Swift - Encode and Decode a dictionary [String:Any] into plist - swift

I am trying to store the dictionary in my class Marker but it is throwing an error saying it is not encodable or decodable. I can see the error is caused by the [String: Any] but how can I go around it?
var buttonActions : [String: [String: [String:Any]]] = [:]
Save and Load
func saveData() {
let dataFilePath = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first?.appendingPathComponent("\(fileName).plist")
let encoder = PropertyListEncoder()
do {
let data = try encoder.encode(markerArray)
try data.write(to: dataFilePath!)
print("Saved")
} catch {
print("Error Encoding \(error)")
}
}
func loadData() {
let dataFilePath = FileManager.default.urls(for: .documentDirectory, in: .userDomainMask).first?.appendingPathComponent("\(fileName).plist")
if let data = try? Data(contentsOf: dataFilePath!){
let decoder = PropertyListDecoder()
do {
markerArray = try decoder.decode([Marker].self, from: data)
} catch {
print("Decode Error \(error)")
}
}
Class
class Marker : Encodable, Decodable {
var UUIDpic: UUID = UUID()
var alpha: Int = 1
var buttonType: Int = 0
var buttonActions : [String: [String: [String:Any]]] = [:]
var buttonNameColor: String = ""
var buttonNameFontSize: Int = 10
var buttonShape: String = ""
var loggerRect: String = ""
var maskColor: String = ""
var name: String = ""
}

Unfortunately you cannot use encode or decode on generic types containing Any (e.g. [String: Any] or [Any]). Any does not conform to protocols Encodable nor Decodable and Swift doesn't know how to encode/decode it. You must use a concrete generic type for your dictionary (e.g. [String: String]).
If you still need to use a general type like Any you have to implement encode(to:) and init(from:) methods. Another option would be to use a struct instead of your [String: [String: [String:Any]]] which conforms to Codable (Encodable & Decodable). You will still have to implement encode(to:) and init(from:) methods in that struct, but the bright side is that you will not have to write the encoder.encode() story for all the properties like you would have to if you implement them in the Marker class.

So finally worked it out with the help of Andrada.
I added a second struct which held the action and by passed having to use [string:any]
class Marker : Encodable, Decodable {
var UUIDpic: UUID = UUID()
var alpha: Int = 1
var buttonType: Int = 0
var buttonAction : [String: [ButtonAction]] = [:] //Dictionary I edited using the new struct
var buttonNameColor: String = ""
var buttonNameFontSize: Int = 10
var buttonShape: String = ""
var loggerRect: String = ""
var maskColor: String = ""
var name: String = ""
}
Below is the struct I added
struct ButtonAction: Codable {
var action: String
var array_linked_of_buttons: [[String:String]]
init(action: String, array_linked_of_buttons: [[String:String]]) {
self.action = action
self.array_linked_of_buttons = array_linked_of_buttons
}
}
Make sure to init your struct or it won't work.

