How can i pass class as a parameter to a function in Swift? - swift

Question

Let us consider i have two different classes.
class A {
var something = "Hello"
}
class B {
var something = "World"
}
Now
class C {
func request() {
//Call with class A or B it can contain any class. I can call either class A or B depending on condition
update(myClass: A or B)
}
func update(myClass:A or B ) {
print(myClass.something) //Since both class have same varaible var something so this code should work either i pass class A or B through function
}
}
Plz help me achieve this using Swift

Answer 1

You cannot declare a function in Swift that could accept an input argument of several different types, so you cannot declare a type as A or B. However, you don't actually need this to solve your specific problem.
Since you want to access a common property of the two class instances, you should declare that property in a protocol, make both classes conform to that protocol, then make the function take an input argument of the protocol type.
protocol SomethingProtocol {
var something: String { get }
}
class A: SomethingProtocol {
let something = "Hello"
}
class B: SomethingProtocol {
let something = "World"
}
class C {
func request() {
//Call with class A or B it can contain any class. I can call either class A or B depending on condition
update(something: A())
update(something: B())
}
func update(something: SomethingProtocol) {
print(something.something) //Since both class have same varaible var something so this code should work either i pass class A or B through function
}
}

Answer 2

Use a protocol
protocol MyProtocol: class {
var something: String { get set }
}
class A: MyProtocol {
var something = "Hello"
}
class B: MyProtocol {
var something = "world"
}
class C {
func update(myClass:MyProtocol ) {
print(myClass.something) //Since both class have same varaible var something so this code should work either i pass class A or B through function
}
}
usage:
let a = A()
let b = B()
let c = C()
print(c.update(myClass: a))
print(c.update(myClass: b))
Output:
hello
world

Answer 3

Create a protocol that both A and B conforms to and use it as the parameter type in update()
protocol SomeProtocol {
var something: String {get set}
}
func update(_ o: SomeProtocol) {
print(o.something)
}

Answer 4

Let it be known that I think using a protocol is the cleanest option that will best solve your problem.
However, it is possible to use Any to pass any object as a parameter, this will require checking which class you are dealing with inside your update method.
Something like this...
class C {
func update(myClass: Any) {
if let a = myClass as? A {
print(a.something)
}
if let b = myClass as? B {
print(b.something)
}
}
}
This might be neater as a switch - ref
class C {
func update(myClass: Any) {
switch myClass {
case let a as A:
print(a.something)
case let b as B:
print(b.something)
default:
print("not a thing")
}
}
}