I am using an SQLite library in which queries return optional values as well as can throw errors. I would like to conditionally unwrap the value, or receive nil if it returns an error. I'm not totally sure how to word this, this code will explain, this is what it looks like:
func getSomething() throws -> Value? {
//example function from library, returns optional or throws errors
}
func myFunctionToGetSpecificDate() -> Date? {
if let specificValue = db!.getSomething() {
let returnedValue = specificValue!
// it says I need to force unwrap specificValue,
// shouldn't it be unwrapped already?
let specificDate = Date.init(timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate: TimeInterval(returnedValue))
return time
} else {
return nil
}
}
Is there a way to avoid having to force unwrap there? Prior to updating to Swift3, I wasn't forced to force unwrap here.
The following is the actual code. Just trying to get the latest timestamp from all entries:
func getLastDateWithData() -> Date? {
if let max = try? db!.scalar(eventTable.select(timestamp.max)){
let time = Date.init(timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate: TimeInterval(max!))
// will max ever be nil here? I don't want to force unwrap!
return time
} else {
return nil
}
}
Update: As of Swift 5, try? applied to an optional expression does not add another level of optionality, so that a “simple” optional binding is sufficient. It succeeds if the function did not throw an error and did not return nil. val is then bound to the unwrapped result:
if let val = try? getSomething() {
// ...
}
(Previous answer for Swift ≤ 4:) If a function throws and returns an optional
func getSomething() throws -> Value? { ... }
then try? getSomething() returns a "double optional" of the
type Value?? and you have to unwrap twice:
if let optval = try? getSomething(), let val = optval {
}
Here the first binding let optval = ... succeeds if the function did
not throw, and the second binding let val = optval succeeds
if the return value is not nil.
This can be shortened with case let pattern matching to
if case let val?? = try? getSomething() {
}
where val?? is a shortcut for .some(.some(val)).
I like Martin's answer but wanted to show another option:
if let value = (try? getSomething()) ?? nil {
}
This has the advantage of working outside of if, guard, or switch statements. The type specifier Any? isn't necessary but just included to show that it returns an optional:
let value: Any? = (try? getSomething()) ?? nil
Related
I have below func in my class.
static func getFirstCharInName(strName: String) -> String {
let firstCharInName = String(strName.first)
return firstCharInName.trim()
}
I encountered this err:
Value of optional type 'Character?' must be unwrapped to a value of type 'Character'
What seems to be the problem?
Thanks
func getFirstCharInName(strName: String) -> String {
let indexStartOfText = strName.index(strName.startIndex, offsetBy: 0)
let indexEndOfText = strName.index(strName.startIndex, offsetBy: 0)
let firstChar = String(strName[indexStartOfText...indexEndOfText])
return firstChar
}
This error means that the expression has optional value (the value can be nil) that is not yet unwrapped, strName.first returns an optional value of Character?, but your function demands a returning type of String which is not an optional type.
So, in order to fix this, you need to unwrap the optional value strName.first, it seems like you are not familiar with optionals, here's the code for your case (choose one from two options):
func getFirstCharInName(strName: String) -> String {
// option 1: force unwrap - can cause fatal error
return String(strName.first!)
// option 2: optional binding
if let firstCharInName = strName.first {
return String(firstCharInName)
} else {
// if the optional value is nil, return an empty string
return ""
}
}
PS. I don't really understand the function trim() in your question, but if you mean to strip away the blank spaces like " ", you can do:
firstCharInName.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespaces)
Avoid the optional simply with prefix, it's totally safe. if there is no first character you'll get an empty string.
static func getFirstChar(in name: String) -> String { // the function name getFirstChar(in name is swiftier
return String(name.prefix(1))
}
I don't know what the trim function is supposed to do.
It means that value of optional type 'Character?' (as result of your part of code strName.first) must be unwrapped to a value of type 'Character' before you will be gonna cast it to String type.
You may use this variant:
func getFirstCharInName(strName: String) -> String {
return strName.count != 0 ? String(strName.first!) : ""
}
As you can see, the exclamation point is in the string strName.first! retrieves the optional variable as it was needed.
you can do something like that:
extension String {
var firstLetter: String {
guard !self.isEmpty else { return "" }
return String(self[self.startIndex...self.startIndex])
}
}
then
let name = "MilkBottle"
let first = name.firstLetter // "M"
I am using an SQLite library in which queries return optional values as well as can throw errors. I would like to conditionally unwrap the value, or receive nil if it returns an error. I'm not totally sure how to word this, this code will explain, this is what it looks like:
func getSomething() throws -> Value? {
//example function from library, returns optional or throws errors
}
func myFunctionToGetSpecificDate() -> Date? {
if let specificValue = db!.getSomething() {
let returnedValue = specificValue!
// it says I need to force unwrap specificValue,
// shouldn't it be unwrapped already?
let specificDate = Date.init(timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate: TimeInterval(returnedValue))
return time
} else {
return nil
}
}
Is there a way to avoid having to force unwrap there? Prior to updating to Swift3, I wasn't forced to force unwrap here.