Related

Swift - Return type of struct parameters without default values

I'm very new in Swift so i might be missing some basics.
I have struct:
struct MyStruct {
var a: Int
var b: String
var c: Bool
init() {
a: Int = 1,
b: String? = "",
c: Bool? = false
}
}
and function, that should iterate through given struct properties and return their types in json:
func structProps(){
let elm = MyStruct()
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: elm)
var exampleDict: [String: String] = [:]
for child in mirror.children {
exampleDict[child.label!] = String(describing:type(of: child.value)) as String
}
if let theJSONData = try? JSONSerialization.data(
withJSONObject: exampleDict,
options: []) {
let theJSONText = String(data: theJSONData, encoding: .ascii)
}
}
it kinda return what i need:
JSON string = {"a":"Int","b":"String","c":"Bool"}
Because i'm having a lot of structs and i want to export json from all of them, i'm wondering if there is a way to have generic initializer. Without passing default values.
It means without
init() {
a: Int = 1,
b: String? = "",
c: Bool? = false
}
If I understand correctly , you can create a base protocol and add as an extension to your structures like
protocol BaseFunction {
func getElements() -> [String : String]
func getDict() -> String
}
extension BaseFunction {
func getElements() -> [String : String] {
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: self)
let propertiesRemoveNil = mirror.children.filter({!(($0.value as AnyObject) is NSNull)})
let properties = propertiesRemoveNil.compactMap({$0.label})
var types = [String]()
_ = mirror.children.forEach({
types.append(String(describing:type(of: $0.value)))
})
return Dictionary(uniqueKeysWithValues: zip(properties, types))
}
func getDict() -> String{
if let theJSONData = try? JSONSerialization.data(
withJSONObject: getElements(),
options: []) {
let theJSONText = String(data: theJSONData, encoding: .ascii)
return theJSONText ?? ""
}
return ""
}
}
And usage :
func structProps(){
let elm = MyStruct()
print(elm.getDict())
}
OUTPUT :
{"a":"Int","b":"String","c":"Bool"}
I was going to write a comment about using a protocol but I thought it would be easier to understand as an answer with some code.
To make the usage more generic so you don't need specific code for each type of struct you should use a protocol. Instead of having an init that might clash with already existing init in the struct I prefer a static method that returns a new object, also known as a factory method
protocol PropertyExtract {
static func createEmpty() -> PropertyExtract
}
Then we can make use of the default init for the struct or any supplied to create an object with some initial values by letting the struct conform to the protocol in an extension
extension MyStruct: PropertyExtract {
static func createEmpty() -> PropertyExtract {
MyStruct(a: 0, b: "", c: false)
}
}
And instead of hardcoding or passing a specific type of object to the encoding function we pass the type of it
func structProps(for structType: PropertyExtract.Type)
and use the protocol method to get an instance of the type
let object = structType.createEmpty()
The whole function (with some additional changes)
func structProps(for structType: PropertyExtract.Type) -> String? {
let object = structType.createEmpty()
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: object)
let exampleDict = mirror.children.reduce(into: [String:String]()) {
guard let label = $1.label else { return }
$0[label] = String(describing:type(of: $1.value))
}
if let data = try? JSONEncoder().encode(exampleDict) {
return String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)
}
return nil
}
And this is then called with the type of the struct
let jsonString = structProps(for: MyStruct.self)
According to Creating a Swift Runtime Library, there is a way to access meta data types without initializer.
Solution for what i was asking for is possible with Runtime library.
Mirror(reflecting:) expects an instance of a type and not a type itself, ref.
One idea is to have a generic function that works with all types conforming to a protocol that provides an empty init. Something like:
protocol EmptyInitializable {
init()
}
struct StructOne {
let a: Bool
let b: String
}
struct StructTwo {
let c: Int
let d: Float
}
extension StructOne: EmptyInitializable {
init() {
a = false
b = ""
}
}
extension StructTwo: EmptyInitializable {
init() {
c = 1
d = 1.0
}
}
func print(subject: EmptyInitializable) -> String? {
let dictionary = Dictionary(uniqueKeysWithValues:
Mirror(reflecting: subject).children.map {
($0.label!, String(describing: type(of: $0.value)))
}
)
return (try? JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: dictionary)).flatMap {
String(data: $0, encoding: .utf8)
}
}
print(subject: StructOne()) // "{"a":"Bool","b":"String"}"
print(subject: StructTwo()) // "{"d":"Float","c":"Int"}"
You still have to implement the empty init and assign some values and I'm afraid there's no way currently to avoid that.

