Convert to string an Any value - swift

Question

This fails (Non-nominal type 'Any' cannot be extended)
extension Any {
func literal() -> String {
if let booleanValue = (self as? Bool) {
return String(format: (booleanValue ? "true" : "false"))
}
else
if let intValue = (self as? Int) {
return String(format: "%d", intValue)
}
else
if let floatValue = (self as? Float) {
return String(format: "%f", floatValue)
}
else
if let doubleValue = (self as? Double) {
return String(format: "%f", doubleValue)
}
else
{
return String(format: "<%#>", self)
}
}
}
as I would like to use it in a dictionary (self) to xml string factory like
extension Dictionary {
// Return an XML string from the dictionary
func xmlString(withElement element: String, isFirstElement: Bool) -> String {
var xml = String.init()
if isFirstElement { xml.append("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>\n") }
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>\n", element))
for node in self.keys {
let value = self[node]
if let array: Array<Any> = (value as? Array<Any>) {
xml.append(array.xmlString(withElement: node as! String, isFirstElemenet: false))
}
else
if let dict: Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any> = (value as? Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any>) {
xml.append(dict.xmlString(withElement: node as! String, isFirstElement: false))
}
else
{
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>", node as! CVarArg))
xml.append((value as Any).literal
xml.append(String(format: "</%#>\n", node as! CVarArg))
}
}
xml.append(String(format: "</%#>\n", element))
return xml.replacingOccurrences(of: "&", with: "&amp", options: .literal, range: nil)
}
}
I was trying to reduce the code somehow, as the above snippet is repeated a few times in a prototype I'm building but this is not the way to do it (a working copy with the snippet replicated works but ugly?).
Basically I want to generate a literal for an Any value - previously fetched from a dictionary.

Answer 1

It seems like you can't add extensions to Any. You do have some other options though - either make it a function toLiteral(value: Any) -> String, or what is probably a neater solution; use the description: String attribute which is present on all types that conform to CustomStringConvertible, which includes String, Int, Bool, and Float - your code would be simplified down to just xml.append(value.description). You then just have make a simple implementation for any other types that you might get.

Answer 2

Ok, finally got this working. First the preliminaries: each of your objects needs to have a dictionary() method to marshal itself. Note: "k.###" are struct static constants - i.e., k.name is "name", etc. I have two objects, a PlayItem and a PlayList:
class PlayItem : NSObject {
var name : String = k.item
var link : URL = URL.init(string: "http://")!
var time : TimeInterval
var rank : Int
var rect : NSRect
var label: Bool
var hover: Bool
var alpha: Float
var trans: Int
var temp : String {
get {
return link.absoluteString
}
set (value) {
link = URL.init(string: value)!
}
}
func dictionary() -> Dictionary<String,Any> {
var dict = Dictionary<String,Any>()
dict[k.name] = name
dict[k.link] = link.absoluteString
dict[k.time] = time
dict[k.rank] = rank
dict[k.rect] = NSStringFromRect(rect)
dict[k.label] = label ? 1 : 0
dict[k.hover] = hover ? 1 : 0
dict[k.alpha] = alpha
dict[k.trans] = trans
return dict
}
}
class PlayList : NSObject {
var name : String = k.list
var list : Array <PlayItem> = Array()
func dictionary() -> Dictionary<String,Any> {
var dict = Dictionary<String,Any>()
var items: [Any] = Array()
for item in list {
items.append(item.dictionary())
}
dict[k.name] = name
dict[k.list] = items
return dict
}
}
Note any value so marshal has to be those legal types for a dictionary; it helps to have aliases so in the PlayItem a "temp" is the string version for the link url, and its getter/setter would translate.
When needed, like the writeRowsWith drag-n-drop tableview handler, I do this:
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, writeRowsWith rowIndexes: IndexSet, to pboard: NSPasteboard) -> Bool {
if tableView == playlistTableView {
let objects: [PlayList] = playlistArrayController.arrangedObjects as! [PlayList]
var items: [PlayList] = [PlayList]()
var promises = [String]()
for index in rowIndexes {
let item = objects[index]
let dict = item.dictionary()
let promise = dict.xmlString(withElement: item.className, isFirstElement: true)
promises.append(promise)
items.append(item)
}
let data = NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: items)
pboard.setPropertyList(data, forType: PlayList.className())
pboard.setPropertyList(promises, forType:NSFilesPromisePboardType)
pboard.writeObjects(promises as [NSPasteboardWriting])
}
else
{
let objects: [PlayItem] = playitemArrayController.arrangedObjects as! [PlayItem]
var items: [PlayItem] = [PlayItem]()
var promises = [String]()
for index in rowIndexes {
let item = objects[index]
let dict = item.dictionary()
let promise = dict.xmlString(withElement: item.className, isFirstElement: true)
promises.append(promise)
items.append(item)
}
let data = NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: items)
pboard.setPropertyList(data, forType: PlayList.className())
pboard.setPropertyList(promises, forType:NSFilesPromisePboardType)
pboard.writeObjects(promises as [NSPasteboardWriting])
}
return true
}
What makes this happen are these xmlString extensions and the toLiteral function - as you cannot extend "Any":
func toLiteral(_ value: Any) -> String {
if let booleanValue = (value as? Bool) {
return String(format: (booleanValue ? "1" : "0"))
}
else
if let intValue = (value as? Int) {
return String(format: "%d", intValue)
}
else
if let floatValue = (value as? Float) {
return String(format: "%f", floatValue)
}
else
if let doubleValue = (value as? Double) {
return String(format: "%f", doubleValue)
}
else
if let stringValue = (value as? String) {
return stringValue
}
else
if let dictValue: Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any> = (value as? Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any>)
{
return dictValue.xmlString(withElement: "Dictionary", isFirstElement: false)
}
else
{
return ((value as AnyObject).description)
}
}
extension Array {
func xmlString(withElement element: String, isFirstElemenet: Bool) -> String {
var xml = String.init()
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>\n", element))
self.forEach { (value) in
if let array: Array<Any> = (value as? Array<Any>) {
xml.append(array.xmlString(withElement: "Array", isFirstElemenet: false))
}
else
if let dict: Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any> = (value as? Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any>) {
xml.append(dict.xmlString(withElement: "Dictionary", isFirstElement: false))
}
else
{
xml.append(toLiteral(value))
}
}
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>\n", element))
return xml
}
}
extension Dictionary {
// Return an XML string from the dictionary
func xmlString(withElement element: String, isFirstElement: Bool) -> String {
var xml = String.init()
if isFirstElement { xml.append("<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-8\"?>\n") }
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>\n", element))
for node in self.keys {
let value = self[node]
if let array: Array<Any> = (value as? Array<Any>) {
xml.append(array.xmlString(withElement: node as! String, isFirstElemenet: false))
}
else
if let dict: Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any> = (value as? Dictionary<AnyHashable,Any>) {
xml.append(dict.xmlString(withElement: node as! String, isFirstElement: false))
}
else
{
xml.append(String(format: "<%#>", node as! CVarArg))
xml.append(toLiteral(value as Any))
xml.append(String(format: "</%#>\n", node as! CVarArg))
}
}
xml.append(String(format: "</%#>\n", element))
return xml
}
func xmlHTMLString(withElement element: String, isFirstElement: Bool) -> String {
let xml = self.xmlString(withElement: element, isFirstElement: isFirstElement)
return xml.replacingOccurrences(of: "&", with: "&amp", options: .literal, range: nil)
}
}
This continues another's solution, the toLiteral() suggestion above, in hopes it helps others.
Enjoy.