Getter Setter With Type of Any Swift - swift

Question

Is it possible to do a getter and setter for an attribute that has a type of 'Any'
Here is my thought:
private var _valueObject: Any?
public var valueObject: Any? {
set {
if newValue is String {
self._valueObject = newValue as? String
} else if newValue is BFSignature {
self._valueObject = newValue as? BFSignature
}
}
get {
if self._valueObject is String {
return self._valueObject as? String
} else if self._valueObject is BFSignature {
return self._valueObject as? BFSignature
} else {
return self._valueObject
}
}
}
When I try to use it through out my code though I get errors stating:
Cannot compare String to type Any
Is there a way to use something like this without casting the 'valueObject' to a string whenever I need it. A way to use it and it already knows its a 'String' or 'BFSignature' instead of 'Any'.
Here is an example of the error:
I would rather it just know that cellValue is a 'String.' Instead of casting it each time I use it.

Answer 1

You shouldn't use Any
In my opinion, you should make a common representation of the API call result instead of using Any. You know exactly what the API is going to return, don't you? It's either a String or something that you turn into your custom object BFSignature.
Therefore, you can make an enum to represent your API call result:
enum APIResult {
case signature(BFASignature)
case justString(String)
}
and use it like
private var _valueObject: APIResult?
if let stringValue = newValue as? String {
self._valueObject = .justString(stringValue)
}
if let signatureValue = newValue as? BFSignature {
self._valueObject = .signature(signatureValue)
}

Answer 2

If there are a fixed number of types that you need to use here, you can use an enum:
struct BFSignature {
var a: Int
}
enum Either {
case bfSig(BFSignature)
case string(String)
}
var a: Either
var b: Either
a = .bfSig(BFSignature(a: 7))
b = .string("Stack Overflow")
a = b
Usage:
switch (b) {
case Either.bfSig(let signature):
print(signature.a) // Output integeral value
case Either.string(let str):
print(str) //Output string value
}