How to work generic with ranges? - swift

My intention is the following:
My first function:
public func substringsOfLength(_ length: Int, inRange range: CountableClosedRange) -> Array<String>
{
...
}
And my second:
public func substringsOfLength(_ length: Int, inRange range: CountableRange) -> Array<String>
{
...
}
How can I realize both of them in one function? I know that Ranges are structures, so I can't use generalization paradigm. And I know too, that CountableRanges conform to RandomAccessCollection protocol and the bounds of them to Comparable, _Strideable and SignedInteger (Bound.Stride). Consequently, I search for a generic solution, right?
So I tried something like that:
public func substringsOfLength<T: RandomAccessCollection>(_ length: Int, inRange range: T) -> Array<String>
{
...
}
I know that here are the other protocols missing, but I don't know how to concretize the bounds with them.

I will try a little bit different and more "Swifty" approach ...
import Foundation
let str = "1234 567 890 1 23456"
extension String {
subscript(bounds: CountableClosedRange<Int>) -> String {
get {
return self[self.index(self.startIndex, offsetBy: bounds.lowerBound)...self.index(str.startIndex, offsetBy: bounds.upperBound)]
}
}
subscript(bounds: CountableRange<Int>) -> String {
get {
return self[bounds.lowerBound...bounds.upperBound]
}
}
var count: Int {
get {
return self.characters.count
}
}
func substrings(separatedBy: CharacterSet, isIncluded: (String) -> Bool)->[String] {
return self.components(separatedBy: separatedBy).filter(isIncluded)
}
}
let a0 = str[2..<14].components(separatedBy: .whitespacesAndNewlines).filter {
$0.count == 3
}
let a1 = str[2...13].substrings(separatedBy: .whitespacesAndNewlines) {
$0.count == 3
}
prints
["567", "890"] ["567", "890"]
Very soon the String will be the collection of characters and life will be easier ... (then just remove a part of your code)
As you can see, the function substrings is almost redundant and probably is better to remove it.

Related

How to use type-erase in Swift

Story:
I have some layouts.
A layout have a pattern and keys. The layout can make message from these.
Each patterns have maximum number of keys.
That is my code to expression templates.
protocol LayoutPattern {
static var numberOfKeys: Int { get }
static func make(with keys: [String]) -> String
}
struct Pattern1: LayoutPattern {
static let numberOfKeys: Int = 1
static func make(with keys: [String]) -> String {
return "Pattern 1:" + keys.joined(separator: ",")
}
let value1: String
}
struct Pattern2: LayoutPattern {
static let numberOfKeys: Int = 2
static func make(with keys: [String]) -> String {
return "Pattern 2:" + keys.joined(separator: ",")
}
let value1: String
let value2: String
}
protocol LayoutProtocol {
associatedtype Pattern: LayoutPattern
var keys: [String] { get }
func make() -> String
}
struct Layout<T: LayoutPattern>: LayoutProtocol {
typealias Pattern = T
let keys: [String]
init(keys: [String]) {
assert(keys.count == Pattern.numberOfKeys)
self.keys = keys
}
func make() -> String {
return Pattern.make(with: keys)
}
}
let t1 = Layout<Pattern1>(keys: ["key1"])
t1.make() // Pattern 1: key1
let t2 = Layout<Pattern2>(keys: ["key1", "key2"])
t2.make() // Pattern 2: Key1,Key2
This is valid code.
But I can't write that:
class MyNote {
let layout: LayoutProtocol
}
I know that I should use a technique called type-erase like AnyPokemon!
I wrote that:
struct AnyLayout<T: LayoutPattern>: LayoutProtocol {
typealias Pattern = T
let keys: [String]
private let _make: () -> String
init<U: LayoutProtocol>(_ layout: U) where T == U.Pattern {
self.keys = layout.keys
self._make = { layout.make() }
}
func make() -> String {
_make()
}
}
let anyLayout = AnyLayout(Layout<Pattern2>(keys: ["key1", "key2"]))
anyLayout.make() // Pattern 2: Key1,Key2
This can be executed. But MyNote class can't still have a property as AnyLayout.
What should I do?
The issue is the addition of the associatedtype. It isn't doing any work here. Nothing relies on it. Remove it, and the issue goes away. Don't add associatedtypes until you have a specific requirement for them.
As a rule, if you think you need type-erasure, first ask if your protocol is designed correctly. There are definitely times that type erasers are needed, but they're far rarer than people expect.
If you have an algorithm that relies on Pattern, then show that, and we can discuss the way to build that. (There are many techniques, including using multiple protocols.)
It's also worth asking whether Layout needs to be generic here. Do you want Layout<Pattern1> to be a different type than Layout<Pattern2>? The fact that you're then trying to type-erase it suggests you don't. In that case, there's no reason for the extra generic layers. In your example, Layout isn't really doing any work. Again, you can probably just get rid of it. Let each pattern be its own thing and let Layout be a protocol that binds them with make():
protocol Layout {
func make() -> String
}
struct Pattern1: Layout {
let key: String
func make() -> String {
return "Pattern 1:" + key
}
}
struct Pattern2: Layout {
let keys: [String]
init(key1: String, key2: String) {
keys = [key1, key2]
}
func make() -> String {
return "Pattern 2:" + keys.joined(separator: ",")
}
}
let t1 = Pattern1(key: "key1")
t1.make() // Pattern 1: key1
let t2 = Pattern2(key1: "key1", key2: "key2")
t2.make() // Pattern 2: Key1,Key2
class MyNote {
let layout: Layout
init(layout: Layout) {
self.layout = layout
}
}
let note = MyNote(layout: t1)
This lets you make your Pattern initializers much stronger types. The need for an assert means you're not letting the types do the work. With the above design, you can't pass the wrong number of keys.

