Is it possible to add an observer on struct variable in Swift? - swift

Question

I need to track the update in a variable of struct type.
Is it possible to add an observer on struct variable in Swift?
Example:
struct MyCustomStruct {
var error:Error?
var someVar:String?
}
class MyClass{
var myCustomStruct:MyCustomStruct?
}
I want to add an observer on myCustomStruct variable.

Answer 1

The standard Swift “property observers” (didSet and willSet) are designed to let a type observe changes to its own properties, but not for letting external objects add their own observers. And KVO, which does support external observers, is only for dynamic and #objc properties NSObject subclasses (as outlined in Using Key-Value Observing in Swift).
So, if you want to have an external object observe changes within a struct, as others have pointed out, you have to create your own observer mechanism using Swift didSet and the like. But rather than implementing that yourself, property by property, you can write a generic type to do this for you. E.g.,
struct Observable<T> {
typealias Observer = String
private var handlers: [Observer: (T) -> Void] = [:]
var value: T {
didSet {
handlers.forEach { $0.value(value) }
}
}
init(_ value: T) {
self.value = value
}
#discardableResult
mutating func observeNext(_ handler: #escaping (T) -> Void) -> Observer {
let key = UUID().uuidString as Observer
handlers[key] = handler
return key
}
mutating func remove(_ key: Observer) {
handlers.removeValue(forKey: key)
}
}
Then you can do things like:
struct Foo {
var i: Observable<Int>
var text: Observable<String>
init(i: Int, text: String) {
self.i = Observable(i)
self.text = Observable(text)
}
}
class MyClass {
var foo: Foo
init() {
foo = Foo(i: 0, text: "foo")
}
}
let object = MyClass()
object.foo.i.observeNext { [weak self] value in // the weak reference is really only needed if you reference self, but if you do, make sure to make it weak to avoid strong reference cycle
print("new value", value)
}
And then, when you update the property, for example like below, your observer handler closure will be called:
object.foo.i.value = 42
It’s worth noting that frameworks like Bond or RxSwift offer this sort of functionality, plus a lot more.

Answer 2

With variables you can use two default observers
willSet - represents moment before variable will be set with new value
didSet - represents moment when variable was set
Also in observer you can work with two values. With current variable in current state, and with constant depending on observer
struct Struct {
var variable: String {
willSet {
variable // before set
newValue // after set, immutable
}
didSet {
oldValue // before set, immutable
variable // after set
}
}
}
And the same you can do for any other stored property, so you can use it for struct variable in your class too
class Class {
var myStruct: Struct? {
didSet {
...
}
}
}
Also you can for example in did set observer of variable post notification with certain name
didSet {
NotificationCenter.default.post(name: Notification.Name("VariableSet"), object: nil)
}
and then you can add certain class as observer for notification with this name
class Class {
init() {
NotificationCenter.default.addObserver(self, selector: #selector(variableSet), name: Notification.Name("VariableSet"), object: nil)
}
deinit {
NotificationCenter.default.removeObserver(self, name: Notification.Name("VariableSet"), object: nil)
}
#objc func variableSet() {
...
}
}

Answer 3

Try this, first create a struct with an action variable and when you create an object of the struct set the action parameter on the action you want. ex.
struct testStruct {
var action: (()->())?
var variable: String? {
didSet {
self.action?()
}
}
}
And inside your main code - main class
var testS = testStruct()
testS.action = {
print("Hello")
}
testS.variable = "Hi"
When you set the testS.variabe = "Hi" it will call the print("Hello")

Answer 4

struct MyCustomStruct {
var error:Error?
var someVar:String?
}
class MyClass{
var myCustomStruct:MyCustomStruct? {
didSet{
print("my coustomeSruct changed")
}
}
}
let aClass = MyClass()
aClass.myCustomStruct?.someVar = " test"
//prints:my coustomeSruct changed