First: I'm really new at CloudKit and the "dispatch"-mechanisms.
But I'd like to write a function in swift which will return the query-results as an array. Now my problem is, that the function doesn't wait for the query to finish and so I receive an empty array. There are records in my DB but I don't get it back properly.
So as I said I don't really understand the whole dispatch_async-mechanism etc. I've also read the tutorial on raywenderlich.com about CloudKit but I still don't get, how I can return the array properly.
This is my actual code. I've often seen people using dispatch_async-methods but I really don't understand how they can return my array.
func loadMyShopsCoolAwesome() ->[Shops]{
let container = CKContainer.defaultContainer()
var publicDB = container.publicCloudDatabase
let myQuery = CKQuery(recordType: "Shops", predicate: NSPredicate(value: true))
var myShops = [MyShops]()
publicDB.performQuery(myQuery, inZoneWithID: nil) {
results, error in
if error != nil {
println(error)
} else {
for record in results{
let shop = MyShops(nameElementAt: record.objectForKey("nameElementAt") as Int, nameElementFromSplit: record.objectForKey("nameElementFromSplit") as Int, nameSplitString: record.objectForKey("nameSplitString"), priceElementAt: record.objectForKey("priceElementAt") as Int, priceSplitString: record.objectForKey("priceSplitString"), shopName: record.objectForKey("shopName"), shopURL: record.objectForKey("shopURL"), xPathName: record.objectForKey("xPathName"), xPathPrice: record.objectForKey("xPathPrice"))
myShops.append(shop)
}
return myShops
}
}
}
You should not let your function return data. This way it will only work if you implement a wait mechanism (usually done with semaphores). If you would do that, you would block your app during the data fetch.
Instead you should return void and instead of returning your shops you should call a new function with the shops. There you should continue processing of the shops. So your function will be:
func loadMyShopsCoolAwesome() {
...
And instead of the
return myShops
You should call a new function. something like:
processShops(myShops)
Which would then call a new function that looks like:
func processShops(shops: [Shops]) {
// do work with shops
...
}
Also be aware that this will be called on a background queue. So if you want to do something with the interface you have call that on the main queue like this:
NSOperationQueue.mainQueue().addOperationWithBlock {
...
}
Related
HI there I am writing a function to get data from my parse server in swift everything is working alright and the data is getting read well. but when I try to return the array it returns me an empty array.
I also added a print in the "Get data in background" and there, the array was getting full.So the problem is not getting the data.
public func getthearray() -> Array<UIImage>
{
let user = PFUser.current()
let array = user?["Photos"] as! Array<PFFileObject>
var imagearray = [UIImage]()
for x in array
{
x.getDataInBackground
{ (dataa, error) in
var img = UIImage(data: dataa!)
imagearray.append(img!)
}
}
return imagearray
}
The reason the function returns an empty array is the fact that the code in the x.getDataInBackground completion gets called asynchronously, and before any image will get added to the array, the faction will already return.
Here is the solution (in 2 versions), which is your function slightly refactored and rewritten with completion handler and Grand Central Dispatch
Approach 1. Semaphores
public func getTheArray(_ completion: #escaping ([UIImage]) -> Void) {
let user: PFUser = .current()
let array = user?["Photos"] as? [PFFileObject] ?? []
var result = [UIImage]()
let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0)
// dispatch to a separate thread which we can safely occupy and block
// while waiting for the results from async calls.
DispatchQueue.global().async {
for file in array {
file.getDataInBackground { (data, error) in
if let data = data, let image = UIImage(data: data) {
result.append(image)
}
// the result have arrived, signal that we are ready
// to move on to another x
semaphore.signal()
}
// wait until the `signal()` is called, thread is blocked
semaphore.wait()
}
// dispatch to main queue where we are allowed to perform UI updates
DispatchQueue.main.async {
// call the completion, but we are doing it only once,
// when the function is finished with its work
completion(result)
}
}
}
Approach 2. Dispatch Groups
public func getTheArray(_ completion: #escaping ([UIImage]) -> Void) {
let user: PFUser = .current()
let array = user?["Photos"] as? [PFFileObject] ?? []
var result = [UIImage]()
let group = DispatchGroup()
for file in array {
group.enter()
file.getDataInBackground { (data, error) in
if let data = data, let image = UIImage(data: data) {
result.append(image)
}
group.leave()
}
}
// notify once all task finish with `leave()` call.
group.notify(queue: .main) {
// call the completion, but we are doing it only once,
// when the function is finished with its work
completion(result)
}
}
Usage
and you would call it like this
getTheArray { result in
// do what you want with result which is your array of UIImages
}
Documentation:
DispatchQueue
DispatchSemaphore
Relevant blogposts:
Grand Central Dispatch by John Sundell
A deep dive into Grand Central Dispatch in Swift by John Sundell
You should use the completion handler closure as discussed by others, in order to asynchronously return the array of images when all the requests are done.