SwiftUI: Encode a struct to be saved in AppStorage

Currently trying to build my first app in swiftUI. The part I thought would be the easiest as become a nightmare... save a struct in AppStorage to be available upon restart of the app
I got two struct to save. The first is for player and I have implemented the RawRepresentable
struct Player: Codable, Identifiable {
let id: Int
let name: String
let gamePlayed: Int
let bestScore: Int
let nbrGameWon: Int
let nbrGameLost: Int
let totalScore: Int?
}
typealias PlayerList = [Player]
extension PlayerList: RawRepresentable {
public init?(rawValue: String) {
guard let data = rawValue.data(using: .utf8),
let result = try? JSONDecoder().decode(PlayerList.self, from: data)
else {
return nil
}
self = result
}
public var rawValue: String {
guard let data = try? JSONEncoder().encode(self),
let result = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)
else {
return "[]"
}
return result
}
}
Calling in my view this way:
struct AddPlayerView: View {
#State var name: String = ""
#State var isDisabled: Bool = false
#State var modified: Bool = false
#AppStorage("players") var players: PlayerList = PlayerList()
...
}
The above works, now I also want to save the current game data, I have the following struct:
struct Game: Codable, Identifiable {
var id: Int
var currentPlayerIndexes: Int
var currentRoundIndex: Int?
var dealerIndex: Int?
var maxRounds: Int?
var dealResults: [Int: Array<PlayerRoundSelection>]?
var currentLeaderIds: Array<Int>?
var isGameInProgress: Bool?
}
extension Game: RawRepresentable {
public init?(rawValue: String) {
if rawValue == "" {
// did to fix issue when calling AppStorage, but it is probably a bad idea
self = Game(id:1, currentPlayerIndexes:1)
}
else {
guard let data = rawValue.data(using: .utf8),
let result = try? JSONDecoder().decode(Game.self, from: data)
else {
return nil
}
self = result
}
}
public var rawValue: String {
guard let data = try? JSONEncoder().encode(self),
let result = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)
else {
return ""
}
return result
}
}
As soon as I try to modify the struct, it calls rawValue and the encoding fails with the following:
error: warning: couldn't get required object pointer (substituting NULL): Couldn't load 'self' because its value couldn't be evaluated
error: Execution was interrupted, reason: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=2, address=0x7ffee49bbff8).
Here part of the code that access the struct:
struct SelectPlayersView: View {
#AppStorage("currentGame") var currentGame: Game = Game(rawValue: "")!
....
NavigationLink(
destination: SelectModeTypeView(), tag: 2, selection: self.$selection) {
ActionButtonView(text:"Next", disabled: self.$isDisabled, buttonAction: {
var currentPlayers = Array<Int>()
self.players.forEach({ player in
if selectedPlayers.contains(player.id) {
currentPlayers.insert(player.id, at: currentPlayers.count)
}
})
// This used to be a list of indexes, but for testing only using a single index
self.currentGame.currentPlayerIndexes = 6
self.selection = 2
})
...
I found the code to encode here: https://lostmoa.com/blog/SaveCustomCodableTypesInAppStorageOrSceneStorage/
My understanding is that with the self in the encode, it generate an infinite loop hence the bad access.
I have really no knowledge how to properly encode this, any help, links would be appreciated
I had the same problem and I wanted to share my experience here.
I eventually found that apparently you cannot rely on the default Codable protocol implementation when used in combination with RawRepresentable.
So when I did my own Codable implementation, with CodingKeys and all, it worked!
I think your Codable implementation for Game would be something like:
enum CodingKeys: CodingKey {
case currentPlayerIndexes
case currentRoundIndex
// <all the other elements too>
}
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
self.currentPlayerIndexes = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: .currentPlayerIndexes)
self.currentRoundIndex = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: .currentRoundIndex)
// <and so on>
}
func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
try container.encode(currentPlayerIndexes, forKey: .currentPlayerIndexes)
try container.encode(currentRoundIndex, forKey: .currentRoundIndex)
// <and so on>
}
I then wondered why your Player coding/decoding did work and found that the default coding and decoding of an Array (i.e. the PlayerList, which is [Player]), works fine.

Can Swift convert a class / struct data into dictionary?