How to use buildExpression in Swift 5.2 Function Builders?

I understand that it's a draft proposal. I tried to implement a simple DSL for building a string, like so:
#_functionBuilder
struct StringBuilder {
static func buildExpression(_ string: String) -> [String] {
[string]
}
static func buildBlock(_ children: [String]...) -> [String] {
children.flatMap{ $0 }
}
}
func s(separator: String = "", #StringBuilder _ makeString: () -> [String]) -> String {
makeString().joined(separator: separator)
}
let z = s(separator: " ") {
"this"
"is"
"cool"
}
However, the compiler complains that "'String' is not convertible to '[String]'". This leads me to believe that buildBlock is the only part of the proposal currently implemented. (This is understandable given that in SwiftUI they are building a hierarchy of views, so that's all they need.)
Is this correct or am I doing something wrong? What is the correct way to use buildExpression?
ielyamani's answer shows how to build a working string builder such as I used in my example above. However, that does not solve the actual problem. I'm not trying to build a string builder. I'm trying to figure out function builders. The string builder is just an example. For example, if we wish to have a string builder that accepts integers, we could in theory do the following:
#_functionBuilder
struct StringBuilder {
static func buildExpression(_ int: Int) -> [String] {
["\(int)"]
}
// The rest of it implemented just as above
}
In this case, when the compiler encountered an Int, it would call buildExpression to then spit out our component type, in this case [String]. But as Martin R said in a comment to this question, buildExpression is not currently implemented.
I encountered the same issue today, it seems that buildExpression isn't implemented. I ended up making a workaround by using a protocol "ComponentProtocol" and then creating "Expression: ComponentProtocol" and "Component: ComponentProtocol". That works for me for now. I am hoping it'll be implemented later.
protocol ComponentProtocol: ExpressibleByIntegerLiteral, ExpressibleByStringLiteral {
var value: String { get }
}
struct Expression: ComponentProtocol {
let _value: String
var value: String { _value }
init(_ value: String) { _value = value }
init(integerLiteral value: Int) { self.init(value) }
init(stringLiteral value: String) { self.init(value) }
init<E: CustomStringConvertible>(_ value: E) {_value = String(describing: value) }
}
struct Component: ComponentProtocol {
let _values: [String]
var value: String { _values.joined(separator: ", ") }
init(integerLiteral value: Int) { self.init(value) }
init(stringLiteral value: String) { self.init(value) }
init<E: CustomStringConvertible>(_ value: E) { _values = [String(describing: value)] }
init<T: ComponentProtocol>(_ values: T...) { _values = values.map { $0.value } }
init<T: ComponentProtocol>(_ values: [T]) { _values = values.map { $0.value } }
}
#_functionBuilder struct StringReduceBuilder {
static func buildBlock<T: ComponentProtocol>(_ components: T ...) -> Component { Component(components) }
static func buildEither<T: ComponentProtocol>(first: T) -> Component { Component(first.value) }
static func buildEither<T: ComponentProtocol>(second: T) -> Component { Component(second.value) }
static func buildOptional<T: ComponentProtocol>(_ component: T?) -> Component? {
component == nil ? nil : Component(component!.value)
}
}
func stringsReduce (#StringReduceBuilder block: () -> Component) -> Component {
return block()
}
let result = stringsReduce {
Expression(3)
"one"
Expression(5)
Expression("2")
83
}
let s2 = stringsReduce {
if .random () { // random value Bool
Expression(11)
} else {
Expression("another one")
}
}
Since buildBlock(_:) takes a variadic number of arrays of strings, this would work:
let z = s(separator: " ") {
["this"]
["is"]
["cool"]
}
But that's still clunky. To take strings instead of Arrays of strings, add this function to StringBuilder which takes a variable number of strings:
static func buildBlock(_ strings: String...) -> [String] {
Array(strings)
}
And now you can do this:
let z = s(separator: " ") {
"Hello"
"my"
"friend!"
}
print(z) //Hello my friend!

