I'm relatively new to swift and searched around but could not find any satisfactory answer to my problem. I would like to have a Singleton class instance which can be initialized with some variables. E.g.
public class Singleton {
var car: String
var bus: String
init(car: String, bus: String) {
self.car = car
self.car = bus
}
func drive() {
print("I will drive")
}
}
public class SingletonConsumer {
// create an instance of Singleton Once
var driver: Singleton = Singleton(car: "honda", bus: "volvo")
driver.drive()
}
public class driverClassWorld : SingletonConsumer {
driver.drive()
}
how can i achieve it? I tried protocol but issue i am hitting is how to instantiate singleton class with parameters.
I don't get this problem?
First remove singleton from your brain for a moment. Because I think you have the wrong idea on what a singleton is.
Now lets rephrase your question to: "How to instantiate a class with parameter"
Its like this:
import Foundation
class Test {
let someText : String!
init(something:String){
someText = something
}
func test(){
print("TEST \(someText)")
}
}
let a = Test(something: "Me")
a.test()
Output:
TEST Optional("Me")
You just need to define a init with the parameters you want.
Now to properly instantiate a singleton (basically it just the class above but single instance). There are a lot of ways, the old Objective C approach is still valid.
But for swift this is the most common pattern. You need to define a Static Property.
Example:
import Foundation
class Test {
static let shared = Test(something: "REAL SINGLETON")
let someText : String!
init(something:String){
someText = something
}
func test(){
print("TEST \(someText)")
}
}
Test.shared.test()
Output:
TEST Optional("REAL SINGLETON")
Now reread the definition of a singleton:
a singleton class is a class that can have only one object (an
instance of the class) at a time
For other patterns in declaring a singleton:
https://cocoacasts.com/what-is-a-singleton-and-how-to-create-one-in-swift
Now, you might wonder: When does this singleton instance instantiated?
Answer: It is when it is first used/called.
I am trying to use a class func to set a title for a book, however it's not working. Please see my code below:
import Foundation
class Book: NSObject {
var bookTitle: String = ""
var bookPage: String = ""
override init(){
print("Book object has been created")
}
class func setPageTitle(title: String)
{
bookTitle = title //I get the error here
}
}
I want to make it mandatory to set a pageTitle when a Book object is created.
Can someone please help me ?
The best way to set any required property/attribute is when you initialize it. So try coding your class this way:
class Book: NSObject {
var bookTitle: String = ""
var bookPage: String = ""
init(title:String) {
bookTitle = title
print("Book object has been created")
}
}
Several notes:
Your error is because you declare class in your setPageTitle function. That makes no sense.
There are better (and other) ways to set the bookTitle, including after initialization. But you specifically wanted to make sure you have a title when initializing, so there you go.
There are definitely better ways to maintain the bookTitle attribute. (Most languages teach you to hold a price variable to start with.) I'm mostly trying to give you a way to initialize it with the class.
You probably don't need (or have) any superclass call to make, but you also may not need to make your Book class a NSObject either.
I would like to do something similar to the following with an NSObject subclass
class Thing: NSObject {
class func defaultText() -> String { ... }
let text: String
init(text: String?) {
self.text = text ?? self.dynamicType.defaultText() // Of course, this line won't compile
super.init()
}
}
so that Thing subclasses may override defaultText() without requiring them to override the initializer. This is easy to do with a mutable stored property, but it would be nice to have it constant. Is there a way to do this?
This is a separate issue than overriding static vars in subclasses swift 1.2 . There is no desire to override a constant or a static method. The only thing in question is, in the initializer where the constant is set, is there a way to compute a value based on the specific class that is being initialized?
I have this class named Meal
class Meal {
var name : String = ""
var cnt : Int = 0
var price : String = ""
var img : String = ""
var id : String = ""
init(name:String , cnt : Int, price : String, img : String, id : String) {
self.name = name
self.cnt = cnt
self.price = price
self.img = img
self.id = id
}
}
and I have an array of Meal :
var ordered = [Meal]()
I want to duplicate that array and then do some changes to the Meal instances in one of them without changing the Meal instances in the second one, how would I make a deep copy of it?
This search result didn't help me
How do I make a exact duplicate copy of an array?
Since ordered is a swift array, the statement
var orderedCopy = ordered
will effectively make a copy of the original array.
However, since Meal is a class, the new array will contain references
to the same meals referred in the original one.
If you want to copy the meals content too, so that changing a meal in one array will not change a meal in the other array, then you must define Meal as a struct, not as a class:
struct Meal {
...
From the Apple book:
Use struct to create a structure. Structures support many of the same behaviors as classes, including methods and initializers. One of the most important differences between structures and classes is that structures are always copied when they are passed around in your code, but classes are passed by reference.