For example:
class Test {
var name: String;
var age: Int;
var height: Double;
func convertToDict() -> [String: AnyObject] { ..... }
}
let test = Test();
test.name = "Alex";
test.age = 30;
test.height = 170;
let dict = test.convertToDict();
dict will have content:
{"name": "Alex", "age": 30, height: 170}
Is this possible in Swift?
And can I access a class like a dictionary, for example probably using:
test.value(forKey: "name");
Or something like that?
You can just add a computed property to your struct to return a Dictionary with your values. Note that Swift native dictionary type doesn't have any method called value(forKey:). You would need to cast your Dictionary to NSDictionary:
struct Test {
let name: String
let age: Int
let height: Double
var dictionary: [String: Any] {
return ["name": name,
"age": age,
"height": height]
}
var nsDictionary: NSDictionary {
return dictionary as NSDictionary
}
}
You can also extend Encodable protocol as suggested at the linked answer posted by #ColGraff to make it universal to all Encodable structs:
struct JSON {
static let encoder = JSONEncoder()
}
extension Encodable {
subscript(key: String) -> Any? {
return dictionary[key]
}
var dictionary: [String: Any] {
return (try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: JSON.encoder.encode(self))) as? [String: Any] ?? [:]
}
}
struct Test: Codable {
let name: String
let age: Int
let height: Double
}
let test = Test(name: "Alex", age: 30, height: 170)
test["name"] // Alex
test["age"] // 30
test["height"] // 170
You could use Reflection and Mirror like this to make it more dynamic and ensure you do not forget a property.
struct Person {
var name:String
var position:Int
var good : Bool
var car : String
var asDictionary : [String:Any] {
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: self)
let dict = Dictionary(uniqueKeysWithValues: mirror.children.lazy.map({ (label:String?, value:Any) -> (String, Any)? in
guard let label = label else { return nil }
return (label, value)
}).compactMap { $0 })
return dict
}
}
let p1 = Person(name: "Ryan", position: 2, good : true, car:"Ford")
print(p1.asDictionary)
["name": "Ryan", "position": 2, "good": true, "car": "Ford"]
A bit late to the party, but I think this is great opportunity for JSONEncoder and JSONSerialization.
The accepted answer does touch on this, this solution saves us calling JSONSerialization every time we access a key, but same idea!
extension Encodable {
/// Encode into JSON and return `Data`
func jsonData() throws -> Data {
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
encoder.outputFormatting = .prettyPrinted
encoder.dateEncodingStrategy = .iso8601
return try encoder.encode(self)
}
}
You can then use JSONSerialization to create a Dictionary if the Encodable should be represented as an object in JSON (e.g. Swift Array would be a JSON array)
Here's an example:
struct Car: Encodable {
var name: String
var numberOfDoors: Int
var cost: Double
var isCompanyCar: Bool
var datePurchased: Date
var ownerName: String? // Optional
}
let car = Car(
name: "Mazda 2",
numberOfDoors: 5,
cost: 1234.56,
isCompanyCar: true,
datePurchased: Date(),
ownerName: nil
)
let jsonData = try car.jsonData()
// To get dictionary from `Data`
let json = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: jsonData, options: [])
guard let dictionary = json as? [String : Any] else {
return
}
// Use dictionary
guard let jsonString = String(data: jsonData, encoding: .utf8) else {
return
}
// Print jsonString
print(jsonString)
Output:
{
"numberOfDoors" : 5,
"datePurchased" : "2020-03-04T16:04:13Z",
"name" : "Mazda 2",
"cost" : 1234.5599999999999,
"isCompanyCar" : true
}
Use protocol, it is an elegant solution. 1. encode struct or class to data 2. decode data and transfer to dictionary.
/// define protocol convert Struct or Class to Dictionary
protocol Convertable: Codable {
}
extension Convertable {
/// implement convert Struct or Class to Dictionary
func convertToDict() -> Dictionary<String, Any>? {
var dict: Dictionary<String, Any>? = nil
do {
print("init student")
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
let data = try encoder.encode(self)
print("struct convert to data")
dict = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .allowFragments) as? Dictionary<String, Any>
} catch {
print(error)
}
return dict
}
}
struct Student: Convertable {
var name: String
var age: Int
var classRoom: String
init(_ name: String, age: Int, classRoom: String) {
self.name = name
self.age = age
self.classRoom = classRoom
}
}
let student = Student("zgpeace", age: 18, classRoom: "class one")
print(student.convertToDict() ?? "nil")
ref: https://a1049145827.github.io/2018/03/02/Swift-%E4%BB%8E%E9%9B%B6%E5%AE%9E%E7%8E%B0%E4%B8%80%E4%B8%AAStruct%E6%88%96Class%E8%BD%ACDictionary%E7%9A%84%E9%9C%80%E6%B1%82/
This answer is like the above which uses Mirror. But consider the nested class/struct case.
extension Encodable {
func dictionary() -> [String:Any] {
var dict = [String:Any]()
let mirror = Mirror(reflecting: self)
for child in mirror.children {
guard let key = child.label else { continue }
let childMirror = Mirror(reflecting: child.value)
switch childMirror.displayStyle {
case .struct, .class:
let childDict = (child.value as! Encodable).dictionary()
dict[key] = childDict
case .collection:
let childArray = (child.value as! [Encodable]).map({ $0.dictionary() })
dict[key] = childArray
case .set:
let childArray = (child.value as! Set<AnyHashable>).map({ ($0 as! Encodable).dictionary() })
dict[key] = childArray
default:
dict[key] = child.value
}
}
return dict
}
}

How can I use Swift’s Codable to encode into a dictionary?

