Get object type from optional? - swift

Is it possible to get the object type from an optional?
For example, if I have a class that has a property that is an optional string, can I somehow just get back the string type?
The exact use case I have is I have many custom classes all of which have a property that is storing another custom class as an optional value. I would like to write a generic function that will create an instance of the object class stored in the optional.
Here is an example of what I am looking for, although .dynamicType does not work since it is an optional:
class Class1 {
}
class Class2 {
var myOp: Class1?
}
var c = Class2()
c.myOp = c.myOp.dynamicType()

Since you wanted to use this with Generics I tried it for you. It works, but it may not be so useful.
First some setup:
This is a helper protocol to make sure our Generic type will have a known init method.
protocol ZeroParameterInit {
init()
}
This is an extension to get the type from an optional:
extension Optional {
var dynamicWrappedType : Wrapped.Type {
return Wrapped.self
}
}
Implemented in your code:
class Class1 : ZeroParameterInit {
required init() {}
}
class Class2 {
var myOp: Class1?
}
var c = Class2()
c.myOp = c.myOp.dynamicWrappedType.init()
Generic implementation:
class Class1 : ZeroParameterInit {
required init() {}
}
class Class2<T where T : ZeroParameterInit> {
var attribute: Optional<T>// used long syntax to remind you of : Optional<Wrapped>
init(attr:T) {
attribute = attr
attribute = nil
}
}
The function to create the instance:
func myFunc<T>(instance: Class2<T>) -> T {
return instance.attribute.dynamicWrappedType.init()
}
Some tests:
let alpha = Class1()
let beta = Class2(attr: alpha)
beta.attribute = myFunc(beta)
The issue:
You can't create an instance of Class2 without informing it about the type of it's generic attribute. So you need to pass it some object/type and that complicates things again.
Some extra methods that might improve how it all works:
init() {
}
let delta = Class2<Class1>()
delta.attribute = myFunc(delta)
init(type:T.Type) {
}
let epsilon = Class2(type: Class1.self)
epsilon.attribute = myFunc(epsilon)

You just need to check if the optional exist:
func myFunc(c: Class2) -> Class1? {
if let c1 = c.myOp{
return c1.dynamicType()
}
return nil
}
OR
func myFunc(c: Class2) -> Class1? {
if c.myOp != nil{
return c.myOp!.dynamicType()
}
return nil
}
Note the your return type need to be optional as well.

Tried this in simulator, seems like doing the right thing, if I understood you
class Class1 {
}
class Class2 {
var myOp: Class1?
}
func myFunc(c: Class2) -> AnyObject {
if let c1 = c.myOp{
return c1.self
}
return c
}
var object = Class2()
object.myOp = Class1()
myFunc(object) // Class1

Related

How to define objects in if-else statements in Swift?

I want to define an object a certain way if a condition is met, or define it as a different object of the condition is not met. However, when I try to use that object later in my code, it doesn't recognize it as being defined.
I want something like this
if condition {
object = Class1()
} else {
object = Class2()
}
You just have to declare your variable earlier:
let object: RootClass
if condition {
object = Class1()
} else {
object = Class2()
}
where RootClass is a type that can represent both Class1 and Class2.
Swift's definitive initialization rules will ensure that object gets exactly one value on every path where it is used.
If for some odd reason your Class1 and Class2 are not related you can do something like this
var object: Any
if condition {
object = "something"
} else {
object = 32
}
and later use it as
if let some = object as? Int {
//do int stuff
} else if let some = object as? String {
//do string stuff
}
there are multiple ways to do it, In Swift Type has to match, so can't assign two different type of classes based on condition for same object, so either use Protocol(more swifty) or Inheritance
1. Use protocols: lets declare a protocol MyProtocol, both Class1 and Class2 both confirms to
protocol MyProtocol { }
class Class1: MyProtocol { }
class Class2: MyProtocol { }
Now, when initialising object:
var object: MyProtocol
if condition {
object = Class1()
} else {
object = Class2()
}
or:
let object = condition ? Class1() : Class2()
2. Use Inheritance
class MainClass() { }
class Class1: MainClass { }
class Class2: MainClass { }
let object = condition ? Class1() : Class2()
3. Use Any type
let object: Any = condition ? Class1() : Class2()
if object is MyClass1 {
} else {
}
You can do this,
let classsObject = condition ? Class1() : Class2()
Here after ? your condtion is right and after : your else part
You can try this
let object = condition ? Class1() : Class2()
You can alternatively declare the object as an optional and var & you can assign a value to it later.

