Random Ads between cells - swift

Question

I am trying to put Ads totally randomly between cells inside a UITableView. I am gonna show my main file to you understand what I am doing and how I want:
Table View Controller:
class Page1: UITableViewController, UISearchBarDelegate {
#IBOutlet weak var searchBar: UISearchBar!
var employeesSearching = [Employee]()
var isSearching : Bool = false
#IBOutlet weak var GoogleBannerView: GADBannerView!
let collation = UILocalizedIndexedCollation.current()
var sections: [[Any]] = []
var objects: [Any] = [] {
didSet {
let selector: Selector = #selector(getter: UIApplicationShortcutItem.localizedTitle)
sections = Array(repeating: [], count: collation.sectionTitles.count)
let sortedObjects = collation.sortedArray(from: objects, collationStringSelector: selector)
for object in sortedObjects {
let sectionNumber = collation.section(for: object, collationStringSelector: selector)
sections[sectionNumber].append(object as AnyObject)
}
self.tableView.reloadData()
}
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.searchBar.delegate = self
self.tableView.contentOffset = CGPoint(x: 0, y: searchBar.frame.height) //hide searchBar
Shared.instance.employees.sort {
(first, second) in
first.name.compare(second.name, options: .diacriticInsensitive) == .orderedAscending
}
}
func getMatches(letter: String, withArray array: [Employee]) -> [Employee] {
return array.filter({ ($0.name.compare(letter, options: .diacriticInsensitive, range: $0.name.startIndex..<$0.name.index($0.name.startIndex, offsetBy: 1), locale: nil) == .orderedSame)})
}
override func numberOfSections(in tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
if isSearching { return 1 }
return collation.sectionTitles.count
}
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
let letter = collation.sectionTitles[section]
if isSearching {
return employeesSearching.count
} else {
let matches = getMatches(letter: letter, withArray: Shared.instance.employees)
if !matches.isEmpty { return matches.count }
}
return 0
}
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? {
if isSearching { return nil }
let letter = collation.sectionTitles[section]
let matches = getMatches(letter: letter, withArray: Shared.instance.employees)
if matches.count == 0 { return nil }
return collation.sectionTitles[section] }
override func sectionIndexTitles(for tableView: UITableView) -> [String]? {
if isSearching { return nil }
return collation.sectionIndexTitles }
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, sectionForSectionIndexTitle title: String, at index: Int) -> Int {
return collation.section(forSectionIndexTitle: index) }
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
if indexPath.row == 3 || indexPath.row == 9 || indexPath.row == 14 {
let cellAd = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cellAd", for: indexPath)
GoogleBannerView?.adUnitID = "ca-app-pub-6043248661561548/4628935113"
GoogleBannerView?.rootViewController = self
GoogleBannerView?.load(GADRequest())
return cellAd
}
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell", for: indexPath) as! TableViewCell1
if isSearching {
cell.nameLabel.text = employeesSearching[indexPath.row].name
cell.positionLabel.text = employeesSearching[indexPath.row].position
} else {
let letter = collation.sectionTitles[indexPath.section]
let matches = getMatches(letter: letter, withArray: Shared.instance.employees)
cell.nameLabel.text = matches[indexPath.row].name
cell.positionLabel.text = matches[indexPath.row].position
}
return cell
}
...
}
How do I smuggle a UITableViewCell as! AdCell randomly into the UITableView?
I mean, what should I do in cellForRowAt? I am a bit confused between all these indexed sections.

Answer 1

Firstly you need to generate a random number between 0 and your tableView Datasource array size
let lower : UInt32 = 0
let upper : UInt32 = array.count
let randomIndex = arc4random_uniform(upper - lower) + lower
then you need to add the Ad object in the array at the randomIndex
array.insert(AdObject, atIndex:randomIndex)
then just reload your tableView and handle the different types in cellForRow function

Answer 2

One approach would be to insert some sort of "ad" object at desired locations within your data model.
Then update cellForRowAt to look at the object in the data model for the given index path. If it's an "ad" object, create and setup an "ad" cell. Otherwise create and setup an appropriate data cell as you do now.