Swift sorting on arbitrary types

I have a Set of instances of type Thingie, and I want to provide arrays of Thingies sorted on any property of Thingie. Some of the properties are Int, for instance, while others are String, and there could be others. So I wanted to create a sort routine that accepts a string as the name of the property and compares the two properties of two thingies to determine the order.
It seemed like a job for generics, and I'm getting close, but there's a hole.
Here's where I'm at right now:
func compare<T:Comparable>(lft: T, _ rgt: T) -> Bool {
return lft < rgt
}
func orderBy(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
let allArray = (self.thingies as NSSet).allObjects as! [Thingie]
//typealias T = the type of allArray[0][sortField]
// or maybe create an alias that conforms to a protocol:
//typealias T:Comparable = ?
return allArray.sort({(a, b) -> Bool in
return self.compare(a[sortField] as! T, b[sortField] as! T)
})
}
I created a compare function using generics, and invoke it in my sort routine. The catch is that AnyObject! will not work for my generic, so I need to cast the values returned from a[sortField] and b[sortField] to be of the same type. It doesn't even really matter what type as long as the compiler is happy that both values are of the same type and that it implements the Comparable protocol.
I figured a typealias would do the trick, but maybe there's a better way?
Side question: surely there's a better way to create the initial, unsorted array from the set without resorting to NSSet. A little hint would be welcome. [Solved that bit! Thanks, Oliver Atkinson!]
Here's a big 'ol chunk of code you can paste into a playground. It has three attempts at the orderBy implementation, each with a problem.
//: Playground - noun: a place where people can play
import Foundation
class Thingie: Hashable {
var data: [String: AnyObject]
var hashValue: Int
init(data: [String: AnyObject]) {
self.data = data
self.hashValue = (data["id"])!.hashValue
}
subscript(propName: String) -> AnyObject! {
return self.data[propName]
}
}
func ==(lhs: Thingie, rhs: Thingie) -> Bool {
return lhs.hashValue == rhs.hashValue
}
var thingies: Set = Set<Thingie>()
thingies.insert(Thingie(data: ["id": 2, "description": "two"]));
thingies.insert(Thingie(data: ["id": 11, "description": "eleven"]));
// attempt 1
// won't compile because '<' won't work when type is ambiguous e.g., AnyObject
func orderByField1(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.sort { $0[sortField] < $1[sortField] }
}
// compare function that promises the compiler that the operands for < will be of the same type:
func compare<T:Comparable>(lft: T, _ rgt: T) -> Bool {
return lft < rgt
}
// attempt 2
// This compiles but will bomb at runtime if Thingie[sortField] is not a string
func orderByField2(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.sort { compare($0[sortField] as! String, $1[sortField] as! String) }
}
// attempt 3
// Something like this would be ideal, but protocol Comparable can't be used like this.
// I suspect the underlying reason that Comparable can't be used as a type is the same thing preventing me from making this work.
func orderByField3(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.sort { compare($0[sortField] as! Comparable, $1[sortField] as! Comparable) }
}
// tests - can't run until a compiling candidate is written, of course
// should return array with thingie id=2 first:
var thingieList: Array = orderByField2("id");
print(thingieList[0]["id"])
// should return array with thingie id=11 first:
var thingieList2: Array = orderByField2("description");
print(thingieList2[0]["id"])
My previous answer, though it works, does not make the most of the Swift's excellent type checker. It also switches between the types that can be used in one centralised place which limits extensibility to the framework owner.
The following approach solves these issues. (Please forgive me for not having the heart to delete my previous answer; let us say that it's limitations are instructive...)
