Firebase duplicate cell - swift

Question

Is possible to avoid duplicating of cell with content of the same name during import customer from database to tableview? In my example if customer Ben Smith has two children with values I want only one cell with his name.
This is my database structure...
And result in tableview:
let userID = Auth.auth().currentUser!.uid
let usersDatabaseRef = Database.database().reference().child("usersDatabase").child(userID).child("Customers")
usersDatabaseRef.observe(.value, with: { snapshot in
print("there are \(snapshot.childrenCount) users")
for child in snapshot.children {
let childSnap = child as! DataSnapshot
print("user: \(childSnap.key)")
let userCustomerSnap = childSnap
for customer in userCustomerSnap.children.allObjects as! [DataSnapshot] {
let customerSnap = customer
let dict = customerSnap.value as! [String: Any]
let name = dict["Name and surname"]
let phone = dict["Phone"]
let company = dict["Company name"]
let customerID = dict["ID"]
let email = dict["Email"]
let nip = dict["Nip1"]
let postal = dict["Postal code"]
let street = dict["Street"]
let town = dict["Town"]
let myCustomer = CustomerModel(name: name as? String, phone: phone as? String, company: company as? String, customerID: customerID as? String, email: email as? String, nip: nip as? String, postal: postal as? String, street: street as? String, town: town as? String)
self.candies.append(myCustomer)
self.filteredCandies.append(myCustomer)
}
self.tableViewCustomer.reloadData()

Answer 1

You're adding an item to the list each time you find an order (or whatever the level under "Ben Smith" represents in your data) from that customer. So your list is a list of orders, not a list of customers.
In general in NoSQL/Firebase, it is recommended to model your database for what you want to display. So if you want a list of customers, that's what I'd store in the database. But given your data structure, you can also fix it in code:
usersDatabaseRef.observe(.value, with: { snapshot in
print("there are \(snapshot.childrenCount) users")
for child in snapshot.children {
let childSnap = child as! DataSnapshot
let myCustomer = CustomerModel(name: child.key, phone: "", company: "", customerID: "", email: "", nip: "", postal: "", street: "", town: ")
self.candies.append(myCustomer)
self.filteredCandies.append(myCustomer)
}
self.tableViewCustomer.reloadData()
})
Or alternatively, only add the new customer when their name is different from the previous order you saw:
var previousName: String = ""
usersDatabaseRef.observe(.value, with: { snapshot in
print("there are \(snapshot.childrenCount) users")
for child in snapshot.children {
let childSnap = child as! DataSnapshot
print("user: \(childSnap.key)")
let userCustomerSnap = childSnap
for customer in userCustomerSnap.children.allObjects as! [DataSnapshot] {
let customerSnap = customer
let dict = customerSnap.value as! [String: Any]
let name = dict["Name and surname"]
if name != previousName {
let phone = dict["Phone"]
let company = dict["Company name"]
let customerID = dict["ID"]
let email = dict["Email"]
let nip = dict["Nip1"]
let postal = dict["Postal code"]
let street = dict["Street"]
let town = dict["Town"]
let myCustomer = CustomerModel(name: name as? String, phone: phone as? String, company: company as? String, customerID: customerID as? String, email: email as? String, nip: nip as? String, postal: postal as? String, street: street as? String, town: town as? String)
self.candies.append(myCustomer)
self.filteredCandies.append(myCustomer)
previousName = name
}
}
}
self.tableViewCustomer.reloadData()

Answer 2

You really don't need that for loop. That might be what's causing you issue. The code is called for the same number of times that you have children anyway so you don't need that loop. Try the code below. If that doesn't work, you might need to try .childAdded instead of .value
guard let userID = Auth.auth().currentUser?.uid else { return }
let usersDatabaseRef = Database.database().reference().child("usersDatabase").child(userID).child("Customers")
usersDatabaseRef.observe(.childAdded, with: { snapshot in
guard let dict = snapshot.value as? [String: Any] else { return }
let name = dict["Name and surname"] as? String
let phone = dict["Phone"] as? String
let company = dict["Company name"] as? String
let customerID = dict["ID"] as? String
let email = dict["Email"] as? String
let nip = dict["Nip1"] as? String
let postal = dict["Postal code"] as? String
let street = dict["Street"] as? String
let town = dict["Town"] as? String
let myCustomer = CustomerModel(name: name, phone: phone, company: company, customerID: customerID, email: email, nip: nip, postal: postal, street: street, town: town)
self.candies.append(myCustomer)
self.filteredCandies.append(myCustomer)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.tableViewCustomer.reloadData()
}
}, withCancel: nil)