Generic class call function

I am trying to create a wrapper for my API return wrapper class for my project.
these are my classes
class Wrapper<T> {
let message = "Hello World"
let wrapped = T.self
public func getData() -> T.Type {
return wrapped
}
}
class Object {
let number = 100
public func getNumber() -> Int {
return number
}
}
class SecondObject {
let name = "Second Object"
public func getName() -> String {
return name
}
}
What I want to achieve is, is there any way I can call the Object function like this
let example = Wrapper<Object>()
example.getData().getNumber() // <<-- This is not working
let secondExample = Wrapper<SecondObject>()
secondExample.getData().getName() // <<-- This is not working
The error in my playground is this
error: instance member 'getNumber' cannot be used on type 'Object'
If you notice the Wrapper class, there is message property which will be used for all my API return object model
So my goal is, I could simply call the Wrapper class together with my object model class and just call the function that is inside the object model class.
I am still learning about generic in swift. What am I missing here?
You don't set wrapped to anything useful. You ned to set it to an instance of T. So you can pass a Tinto the constructor
class Wrapper<T>
{
let wrapped: T
init(wrapped: T)
{
self.wrapped = wrapped
}
}
Or you can have the class construct an instance of T, but if you want to do that, you need to tell it how to construct the instance. For example:
class Wrapper<T>
{
let wrapped: T
init()
{
self.wrapped = T() // << error!
}
}
won't work because the compiler knows nothing about T, not even if it has an init. You can change that with a protocol
protocol Initable
{
init()
}
class Wrapper<T: Initable>
{
let wrapped: T
init()
{
self.wrapped = T()
}
}
And you can apply the protocol to any type you like with an extension. In most cases the extension can be empty because mot types already have an init() method. For example:
class MyClass
{
init() { /* do stuff */ }
}
extension MyClass: Initable {}
class MyOtherClass
{
init(number: Int) { /* do stuff */ }
}
extension MyOtherClass: Initable
{
init() { self.init(number: 0) }
}
Another option is to supply a closure to the wrapper's init.
class Wrapper<T>
{
let wrapped: T
init(factory: ()-> T)
{
self.wrapped = factory()
}
}
let w = Wrapper() { return Array<Int>() }
Normally you'd only do this if you wanted to create multiple instances i.e. you'd keep a reference to the closure and call it each time you needed a new instance.
class Wrapper<T> {
private var wrapped: T // Storing your object of T type
init(value: T) { // init with instance of T
wrapped = value
}
public func getData() -> T { //returning instance of T
return wrapped
}
}
class Object {
let number = 100
public func getNumber() -> Int {
return number
}
}
let o = Object()
let example = Wrapper(value: o) // Here we creating instance of Wrapper with instance of Object
example.getData().getNumber()
How about this , in your example changing the type of wrapped from non-optional to an optional variable type.
class Wrapper {
let message = "Hello World"
var wrapped : T?
public func getData() -> T? {
return wrapped
}
}
class Object {
let number = 100
public func getNumber() -> Int {
return number
}
}
class SecondObject {
let name = "Second Object"
public func getName() -> String {
return name
}
}
and then using it as below
let example = Wrapper()
example.wrapped = Object()
let result1 = example.getData()?.getNumber() // ()
secondExample.wrapped = SecondObject()
let result2 = secondExample.getData()?.getName()
if let val1 = result1 , let val2 = result2 {
print("result1 = \(val1) result2 = \(val2)" )
}

Is there some workaround to cast to a generic base class without knowing what the defined element type is?

I am trying to achieve a design where I can have a base class that has a generic property that I can change values on by conforming to a protocol.
protocol EnumProtocol {
static var startValue: Self { get }
func nextValue() -> Self
}
enum FooState: EnumProtocol {
case foo1, foo2
static var startValue: FooState { return .foo1 }
func nextValue() -> FooState {
switch self {
case .foo1:
return .foo2
case .foo2:
return .foo1
}
}
}
enum BarState: EnumProtocol {
case bar
static var startValue: BarState { return .bar }
func nextValue() -> BarState {
return .bar
}
}
class BaseClass<T: EnumProtocol> {
var state = T.startValue
}
class FooClass: BaseClass<FooState> {
}
class BarClass: BaseClass<BarState> {
}
Is it possible to end up with a solution similar to this where the element type is unknown and the value relies on the nextValue() method.
let foo = FooClass()
let bar = BarClass()
if let test = bar as? BaseClass {
test.state = test.state.nextValue()
}
This works but BarState will be unknown in my case and a lot of classes will be subclasses of BaseClass and have different state types.
let bar = BarClass()
if let test = bar as? BaseClass<BarState> {
test.state = test.state.nextValue()
}
This is a simplified example. In my case I will get a SKNode subclass that has a state property that is an enum with a nextvalue method that have defined rules to decide what the next value will be. I am trying to have a generic implementation of this that only relies on what is returned from the nextValue method. Is there a better pattern to achieve this?
This will not work for this exact scenario because EnumProtocol can not be used as concrete type since it has a Self type requirement, however, in order to achieve this type of behavior in other cases you can create a protocol that the base class conforms to and try to cast objects to that type when you are trying to determine if an object is some subclass of that type.
Consider the following example
class Bitcoin { }
class Ethereum { }
class Wallet<T> {
var usdValue: Double = 0
}
class BitcoinWallet: Wallet<Bitcoin> {
}
class EthereumWallet: Wallet<Ethereum> {
}
let bitcoinWallet = BitcoinWallet() as Any
if let wallet = bitcoinWallet as? Wallet {
print(wallet.usdValue)
}
This will not work, due to the same error that you are referring to:
error: generic parameter 'T' could not be inferred in cast to 'Wallet<_>'
However, if you add the following protocol
protocol WalletType {
var usdValue: Double { get set }
}
and make Wallet conform to that
class Wallet<T>: WalletType
then you can cast values to that protocol and use it as expected:
if let wallet = bitcoinWallet as? WalletType {
print(wallet.usdValue)
}

