {
let random = Int64.random(in: 10_000_00..<10_000_000)
let hour = Calendar.current.component(.hour, from: Date())
if !oldString.hasPrefix("\(hour)") {
oldString = "\(hour)" + "\(random)"
}
return oldString
}
}