I have a struct that implements Swift 4’s Codable. Is there a simple built-in way to encode that struct into a dictionary?
let struct = Foo(a: 1, b: 2)
let dict = something(struct)
// now dict is ["a": 1, "b": 2]
If you don't mind a bit of shifting of data around you could use something like this:
extension Encodable {
func asDictionary() throws -> [String: Any] {
let data = try JSONEncoder().encode(self)
guard let dictionary = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .allowFragments) as? [String: Any] else {
throw NSError()
}
return dictionary
}
}
Or an optional variant
extension Encodable {
var dictionary: [String: Any]? {
guard let data = try? JSONEncoder().encode(self) else { return nil }
return (try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .allowFragments)).flatMap { $0 as? [String: Any] }
}
}
Assuming Foo conforms to Codable or really Encodable then you can do this.
let struct = Foo(a: 1, b: 2)
let dict = try struct.asDictionary()
let optionalDict = struct.dictionary
If you want to go the other way(init(any)), take a look at this Init an object conforming to Codable with a dictionary/array
Here are simple implementations of DictionaryEncoder / DictionaryDecoder that wrap JSONEncoder, JSONDecoder and JSONSerialization, that also handle encoding / decoding strategies…
class DictionaryEncoder {
private let encoder = JSONEncoder()
var dateEncodingStrategy: JSONEncoder.DateEncodingStrategy {
set { encoder.dateEncodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return encoder.dateEncodingStrategy }
}
var dataEncodingStrategy: JSONEncoder.DataEncodingStrategy {
set { encoder.dataEncodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return encoder.dataEncodingStrategy }
}
var nonConformingFloatEncodingStrategy: JSONEncoder.NonConformingFloatEncodingStrategy {
set { encoder.nonConformingFloatEncodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return encoder.nonConformingFloatEncodingStrategy }
}
var keyEncodingStrategy: JSONEncoder.KeyEncodingStrategy {
set { encoder.keyEncodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return encoder.keyEncodingStrategy }
}
func encode<T>(_ value: T) throws -> [String: Any] where T : Encodable {
let data = try encoder.encode(value)
return try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .allowFragments) as! [String: Any]
}
}
class DictionaryDecoder {
private let decoder = JSONDecoder()
var dateDecodingStrategy: JSONDecoder.DateDecodingStrategy {
set { decoder.dateDecodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return decoder.dateDecodingStrategy }
}
var dataDecodingStrategy: JSONDecoder.DataDecodingStrategy {
set { decoder.dataDecodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return decoder.dataDecodingStrategy }
}
var nonConformingFloatDecodingStrategy: JSONDecoder.NonConformingFloatDecodingStrategy {
set { decoder.nonConformingFloatDecodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return decoder.nonConformingFloatDecodingStrategy }
}
var keyDecodingStrategy: JSONDecoder.KeyDecodingStrategy {
set { decoder.keyDecodingStrategy = newValue }
get { return decoder.keyDecodingStrategy }
}
func decode<T>(_ type: T.Type, from dictionary: [String: Any]) throws -> T where T : Decodable {
let data = try JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: dictionary, options: [])
return try decoder.decode(type, from: data)
}
}
Usage is similar to JSONEncoder / JSONDecoder…
let dictionary = try DictionaryEncoder().encode(object)
and
let object = try DictionaryDecoder().decode(Object.self, from: dictionary)
For convenience, I've put this all in a repo… https://github.com/ashleymills/SwiftDictionaryCoding
I have create a library called CodableFirebase and it's initial purpose was to use it with Firebase Database, but it does actually what you need: it creates a dictionary or any other type just like in JSONDecoder but you don't need to do the double conversion here like you do in other answers. So it would look something like:
import CodableFirebase
let model = Foo(a: 1, b: 2)
let dict = try! FirebaseEncoder().encode(model)
There is no built in way to do that.
As answered above if you have no performance issues then you can accept the JSONEncoder + JSONSerialization implementation.
But I would rather go the standard library's way to provide an encoder/decoder object.
class DictionaryEncoder {
private let jsonEncoder = JSONEncoder()
/// Encodes given Encodable value into an array or dictionary
func encode<T>(_ value: T) throws -> Any where T: Encodable {
let jsonData = try jsonEncoder.encode(value)
return try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: jsonData, options: .allowFragments)
}
}
class DictionaryDecoder {
private let jsonDecoder = JSONDecoder()
/// Decodes given Decodable type from given array or dictionary
func decode<T>(_ type: T.Type, from json: Any) throws -> T where T: Decodable {
let jsonData = try JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: json, options: [])
return try jsonDecoder.decode(type, from: jsonData)
}
}
You can try it with following code:
struct Computer: Codable {
var owner: String?
var cpuCores: Int
var ram: Double
}
let computer = Computer(owner: "5keeve", cpuCores: 8, ram: 4)
let dictionary = try! DictionaryEncoder().encode(computer)
let decodedComputer = try! DictionaryDecoder().decode(Computer.self, from: dictionary)
I am force-trying here to make the example shorter. In production code you should handle the errors appropriately.
I'm not sure if it's the best way but you definitely can do something like:
struct Foo: Codable {
var a: Int
var b: Int
init(a: Int, b: Int) {
self.a = a
self.b = b
}
}
let foo = Foo(a: 1, b: 2)
let dict = try JSONDecoder().decode([String: Int].self, from: JSONEncoder().encode(foo))
print(dict)
let dict = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: try JSONEncoder().encode(struct), options: []) as? [String: Any]
I have modified the PropertyListEncoder from the Swift project into a DictionaryEncoder, simply by removing the final serialisation from dictionary into binary format. You can do the same yourself, or you can take my code from here
It can be used like this:
do {
let employeeDictionary: [String: Any] = try DictionaryEncoder().encode(employee)
} catch let error {
// handle error
}