The general pattern is:
Use #escaping completion handler closure.
Use dispatch group to keep track of all of the asynchronous requests.
Store the results in a dictionary as the individual requests finish. We use a dictionary for the results, because with concurrent requests, you do not know in what order the requests will finish, so we will store it in a structure from which we can efficiently retrieve the results later.
Use dispatch group notify closure, to specify what should happen when all the requests are done. In this case, we will build a sorted array of images from our unsorted dictionary, and call the completion handler closure.
As an aside, one should avoid using forced unwrapping operator (the ! or as!), especially when dealing with network requests, whose success or failure is outside of your control. We would generally use guard statement to test that the optionals were safely unwrapped.
Thus:
func fetchImages(completion: #escaping ([UIImage]) -> Void) {
guard
let user = PFUser.current(),
let files = user["Photos"] as? [PFFileObject]
else {
completion([])
return
}
var images: [Int: UIImage] = [:] // dictionary is an order-independent structure for storing the results
let group = DispatchGroup() // dispatch group to keep track of asynchronous requests
for (index, file) in files.enumerated() {
group.enter() // enter the group before asynchronous call
file.getDataInBackground { data, error in
defer { group.leave() } // leave the group when this completion handler finishes
guard
let data = data,
let image = UIImage(data: data)
else {
return
}
images[index] = image
}
}
// when all the asynchronous tasks are done, this `notify` closure will be called
group.notify(queue: .main) {
let array = files.indices.compactMap { images[$0] } // now rebuild the ordered array
completion(array)
}
}
And, you'd use it like so:
fetchImages { images in
// use `images` here, e.g. if updating a model object and refreshing the UI, perhaps:
self.images = images
self.tableView.reloadData()
}
// but not here, because the above runs asynchronously (i.e. later)
But the idea is to embrace asynchronous patterns given that we are calling an asynchronous API, and use dispatch groups to keep track of when they are all done. But dispatch semaphores are generally discouraged, as they force the requests to be performed sequentially, one after another, which will slow it down (e.g., in my experience, between two and five times slower).
As an aside, we would generally want to report success or failure. So rather than [UIImage], we would have the closure’s parameter to be a Result<[UIImage], Error> (if you want a single Error) or [Result<UIImage, Error>] if you want either a UIImage or Error for each file. But there’s not enough here to know what error handling you want. But just a FYI.
While I've answered the tactical question above, we really should ask how many images might you be dealing with. If you are retrieving lots of images and/or the user is on a slow connection, this pattern (known as “eager” fetching of the images) is discouraged. First, it can be slow if there are a lot of them. Second, images take up a lot of memory, and you might not want to load all of them if you only need a subset of them at any given point in time. We would often refactor our app to employ “lazy” fetching of the images, retrieving them as needed, not all up front. Or, if you want to do eager fetch, download the assets as files to caches folder (reducing RAM consumption) and create UIImage instances when required in the UI.
I have successfully parsed json data using URLSession and now I want to add the parsed data to an array. Doing this using an ordinary array works fine, but I'm learning Rx and thus want to use a subject.
So, this works:
var parsedJson = [Employees]()
self.parsedJson = decodedJson.people
But this gives an error:
var parsedJson: PublishSubject<[Employees]> = PublishSubject<[Employees]>()
self.parsedJson = decodedJson.people
Cannot assign value of type '[Employees]' to type 'PublishSubject<[Employees]>'
Here is the URLSession code:
// var parsedJson = [Employees]()
var parsedJson: PublishSubject<[Employees]> = PublishSubject<[Employees]>()
func getJSON(completion: #escaping () -> Void) {
guard let url = URL(string:"https://api.myjson.com/bins/jmos6") else { return }
URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: url) { data, response, error in
guard let data = data else { return }
do {
let jsonDecoder = JSONDecoder()
jsonDecoder.keyDecodingStrategy = .convertFromSnakeCase
jsonDecoder.dateDecodingStrategy = .iso8601
let decodedJson = try jsonDecoder.decode(People.self, from: data)
self.parsedJson = decodedJson.people
completion()
} catch {
print(error)
}
}.resume()
}
Anyone know how to do this and why there is an error in the first place? Doesn't the <> simply indicate which type should be observed? Didn't get .accept() to work either.