The following is the actual code. Just trying to get the latest timestamp from all entries:
func getLastDateWithData() -> Date? {
if let max = try? db!.scalar(eventTable.select(timestamp.max)){
let time = Date.init(timeIntervalSinceReferenceDate: TimeInterval(max!))
// will max ever be nil here? I don't want to force unwrap!
return time
} else {
return nil
}
}
Update: As of Swift 5, try? applied to an optional expression does not add another level of optionality, so that a “simple” optional binding is sufficient. It succeeds if the function did not throw an error and did not return nil. val is then bound to the unwrapped result:
if let val = try? getSomething() {
// ...
}
(Previous answer for Swift ≤ 4:) If a function throws and returns an optional
func getSomething() throws -> Value? { ... }
then try? getSomething() returns a "double optional" of the
type Value?? and you have to unwrap twice:
if let optval = try? getSomething(), let val = optval {
}
Here the first binding let optval = ... succeeds if the function did
not throw, and the second binding let val = optval succeeds
if the return value is not nil.
This can be shortened with case let pattern matching to
if case let val?? = try? getSomething() {
}
where val?? is a shortcut for .some(.some(val)).
I like Martin's answer but wanted to show another option:
if let value = (try? getSomething()) ?? nil {
}
This has the advantage of working outside of if, guard, or switch statements. The type specifier Any? isn't necessary but just included to show that it returns an optional:
let value: Any? = (try? getSomething()) ?? nil
I want to initialize a enum from a variable of type String?, like:
guard let rawId = request.queryParameters["id"] else {
return
}
guard let id = MyIdentifier(rawValue: rawId) else {
return
}
In this case, request.queryParameters["id"] returns String?. Then after I ensure that it is String in rawId, I convert it into an enum instance id.
However, the code is dirty and I want to write it in one-line if at all possible.
However, I don't like to make it unwrapped via forced optional unwrapping, because if it can not be transformed to String, the app would end up with an error, since rawValue: only takes String. I meant something like the following, which I don't like:
guard let id = MyIdentifier(rawValue: request.queryParameters["id"]!) else {
return
}
So is it still possible to define the guard let in one-line, maybe using where and/or case in guard?
You have two conditions there, trying to combine them into one condition is not always possible.
In your exact case I believe an empty id will behave the same as a nil id, therefore nil coalescing can be used:
guard let id = MyIdentifier(rawValue: request.queryParameters["id"] ?? "") else {
return
}
However, there is nothing dirty about splitting two checks into two statements. Code is not written to be short, it's written to be clear:
guard let rawId = request.queryParameters["id"],
let id = MyIdentifier(rawValue: rawId) else
return
}
Also, there is nothing wrong with creating a custom initializer for your enum:
init?(id: String?) {
guard let id = id else {
return nil
}
self.init(rawValue: id)
}
and then
guard let id = MyIdentifier(id: request.queryParameters["id"]) else {
return
}
Try this:
You can simply combine both the statements into a single statement ,i.e,
guard let id = request.queryParameters["id"], let id2 = MyIdentifier(rawValue: id) else {
return
}
I wish to use guard-let to assign a variable to an expression, but I want to modify the expression before assigning. If the expression is nil, then the else block should be entered, otherwise the variable should be assigned to f(expression). Here is an example of what I would like to do:
let arr: [Int] = []
// Do stuff, maybe add elements to arr
guard let x = abs(arr.first) else { return } // Syntax error
// If arr was nonempty, then we want x = abs(arr.first!)
But Swift does not allow this syntax because abs requires a non-optional argument, and arr.first is optional. So is there any way to evaluate arr.first, and then if it is not nil to assign abs(arr.first!) to x? I know that I could do this with if-let or by using two variables (one from the guard-let and then one that gets assigned to the absolute value of that variable). But guard-let seems like the tool for the job, if only there were some way to accomplish this.
let arr:[Int] = [-1,1,3,-9]
guard let x = arr.first.flatMap({ $0 < 0 ? -$0: $0 }) else { return }
// ...
or (UPDATE based on dfri's notes)
// ....
let arr:[Int] = [-1,1,3,-9]
guard let x = arr.first.map(abs) else { return }
Optional(Some<Int>) -> Int -> Optional<abs(Some<Int)> -> Int ... meh
You could do a dirty guard let ..., let ... else fix as follows (forcing the binded certainly-not-nil value of x to become an optional which you subsequently immediately unwrap and bind to xAbs)
func foo() {
let arr: [Int] = [-1, 2, -3, 4]
guard let x = arr.first,
let xAbs = Optional(abs(xAbs)) else { return }
print(xAbs, xAbs.dynamicType)
}
foo() // 1 Int
This doesn't look very pretty however, and I would, personally, prefer adding an Int extension and make use of optional chaining, as I will cover next.
Instead: use extensions and optional chaining
Unless you explicitly need to store x as well as xAbs, an alternative and more Swifty approach is to use optional chaining in combination with a simple extension to Int:
extension Int {
var absValue: Int { return abs(self) }
}
func foo() {
let arr: [Int] = [-1, 2, -3, 4]
guard let xAbs = arr.first?.absValue else { return }
print(xAbs, xAbs.dynamicType)
}
foo() // 1 Int
Since arr.first is an optional Int variable, you can implement whatever method/computed property you wish onto self as an extension to Int, and access that method/property using optional chaining arr.first?.someMethod()/arr.first?.someProperty (as .absValue above).