As before, we'll start with the target API:
struct Thing : ThingType {
let properties: [String:Sortable]
subscript(key: String) -> Sortable? {
return properties[key]
}
}
let data: [[String:Sortable]] = [
["id": 1, "description": "one"],
["id": 2, "description": "two"],
["id": 3, "description": "three"],
["id": 4, "description": "four"],
["id": 4, "description": "four"]
]
var things = data.map(Thing.init)
things.sortInPlaceBy("id")
things
.map{ $0["id"]! } // [1, 2, 3, 4]
things.sortInPlaceBy("description")
things
.map{ $0["description"]! } // ["four", "one", "three", "two"]
To make this possible we must have this ThingType protocol and an extension to mutable collections (which will work for sets as well as arrays):
protocol ThingType {
subscript(_: String) -> Sortable? { get }
}
extension MutableCollectionType
where Index : RandomAccessIndexType, Generator.Element : ThingType
{
mutating func sortInPlaceBy(key: String, ascending: Bool = true) {
sortInPlace {
guard let lhs = $0[key], let rhs = $1[key] else {
return false // TODO: nil handling
}
guard let b = (try? lhs.isOrderedBefore(rhs, ascending: ascending)) else {
return false // TODO: handle SortableError
}
return b
}
}
}
Evidently, the whole idea revolves around this Sortable protocol:
protocol Sortable {
func isOrderedBefore(_: Sortable, ascending: Bool) throws -> Bool
}
... which can be conformed to independently by any type we want to work with:
import Foundation
extension NSNumber : Sortable {
func isOrderedBefore(other: Sortable, ascending: Bool) throws -> Bool {
try throwIfTypeNotEqualTo(other)
let f: (Double, Double) -> Bool = ascending ? (<) : (>)
return f(doubleValue, (other as! NSNumber).doubleValue)
}
}
extension NSString : Sortable {
func isOrderedBefore(other: Sortable, ascending: Bool) throws -> Bool {
try throwIfTypeNotEqualTo(other)
let f: (String, String) -> Bool = ascending ? (<) : (>)
return f(self as String, other as! String)
}
}
// TODO: make more types Sortable (including those that do not conform to NSObject or even AnyObject)!
This throwIfTypeNotEqualTo method is just a convenience extension of Sortable:
enum SortableError : ErrorType {
case TypesNotEqual
}
extension Sortable {
func throwIfTypeNotEqualTo(other: Sortable) throws {
guard other.dynamicType == self.dynamicType else {
throw SortableError.TypesNotEqual
}
}
}
And that's it. Now we can conform new types to Sortable even outside of the framework and the type checker is validating our [[String:Sortable]] source data at compile time. Also, if Thing is extended to conform to Hashable then Set<Thing> will also be sortable by key...
Note that, although Sortable is itself unconstrained (which is awesome), source data and Thing's properties can be constrained to dictionaries with NSObject or AnyObject values if required by making use of a protocol like:
protocol SortableNSObjectType : Sortable, NSObjectProtocol { }
... or more directly by declaring data and Thing's properties as:
let _: [String : protocol<Sortable, NSObjectProtocol>]
I don't know the implementation of Thingie but maybe you could provide more context.
You could however go for something like this
func orderBy(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.allObjects.map { $0 as! Thingie }.sort { $0[sortField] < $1[sortField] }
}
If you could provide a playground example so I can provide further help.
Also why did you use NSSet rather than a swift Set? would that give you what you want
let thingies: Set = Set<Thingie>()
func orderBy(sortField: String) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.sort { $0[sortField] < $1[sortField] }
}
edit:
The trouble is with swift's type safety - it requires you to know what types you are dealing with so that it can compile correctly - if you specify the actual type when you want to order the field you can get it to work as expected.
func orderByField<T: Comparable>(sortField: String, type: T.Type) -> [Thingie] {
return thingies.sort { ($0[sortField] as? T) < ($1[sortField] as? T) }
}