EDIT
let parsedJson: BehaviorRelay<[Employees]> = BehaviorRelay(value: [])
self.parsedJson.accept(decodedJson.people)
This worked, but what is the equivalent to BehaviorSubject and PublishSubjuct?
The error message is pretty clear: you have a type-mismatch. You would get the same error message if you tried to assign a String to an Int variable, for example. A PublishSubject is not an array. Its a mechanism (think of it as a pipeline) for sending a stream of certain types of values (here an array of Employees).
You typically use Subjects by subscribing to them like so:
var parsedJson = PublishSubject<[Employee]>()
// the 'next' block will fire every time an array of employees is sent through the pipeline
parsedJson.next { [weak self] employees in
print(employees)
}
The above next block will fire every time you send an array through the PublishSubject like so:
let decodedJson = try jsonDecoder.decode(People.self, from: data)
self.parsedJson.onNext(decodedJson.people)
From your EDIT it seems that you moved on to trying to use a BehaviorRelay. I would recommend reading up on the differences between these two classes before decided which is appropriate for your use case. This article was really helpful to me when trying to learn the differences between the different types of Subjects and Relays: https://medium.com/#dimitriskalaitzidis/rxswift-subjects-a2c9ff32a185
Good luck!
Try
self.parsedJSON.onNext(decodedJson.people)
I have an array of Integers that I need to loop through that then make a network request for further information and with the returned information populate an array of a new object I have created.
I want the returned data to come back in the same order in which the array provides it in, however it is coming back in a different order and am assuming it might have something to do with the network request.
I'm new(ish) to development, so the answer may be very obvious, but I'm really at a dead end with what to do next.
I've tried adding delays to the network request on each loop, i've tried calling .sort() on the array to ensure the array stays in the correct order
var tacticalCoverIdArray = [Int]()
var savedTacticalCoverData = [Covers]()
for coverID in tacticalCoverIdArray {
performGetRequestForSpecificCovers(coverID: coverID, targetURL: targetURL, completion: { (data, HTTPSatusCode, error) -> Void in
if HTTPSatusCode == 200 && error == nil {
do {
if coverID != 0 {
let decodedJSON = try JSONDecoder().decode([Covers].self, from: data)
savedTacticalCoverData.append(decodedJSON[0])
} else {
let data = Covers(id: 0, game: 0, image_id: "")
savedTacticalCoverData.append(data)
}
DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + .milliseconds(1000), execute: {
saveTacticalCoverData()
})
} catch let error {
print("Error decoding JSON: \(error)")
}
} else {
print("HTTP status code error: \(HTTPSatusCode)")
print("Error loading data: \(String(describing: error))")
}
})
}
When putting a print statement under the very first declaration of the for-loop (i.e: print(coverID) the return is what I would expect, in which it loops through each integer and then returns them in order.
However, as soon as I put the same print statement under the 'performGetRequestForSpecificCovers' method, the coverID array is not in the order that it should be in, and therefore I get my returned values in an incorrect order when I append them to my 'savedTacticalCoverData' array.
Your hunch about the network requests having an impact on the ordering seems correct.
What I'm guessing is happening here is that when you are looping over tacticalCoverIdArray and calling performGetRequestForSpecificCovers(), that loop doesn't wait for that network request to complete and for the completion block to get called. It continues with the next iteration. Effectively, you are sending tacticalCoverIdArray.count network requests in parallel. Those completion blocks get called much later, long after the outer loop is complete, and most likely even on a different thread.
The most basic, and worst, option is to use DispatchSemaphore to hold up the outer loop until the completion block is called. You'd create a semaphore, call semaphore.signal() inside the completion handler, and call semaphore.wait() at the end of every loop iteration. The problem with this approach is that you will wait for each network request to complete before proceeding to the next one. Also, you will tie up the thread that is executing the first outer loop, and threads are a finite resource, so it's not a good idea to waste them.