In some project, i'm used the swift reflection. But be careful, nested codable objects, are not mapped also there.
let dict = Dictionary(uniqueKeysWithValues: Mirror(reflecting: foo).children.map{ ($0.label!, $0.value) })
I definitely think that there's some value in just being able to use Codable to encode to/from dictionaries, without the intention of ever hitting JSON/Plists/whatever. There are plenty of APIs which just give you back a dictionary, or expect a dictionary, and it's nice to be able to interchange them easily with Swift structs or objects, without having to write endless boilerplate code.
I've been playing round with some code based on the Foundation JSONEncoder.swift source (which actually does implement dictionary encoding/decoding internally, but doesn't export it).
The code can be found here: https://github.com/elegantchaos/DictionaryCoding
It's still quite rough, but I've expanded it a bit so that, for example, it can fill in missing values with defaults when decoding.
Here is a protocol based solution:
protocol DictionaryEncodable {
func encode() throws -> Any
}
extension DictionaryEncodable where Self: Encodable {
func encode() throws -> Any {
let jsonData = try JSONEncoder().encode(self)
return try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: jsonData, options: .allowFragments)
}
}
protocol DictionaryDecodable {
static func decode(_ dictionary: Any) throws -> Self
}
extension DictionaryDecodable where Self: Decodable {
static func decode(_ dictionary: Any) throws -> Self {
let jsonData = try JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: dictionary, options: [])
return try JSONDecoder().decode(Self.self, from: jsonData)
}
}
typealias DictionaryCodable = DictionaryEncodable & DictionaryDecodable
And here is how to use it:
class AClass: Codable, DictionaryCodable {
var name: String
var age: Int
init(name: String, age: Int) {
self.name = name
self.age = age
}
}
struct AStruct: Codable, DictionaryEncodable, DictionaryDecodable {
var name: String
var age: Int
}
let aClass = AClass(name: "Max", age: 24)
if let dict = try? aClass.encode(), let theClass = try? AClass.decode(dict) {
print("Encoded dictionary: \n\(dict)\n\ndata from decoded dictionary: \"name: \(theClass.name), age: \(theClass.age)\"")
}
let aStruct = AStruct(name: "George", age: 30)
if let dict = try? aStruct.encode(), let theStruct = try? AStruct.decode(dict) {
print("Encoded dictionary: \n\(dict)\n\ndata from decoded dictionary: \"name: \(theStruct.name), age: \(theStruct.age)\"")
}
I wrote a quick gist to handle this (not using the Codable protocol). Be careful, it doesn't type-check any values and doesn't work recursively on values that are encodable.
class DictionaryEncoder {
var result: [String: Any]
init() {
result = [:]
}
func encode(_ encodable: DictionaryEncodable) -> [String: Any] {
encodable.encode(self)
return result
}
func encode<T, K>(_ value: T, key: K) where K: RawRepresentable, K.RawValue == String {
result[key.rawValue] = value
}
}
protocol DictionaryEncodable {
func encode(_ encoder: DictionaryEncoder)
}
There no straight forward way of doing this in Codable. You need to implement Encodable/Decodable protocol for your struct. For your example, you might need to write as below
typealias EventDict = [String:Int]
struct Favorite {
var all:EventDict
init(all: EventDict = [:]) {
self.all = all
}
}
extension Favorite: Encodable {
struct FavoriteKey: CodingKey {
var stringValue: String
init?(stringValue: String) {
self.stringValue = stringValue
}
var intValue: Int? { return nil }
init?(intValue: Int) { return nil }
}
func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: FavoriteKey.self)
for eventId in all {
let nameKey = FavoriteKey(stringValue: eventId.key)!
try container.encode(eventId.value, forKey: nameKey)
}
}
}
extension Favorite: Decodable {
public init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
var events = EventDict()
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: FavoriteKey.self)
for key in container.allKeys {
let fav = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: key)
events[key.stringValue] = fav
}
self.init(all: events)
}
}
I have made a pod here https://github.com/levantAJ/AnyCodable to facilitate decode and encode [String: Any] and [Any]
pod 'DynamicCodable', '1.0'
And you are able to decode & encode [String: Any] and [Any]
import DynamicCodable
struct YourObject: Codable {
var dict: [String: Any]
var array: [Any]
var optionalDict: [String: Any]?
var optionalArray: [Any]?
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case dict
case array
case optionalDict
case optionalArray
}
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let values = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
dict = try values.decode([String: Any].self, forKey: .dict)
array = try values.decode([Any].self, forKey: .array)
optionalDict = try values.decodeIfPresent([String: Any].self, forKey: .optionalDict)
optionalArray = try values.decodeIfPresent([Any].self, forKey: .optionalArray)
}
func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
try container.encode(dict, forKey: .dict)
try container.encode(array, forKey: .array)
try container.encodeIfPresent(optionalDict, forKey: .optionalDict)
try container.encodeIfPresent(optionalArray, forKey: .optionalArray)
}
}
After research, we find that if we use the keyword Any in the class which is inherited from the Codable & Decodable it will give the error. So if you want to use a dictionary user with the types of data coming from the server.
For example, the server is sending the dictionary of type [String : Int] then use [String : Int] if you will try [String : Any] it will not work.
Here is dictionary -> object. Swift 5.
extension Dictionary where Key == String, Value: Any {
func object<T: Decodable>() -> T? {
if let data = try? JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: self, options: []) {
return try? JSONDecoder().decode(T.self, from: data)
} else {
return nil
}
}
}
Come to think of it, the question does not have an answer in the general case, since the Encodable instance may be something not serializable into a dictionary, such as an array:
let payload = [1, 2, 3]
let encoded = try JSONEncoder().encode(payload) // "[1,2,3]"
Other than that, I have written something similar as a framework.