How do I make a referential type comparison in Swift using 'is'?

I can't figure out how to make a type comparison in Swift using the is operator, if the right side is a reference and not a hard-coded type.
For example,
class GmBuilding { }
class GmOffice: GmBuilding { }
class GmFactory: GmBuilding { }
class GmStreet {
var buildings: [GmBuilding] = []
func findAllBuildingsOfType(buildingType: GmBuilding.Type) -> [GmBuilding] {
var result: [GmBuilding] = []
for building in self.buildings {
if building is buildingType { // complains that buildingType is not a type
result.append(building)
}
}
return result
}
}
let myStreet = GmStreet()
var buildingList: [GmBuilding] = myStreet.findAllBuildingsOfType(GmOffice.self)
It complains that 'buildingType is not a type'. How can it be made to work?
A generic method may do what you want:
func findAllBuildingsOfType<T: GmBuilding>(buildingType: T.Type) -> [GmBuilding] {
// you can use `filter` instead of var/for/append
return buildings.filter { $0 is T }
}
This will work so long as you really do only want to determine the type at compile time:
let myStreet = GmStreet()
let buildingList = myStreet.findAllBuildingsOfType(GmOffice.self)
// T is set at compile time to GmOffice --------^
However, often when this question comes up, the follow-up question is, how do I store GmOffice.self in a variable and then have the type be determined at runtime? And that will not work with this technique. But if statically fixed types at compile time are enough for you, this should do it.
If AirSpeed Velocity's answer doesn't work for you, you can also accomplish this by bridging to Objective-C.
Make GmBuilding inherit from NSObject:
class GmBuilding: NSObject { }
And use isKindOfClass(_:) to check the type:
for building in self.buildings {
if building.isKindOfClass(buildingType) {
result.append(building)
}
}
Not as Swifty, but it works.
I'm sure there must be a better way than this, but it doesn't require inheritance from NSObject and it works at runtime - according to my playground
class GmBuilding { }
class GmOffice: GmBuilding { }
class GmFactory: GmBuilding { }
func thingIs(thing: GmBuilding, #sameTypeAs: GmBuilding) -> Bool
{
return thing.dynamicType === sameTypeAs.dynamicType
}
var foo: GmOffice = GmOffice()
thingIs(foo, sameTypeAs: GmOffice()) // true
thingIs(foo, sameTypeAs: GmFactory()) // false
The main reason I instantiate an object (you can use a singleton instead) is because I can't figure out how to declare a parameter to be a metatype.
It also doesn't work for
thingIs(foo, sameTypeAs: GmBuilding()) // false :=(
As a final resort, using Obj-C reflect function:
import ObjectiveC
func isinstance(instance: AnyObject, cls: AnyClass) -> Bool {
var c: AnyClass? = instance.dynamicType
do {
if c === cls {
return true
}
c = class_getSuperclass(c)
} while c != nil
return false
}
class GmBuilding { }
class GmOffice: GmBuilding { }
class GmFactory: GmBuilding { }
isinstance(GmOffice(), GmOffice.self) // -> true
isinstance(GmOffice(), GmFactory.self) // -> false
isinstance(GmOffice(), GmBuilding.self) // -> true