Or, simply modify your arr.first (unwrapped) value after the guard let ... else block
I see no reason, however (other than the technical discussion) not to introduce an additional immutable holding the absolute value of x. This will also increase code readability, at least w.r.t. to the dirty guard let ..., let ... else fix above.
// ...
guard let x = arr.first else { return }
let xAbs = abs(x)
Or, if you find it acceptable for your xAbs property to be mutable, out of a theoretical perspective your could remove the middle-man immutable by using a guard var ... block rather than guard let ...
guard var xAbs = arr.first else { return }
xAbs = abs(xAbs)
This should probably only be used, however, if xAbs is to be mutated again (i.e., use immutables whenever you really don't need mutables, and never the other way around).
I think the cleanest and simplest solution would be like this:
guard let first = arr.first else { return }
let x = abs(first)
Now the calculation abs(first) is only reached if arr.first != nil.
What you want can be achieved using case let.
let arr: [Int] = [1,2,3,4]
guard let first = arr.first, case let absolute = abs(first) else { return }
// use `absolute`
I have two different scenarios where I need to test the "optionality" of an optional type. I have not been able to figure how to explicitly test if the variable is a .None or a .Some other than with an unwieldy switch statement. How can I test for Someness with an if statement?
Scenario 1
I am writing an address formatter and my inputs are a number of String? types. In this example a simple test for (str != nil) will work. However, since my other need is when dealing with a 'double optional' and a nil test can't distinguish between .Some(.None) and .None a solution to this problem will solve that problem too.
Here's a version that works using a switch
let address1:String? = "123 Main St"
let address2:String? = nil
let apt:String? = "101"
let components = [address1, address2, apt].filter( { (c) -> Bool in
switch c {
case .Some: return true
case .None: return false
}
}).map { return $0! } //Had to map because casting directly to [String] crashes
print(", ".join(components)) //"123 Main St, 101"
What's I'd like to see is something like with an if:
let nice = ["123 Main St", nil, "303"].filter { (c) -> Bool in
return (c == .Some)
}
print(", ".join(nice))
Scenario 2
This is where a nil test won't work. If something is a String?? it can be any of .None, .Some(.None), or .Some(.Some(String)). In my case, the variable is carrying the recordID from an api call which might either be missing entirely (.None), a value (.Some(.Some("ABDEFG")), or explicitly NULL (.Some(.None)).
let teamNoneNone: String?? = .None
let teamSomeNone: String?? = .Some(.None)
let teamSomeSome: String?? = "My favorite local sportsball team"
if teamNoneNone == nil {
print("teamNoneNone is nil but is it .None? We don't know!") //prints
} else {
print("teamNoneNone is not nil")
}
if teamSomeNone == nil {
print("teamSomeNone is nil")
} else {
print("teamSomeNone is not nil but is it .Some(.None)? We don't know!") //prints
}
if teamSomeSome == nil {
print("teamSomeSome is nil but is it .None? We don't know!")
} else {
print("teamSomeSome is not nil but is it .Some(.None) or .Some(.Some())? We don't know!") //prints
}
Via another SO post I found a workaround like this, but it's not very clear what's happening to a casual reader:
if let team: String? = teamSomeNone {
print("teamSomeNone is Some(.None)") //prints
} else {
print("teamSomeNone is .Some(.Some())")
}
if let tests if a value is .None, and if it isn’t, it unwraps it and binds it to a local variable within an if statement.
Using switch with .Some and .None is really a secondary way of handling optionals, if if let doesn’t cut it. But it almost always does, especially now you can do multiple if lets in a single statement, following the latest release of Swift 1.2 to production.
Wanting to filter out the nils in a collection is a common-enough task that Haskell has a standard function for it, called catMaybe. Here’s a version, which I’ll call catSome, that would do the trick in Swift:
func catSome<T>(source: [T?]) -> [T] {
var result: [T] = []
// iterate over the values
for maybe in source {
// if this value isn’t nil, unwrap it
if let value = maybe {
// and append it to the array
result.append(value)
}
}
return result
}
let someStrings: [String?] = ["123 Main St", nil, "101"]
catSome(someStrings) // returns ["123 Main St", "101"]
Doubly-wrapped optionals are a bit of a pain, so the best solution is to avoid them in the first place – often, via use of optional chaining or flatMap.
But if you do find yourself with some, and all you care about is the inner value, you can unwrap them using a double if let:
// later parts of the let can rely on the earlier
if let outer = teamSomeSome, teamName = outer {
println("Fully unwrapped team is \(teamName)")
}
If you want to explicitly know if a double-optional has an inner nil inside an outer value, but isn’t nil itself, you can use if let with a where clause:
if let teamSomeMaybe = teamSomeNone where teamSomeMaybe == nil {
// this will be executed only if it was .Some(.None)
println("SomeNone")
}
The where clause is an extra conditional that can be applied to the unwrapped value.