NSJSONSerialization json data from Swift dictionary containing struct as values

I am trying to convert a swift dictionary (that has String as keys and struct as values) into json data using NSJSONSerialization. But I am getting this error:
Cannot invoke 'dataWithJSONObject' with an argument list of type'([String : Vik.Version], options: NSJSONWritingOptions, error: nil)
Is there anything that I am missing. any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Following is my code.
final class Vik: NSObject {
private struct Version {
private var name: String
private var filesToAdd = [String]()
private var filesToRemove = [String]()
init(name: String, filesToAdd: [String]?, filesToRemove: [String]?) {
self.name = name
if let filesToAdd = filesToAdd {
self.filesToAdd = filesToAdd
}
if let filesToRemove = filesToRemove {
self.filesToRemove = filesToRemove
}
}
}
......
......
......
private var changeLogDict = [String : Version]()
private func addToDirectory() {
.......
.......
let jsonData = NSJSONSerialization.dataWithJSONObject(self.changeLogDict, options: NSJSONWritingOptions.PrettyPrinted, error: nil)
.......
.......
}
}
I figured it out. NSJSONSerialization.dataWithJSON method takes 'AnyObject' data type. Swift dictionary is a struct not an object and hence its complaining. Following line compiles fine
let jsonData = NSJSONSerialization.dataWithJSONObject(self.changeLogDict as NSDictionary, options: NSJSONWritingOptions.PrettyPrinted, error: nil)