To improve on #Kametrixom answer check this:
For normal objects what can be done is to implement a protocol that supports copying, and make the object class implements this protocol like this:
protocol Copying {
init(original: Self)
}
extension Copying {
func copy() -> Self {
return Self.init(original: self)
}
}
And then the Array extension for cloning:
extension Array where Element: Copying {
func clone() -> Array {
var copiedArray = Array<Element>()
for element in self {
copiedArray.append(element.copy())
}
return copiedArray
}
}
and that is pretty much it, to view code and a sample check this gist
You either have to, as #MarioZannone mentioned, make it a struct, because structs get copied automatically, or you may not want a struct and need a class. For this you have to define how to copy your class. There is the NSCopying protocol which unifies that on the ObjC world, but that makes your Swift code "unpure" in that you have to inherit from NSObject. I suggest however to define your own copying protocol like this:
protocol Copying {
init(original: Self)
}
extension Copying {
func copy() -> Self {
return Self.init(original: self)
}
}
which you can implement like this:
class Test : Copying {
var x : Int
init() {
x = 0
}
// required initializer for the Copying protocol
required init(original: Test) {
x = original.x
}
}
Within the initializer you have to copy all the state from the passed original Test on to self. Now that you implemented the protocol correctly, you can do something like this:
let original = Test()
let stillOriginal = original
let copyOriginal = original.copy()
original.x = 10
original.x // 10
stillOriginal.x // 10
copyOriginal.x // 0
This is basically the same as NSCopying just without ObjC
EDIT: Sadly this yet so beautiful protocol works very poorly with subclassing...
A simple and quick way is to map the original array into the new copy:
let copyOfPersons: [Person] = allPersons.map({(originalPerson) -> Person in
let newPerson = Person(name: originalPerson.name, age: originalPerson.age)
return newPerson
})
The new Persons will have different pointers but same values.
Based on previous answer here
If you have nested objects, i.e. subclasses to a class then what you want is True Deep Copy.
//Example
var dogsForAdoption: Array<Dog>
class Dog{
var breed: String
var owner: Person
}
So this means implementing NSCopying in every class(Dog, Person etc).
Would you do that for say 20 of your classes? what about 30..50..100? You get it right? We need native "it just works!" way. But nope we don't have one. Yet.
As of now, Feb 2021, there is no proper solution of this issue. We have many workarounds though.
Here is the one I have been using, and one with less limitations in my opinion.
Make your class conforms to codable
class Dog: Codable{
var breed : String = "JustAnyDog"
var owner: Person
}
Create this helper class
class DeepCopier {
//Used to expose generic
static func Copy<T:Codable>(of object:T) -> T?{
do{
let json = try JSONEncoder().encode(object)
return try JSONDecoder().decode(T.self, from: json)
}
catch let error{
print(error)
return nil
}
}
}
Call this method whenever you need true deep copy of your object, like this:
//Now suppose
let dog = Dog()
guard let clonedDog = DeepCopier.Copy(of: dog) else{
print("Could not detach Dog")
return
}
//Change/mutate object properties as you want
clonedDog.breed = "rottweiler"
//Also clonedDog.owner != dog.owner, as both the owner : Person have dfferent memory allocations
As you can see we are piggy backing on Swift's JSONEncoder and JSONDecoder, using power of Codable, making true deep copy no matter how many nested objects are there under our object. Just make sure all your Classes conform to Codable.
Though its NOT an ideal solution, but its one of the most effective workaround.
What is the main difference between "static var" and "var" in Swift? Can someone explain this difference to me, possibly with a little example?
static var belongs to type itself while var belongs to instance (specific value that is of specific type) of type. For example:
struct Car {
static var numberOfWheels = 4
var plateNumber: String
}
Car.numberOfWheels = 3
let myCar = Car(plateNumber: "123456")
All cars has same amount of wheels. An you change it on type Car itself.
In order to change plate number you need to have instance of Car. For example, myCar.
I'll give you a very nice Swifty example based on this post. Though this is a bit more sophisticated.
Imagine you have a project in which you have 15 collectionViews in your app. For each you have to set the cellIdentifier & nibName. Do you really want to rewrite all code for your that 15 times?
There is a very POP solution to your problem:
Let's help ourselves by writing a protocol which returns a string version of our ClassName
protocol ReusableView: class {
static var defaultReuseIdentifier: String { get }
}
extension ReusableView where Self: UIView {
static var defaultReuseIdentifier: String {
return String(Self)
}
}
extension BookCell : ReusableView{
}
The same for the nibName of each custom cell you have created:
protocol NibLoadableView: class {
static var nibName: String { get }
}
extension NibLoadableView where Self: UIView {
static var nibName: String {
return String(Self)
}
}
extension BookCell: NibLoadableView {
}
so now where ever I need nibName I would just do
BookCell.nibName
And where ever I need cellIdentifier I would just do:
BookCell.defaultReuseIdentifier
Now specifically to your question. Do you think we need to change the cellIdentifier per each new instance of BookCell?! No! All cells of BookCell will have the same identifier. It's not something that would change per instance. As a result it's been made static
While I did answer your question, the solution to reducing the number of lines for the 15 collectionViews can still be significantly improved so do see the blog post linked.
That blog post has actually been turned into a video by NatashaTheRobot
A static var is property variable on a struct versus an instance of the struct. Note that static var can exist for an enum too.
Example:
struct MyStruct {
static var foo:Int = 0
var bar:Int
}
println("MyStruct.foo = \(MyStruct.foo)") // Prints out 0
MyStruct.foo = 10
println("MyStruct.foo = \(MyStruct.foo)") // Prints out 10
var myStructInstance = MyStruct(bar:12)
// bar is not
// println("MyStruct.bar = \(MyStruct.bar)")
println("myStructInstance = \(myStructInstance.bar)") // Prints out 12
Notice the difference? bar is defined on an instance of the struct. Whereas foo is defined on the struct itself.