var thingieList: Array = orderByField("id", type: Int.self);
print(thingieList[0]["id"])
var thingieList2: Array = orderByField("description", type: String.self);
print(thingieList2[0]["id"])
The above will print 2 then 11 - if you wanted to get around this you could store your objects in a different struct and then you can sort the array of 'Things' on the variable.
e.g.
struct Thing {
let id: Int
let description: String
}
var data: [Thing] = [
Thing(id: 2, description: "two"),
Thing(id: 11, description: "eleven")
]
let first = data.sort { $0.id < $1.id }.first?.id
let second = data.sort { $0.description < $1.description }.first?.id
print(first)
print(second)
Which would achieve the same thing - 2 and 11
I would advise against using AnyObject where possible as its trying to cheat the compiler into telling it you don't care for its help.
Its an interesting problem though and I hope this helps you towards your solution.
I will start with the target API (ignoring conformance to Hashable as its addition wont change anything in what follows). So, let's say we'd like to be able to write the following:
var thingies = [
["id": 1, "description": "one"],
["id": 2, "description": "two"],
["id": 3, "description": "three"],
["id": 4, "description": "four"]
].map(Thingie.init)
thingies.sortInPlace{ $0["id"] < $1["id"] }
... and even:
thingies.sortInPlaceBy("id")
thingies
.map{ $0["id"]!.value } // [1, 2, 3, 4]
thingies.sortInPlaceBy("description")
thingies
.map{ $0["description"]!.value } // ["four", "one", "three", "two"]
Obviously, we'd need an extension of MutableCollectionType protocol along the lines of:
protocol ThingieDatumSubscriptable {
subscript(_: String) -> ThingieDatum? { get }
}
extension Thingie : ThingieDatumSubscriptable {}
extension MutableCollectionType
where Index : RandomAccessIndexType, Generator.Element : ThingieDatumSubscriptable
{
mutating func sortInPlaceBy(datumName: String, ascending: Bool = true) {
let f: (ThingieDatum?, ThingieDatum?) -> Bool = ascending ? (<) : (>)
sortInPlace{ f($0[datumName], $1[datumName]) }
}
}
This ThingieDatum would then be something like:
import Foundation
struct ThingieDatum : Comparable {
let type: AnyObject.Type
let value: AnyObject
let name: String
init(keyValuePair: (String, AnyObject)) {
name = keyValuePair.0
value = keyValuePair.1
type = keyValuePair.1.dynamicType
}
}
... and its conformance to Comparable implemented in some sort of pedestrian way as follows (unless we introduce more protocols):
func == (lhs: ThingieDatum, rhs: ThingieDatum) -> Bool {
guard lhs.name == rhs.name && lhs.type == rhs.type else {
return false
}
switch lhs.type {
// TODO: implement for other types
case is NSNumber.Type: return lhs.value as! NSNumber == rhs.value as! NSNumber
case is NSString.Type: return (lhs.value as! String) == (rhs.value as! String)
default: break
}
return false
}
func < (lhs: ThingieDatum, rhs: ThingieDatum) -> Bool {
assert(lhs.name == rhs.name && lhs.type == rhs.type)
switch lhs.type {
// TODO: implement for other types
case is NSNumber.Type: return (lhs.value as! NSNumber).doubleValue < (rhs.value as! NSNumber).doubleValue
case is NSString.Type: return (lhs.value as! String) < (rhs.value as! String)
default: break
}
return false
}
Armed with such a ThingieDatum we can finally work out the Thingie itself:
struct Thingie {
var data: [ThingieDatum]
init(_ data: [String: AnyObject]) {
self.data = data.map(ThingieDatum.init)
}
subscript(datumName: String) -> ThingieDatum? {
for datum in data where datum.name == datumName {
return datum
}
return nil
}
}
And although this is, of course, all meant as a fun exercise, it does work (copy and paste into the playground if you can work our the correct order of snippets)... To take this idea further, however, we would probably want to constrain ThingiDatum initialiser to a custom protocol (rather than AnyObject), which would guarantee comparability. We would then conform to that protocol with each type we want to work with instead of switching through those types in one centralised place...