Creating a generic singleton

This is a bit of a head banger (for me). Basically I want to have 2 different singletons that inherit from the same class. In either I want to use a certain class which itself is derived. So I have Utility and both AUtil:Utility and BUtil:Utility. And Singleton that is used as ASingleton using AUtility in its stomach and B respectively. I failed on all frontiers. The last attempt was a factory pattern which simply got Swift 1.2 to Segfault:
protocol Initializable { init() }
class A:Initializable {
var x = "A"
required init() {}
}
class B:Initializable {
var x = "B"
required init() {}
}
class C {
let t:Initializable
init(t:Initializable) {
self.t = t
println(t)
}
func factory() {
println(t.dynamicType())
}
}
As said I also tried to make the following pattern generic:
private let _SingletonSharedInstance = StaticClass()
class StaticClass {
class var sharedInstance : StaticClass {
return _SingletonSharedInstance
}
}
let s = StaticClass.sharedInstance
(This one isn't generic as you see. But all my attempts failed and so I show my starting point.)
Anyway I seem to be lost between doom and death.
Do you mean something like this?
protocol Initializable: class { init() }
private var instances = [String: Initializable]()
func singletonInstance<T: Initializable>(_ ty: T.Type = T.self) -> T {
let name = NSStringFromClass(ty)
if let o = (instances[name] as? T) {
return o
}
let o = ty()
instances[name] = o
return o
}
An use-side of it, for instance.
class Foo: Initializable { required init() {} }
class Bar: Initializable { required init() {} }
let foo1 = singletonInstance() as Foo // or `singletonInstance(Foo.self)`
let foo2 = singletonInstance() as Foo
assert(foo1 === foo2)
let bar1 = singletonInstance() as Bar
let bar2 = singletonInstance() as Bar
assert(bar1 === bar2)
(I've tested the code above and got it to work in Swift 1.2.)
Inspired by findalls implementation, I build my own singleton generator, which is a little more powerful.
You can create a singleton of any Class or Structure type in Swift. The only thing you have to do is to implement one of two different protocols to your type and use Swift 2.0 or newer.
public protocol SingletonType { init() }
private var singletonInstances = [String: SingletonType]()
extension SingletonType {
// this will crash Xcode atm. it's a Swift 2.0 beta bug. Bug-ID: 21850697
public static var singleton: Self { return singleton { $0 } }
public static func singleton(setter: (_: Self) -> Self) -> Self {
guard let instance = singletonInstances["\(self)"] as? Self else {
return setInstance(self.init(), withSetter: setter, overridable: true)
}
return setInstance(instance, withSetter: setter, overridable: false)
}
private static func setInstance(var instance: Self, withSetter setter: (_: Self) -> Self, overridable: Bool) -> Self {
instance = restoreInstanceIfNeeded(instance1: instance, instance2: setter(instance), overridable: overridable)
singletonInstances["\(self)"] = instance
return instance
}
private static func restoreInstanceIfNeeded(instance1 i1: Self, instance2 i2: Self, overridable: Bool) -> Self {
// will work if the bug in Swift 2.0 beta is fixed !!! Bug-ID: 21850627
guard i1.dynamicType is AnyClass else { return i2 }
return ((i1 as! AnyObject) !== (i2 as! AnyObject)) && !overridable ? i1 : i2
}
}
This may look a little scary, but don't be afraid of this code. The public function inside the protocol extension will create two access points for you.
For example you will be able to write code like this now:
// extend your type: as an example I will extend 'Int' here
extension Int : SingletonType {} // nothing else to do, because Int already has an 'init()' initializer by default
// let the magic happen
Int.singleton // this will generate a singleton Int with 0 as default value
Int.singleton { (_) -> Int in 100 } // should set your Int singleton to 100
Int.singleton { $0 - 55 } // your singleton should be 45 now
// I need to mention that Xcode will produce the setter like this and trow an error
Int.singleton { (yourCustomInstanceName) -> Self in // replace 'Self' with 'Int' and you should be fine
return yourCustomInstanceName
}
// btw. we just ignored the return value everywhere
print(Int.singleton) // will print 45 here
var singleton2 = Int.singleton { $0 + 5 }
singleton2 += 10
print(Int.singleton) // should print 50, because 'singleton2' is just a copy of an Int value type
class A : SingletonType {
var name = "no name"
required init() {}
}
A.singleton { $0; let i = A(); i.name = "hello world"; return i } // custom init on first singleton call for type A
print(A.singleton.name)
print(A.singleton { $0.name = "A"; return $0 }.name)
print(A.singleton.name)
// should print "hello world" and twice the string "A"
If you have any idea how to enhance this code and make it even safer, please let me know. I will push this code on GitHub (MIT License) soon, so everyone can benefit from it.
UPDATE: I modified the code a little so you can now pass a custom initialized instance of a class with the setter function when its called the first time.
UPDATE 2: I removed ClassInstance protocol and modified the private restore function. The Instance protocol is now called SingletonType. The setter function is not optional anymore. Right now Xcode 7 beta 3 will crash and provide an illegal instruction: 4 error when you will call the getter. But this is a confirmed beta bug.