.containsString in Swift 2?

Previously, when you wanted to see if your Swift string contained another string, you would cast it to a NSString and call .containsString. Apple, in their infinite wisdom, made this version-aware, so if you try it under S2 it will demand a #available wrapper even if your target platform does support it (which I guess is a bug).
So the best solution appears to be this:
extension String {
func contains(substr: String) -> Bool {
if #available(OSX 10.10, *) {
return NSString(string: self).containsString(substr)
} else {
return self.rangeOfString(substr) != nil
}
}
}
and now to check it, instead of this:
if NSString(string: line).containsString(" ")...
you get to use the much nicer looking:
if line.contains(" ")...
This no longer complains about the version, and (IMHO) looks better too. You almost certainly want this too:
extension String {
var length: Int {
return self.characters.count
}
}
Apple keeps changing the way you get length, and I hope that any future changes to the API will be #available-able, at which point .length can be easily modified. And these are just for sanity:
extension String {
subscript (r: Range<Int>) -> String {
get {
let subStart = advance(self.startIndex, r.startIndex, self.endIndex)
let subEnd = advance(subStart, r.endIndex - r.startIndex, self.endIndex)
return self.substringWithRange(Range(start: subStart, end: subEnd))
}
}
func substring(from: Int) -> String {
let end = self.characters.count
return self[from..<end]
}
func substring(from: Int, length: Int) -> String {
let end = from + length
return self[from..<end]
}
}
extension String {
func trim() -> String {
return self.stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet(NSCharacterSet.whitespaceAndNewlineCharacterSet())
}
func trim(withSet: NSCharacterSet) -> String {
return self.stringByTrimmingCharactersInSet(withSet)
}
}

Swift: Function returning an Array of IntegerType

I would like to create a function that takes an NSData parameter, and, depending on what it reads from the NSData it returns an Array<Int8>, Array<Int16>, Array<Int32>, or Array<Int64>.
Basically, I need to return an array of IntegerType, with the specific subtype being determined at runtime.
I am stuck at the signature declaration of the function. (The inside would just be a simple switch, that would create the specific array type and return it).
The following very basic test does not compile
class Test {
func test(data:NSData) -> Array<IntegerType> {
return [1, 2, 3]
}
}
EDIT
It seems to be currently not possible, not because of having to return an array of a protocol type, but because the IntegerType protocol uses Self. Here is an interesting related question
IntegerType is a protocol, so the following should work:
class Test {
func test(data:NSData) -> Array<T: IntegerType> {
[1, 2, 3]
}
}
You can use enum with associated values for that:
enum IntArray {
case Int8([Swift.Int8])
case Int16([Swift.Int16])
case Int32([Swift.Int32])
case Int64([Swift.Int64])
}
class Test {
func test(data:NSData) -> IntArray {
return IntArray.Int8([1, 2, 3]);
}
}
on user side:
let obj = Test()
let array = obj.test(dat)
switch array {
case .Int8(let ary):
// here, ary is [Int8]
...
case .Int16(let ary):
// here, ary is [Int16]
...
case .Int32(let ary):
// here, ary is [Int32]
...
case .Int64(let ary):
// here, ary is [Int64]
...
}
As others have said in the comments, this won't work if you are trying to determine the function's return type at runtime. Swift generics only work at compile time, so changing the return type based off of what's in an NSData won't work.
If you can determine the return type at compile time, then you can use a generic function declaration like so:
func test<T: IntegerType>(data: NSData) -> Array<T> {
return [1, 2, 3]
}
Note: If you don't specify the type explicitly in your function somehow, then you'll need to define the variable the value returned from the function is assigned to. Like so:
var int8Array: Array<Int8> = test(NSData())
Since none of the generic based solutions are working, why don't you try returning [Any] and just check the return type as follows:-
func test(data:NSData) -> [Any]
{
var value1:Int8 = 1
var value2:Int8 = 2
return [value1,value2]
}
var x = test(NSData())
for xin in x
{
var intxin = xin as? Int8
if intxin != nil
{
println(intxin!)
}
}
The way I solved my problem was by defining the following protocol:
protocol IntegerArrayProtocol {
init(rawData: NSData!, length: Int)
func count() -> Int
subscript(index:Int) -> Int { get }
}
This deals with all the operations I need to perform on the array:
Read it from raw memory
Count how many elements it has
Access its elements by index, always returning Ints, regardless of the underlying integer
type
Then, I created a parameterized class that implements the protocol:
final class IntegerArray<T: ConvertibleToInteger>: IntegerArrayProtocol {
let arr: [T]
init(rawData: NSData!, length: Int){
//create array and allocate memory for all elements
arr = Array<T>(count: length, repeatedValue: T.zero())
// read it from the NSData source
// ....
}
func count() -> Int{
return arr.count
}
subscript(index:Int) -> Int {
get {
return arr[index].asInt()
}
}
}
The parameter types T should be able to convert themselves to Int, and should have a zero value (used when I initialize the array). For that, I created the ConvertibleToInteger protocol, which is used above to restrict the possible Ts:
protocol ConvertibleToInteger {
class func zero() -> Self
func asInt() -> Int
}
Then, I extended every type that I would like to create arrays of:
extension Int8: ConvertibleToInteger{
static func zero() -> Int8{
return 0
}
func asInt() -> Int{
return Int(self)
}
}
extension Int16: ConvertibleToInteger{
static func zero() -> Int16{
return 0
}
func asInt() -> Int{
return Int(self)
}
}
extension Int32: ConvertibleToInteger{
static func zero() -> Int32{
return 0
}
func asInt() -> Int{
return Int(self)
}
}
extension Int64: ConvertibleToInteger{
static func zero() -> Int64{
return 0
}
func asInt() -> Int{
return Int(self)
}
}
Finally, to read an array from NSData, I created the following function:
func readArray(rawData: NSData, length: Int): IntegerArrayProtocol? {
qBytes = // read from NSData how many bytes each element is
switch(qBytes){
case 1:
return IntegerArray<Int8>(rawData: rawData, length: length)
case 2:
return IntegerArray<Int16>(rawData: rawData, length: length)
case 3 ... 4:
return IntegerArray<Int32>(rawData: rawData, length: length)
case 5 ... 8:
return IntegerArray<Int64>(rawData: rawData, length: length)
default:
return nil
}
}