A better option is to dispatch all requests at once, and handle the out-of-order responses. This will complete much faster than serially dispatching them, unless you encounter some kind of limitations with dispatching so many network requests in parallel. Instead of savedTacticalCoverData being an array, perhaps it could be a dictionary, where the key is the index of the outer loop, and the value is what you're trying to save? Each time the completion handler gets called, you could check whether or not the dictionary is full and you've accumulated all of the responses you want, and only then proceed with the final "everything is done" action, presumably saveTacticalCoverData().
You'll have to be careful to get your multithreading right. Unless performGetRequestForSpecificCovers() uses only one callback queue, and it's the same queue that this function is running on, you might get called on different threads. If that's the case, I would recommend making a new DispatchQueue and always operating on your dictionary only from that queue, to ensure consistency when those completion blocks come in on random threads. Something like this:
class MyClass {
var tacticalCoverIdArray = [Int]()
var savedTacticalCoverData = [Int: Covers]()
var queue = DispatchQueue(label: "Class Internal Queue")
func myFunc() {
// ... fill in the blanks here
for (index, coverID) in tacticalCoverIdArray.enumerated() {
performGetRequestForSpecificCovers(coverID: coverID, targetURL: targetURL, completion: { (data, HTTPSatusCode, error) -> Void in
if HTTPSatusCode == 200 && error == nil {
do {
queue.async {
if coverID != 0 {
let decodedJSON = try JSONDecoder().decode([Covers].self, from: data)
self.savedTacticalCoverData[index] = decodedJSON[0]
} else {
let data = Covers(id: 0, game: 0, image_id: "")
self.savedTacticalCoverData[index] = data
}
if self.savedTacticalCoverData.count == self.tacticalCoverIdArray.count {
DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + .milliseconds(1000), execute: {
self.saveTacticalCoverData()
})
}
}
} catch let error {
print("Error decoding JSON: \(error)")
}
} else {
print("HTTP status code error: \(HTTPSatusCode)")
print("Error loading data: \(String(describing: error))")
}
})
}
}
}
I am learning how to build apps and working with Swift for this project.
I had a buddy help me pull data in from a website and it looks like he created classes with variables and mapped them to certain extensions (IE "Username") so when I call the variable data such as profile I would call it. The below uses luck_30 able to store "Stats.luck_30"
luck_30.text = profile.luck_30
So inside one of my variables that is in this "Profile" class is setup into an array. I can pull the array out of the class, but I can't seem to do for while statement replacing the [#] with a variable from the for command.
func aliveWorkers(profile: Profile) -> NSNumber{
var myworkers : Array = profile.workers!
//this test works and returns the proper value
var testworker: NSNumber = myworkers[0].alive!
println("The satus of the test worker is " + testworker.description)
/* This code is giving error "Could not find member alive" it does not ifor var
for ifor in myworkers{
var thisworker: NSNumber = myworkers[ifor].alive! as NSNumber
}
*/
return 42
}
Your variable ifor is not a counter, it is an actual object. You could do something like this:
for worker in myWorkers {
let workerIsAlive = worker.alive!
}
Alternatively, if you need the index,
for i in 0 ..< myWorkers.count {
let worker = myWorkers[i]
let workerIsAlive = worker.alive!
}
If you need both:
for (i, worker) in enumerate(myWorkers) {
let workerIsAlive = worker.alive!
}
And as a matter of style, I would stay away from NSNumber and use Int or Bool or whatever the data actually is. Also, it looks like the alive variable should not be optional, as you're unwrapping it everywhere. To avoid "mysterious" crashes later, you may want to think about making it a non-optional type.
when using a for in loop, your loop variable isn't an index, its the objects you're looping through. so..
func aliveWorkers() {
var myworkers = [1, 2, 3]
//this test works and returns the proper value
let testworker = myworkers[0]
print("The satus of the test worker is \(testworker)")
for ifor in myworkers {
print(ifor)
}
}
Notice a few things... you don't need to use + to concatenate those strings. you can just use string interpolation. \(variable) inserts the value of variable in the string.
Try to use let instead of var when you don't change the variable. You don't need to explicitly define type on variables either.
I am trying to make an array of integers with data I have stored on an online database (Parse). I know for a fact that I am receiving the data and that my variable is storing that data. I also know for a fact that the data value is being added as when I print out the size of the array under my append line, the size constantly increases until it reaches the size of my database (90). However, when I print the size of the array at the end of the method or in my constructor, I get a value of 0. I have a feeling that this problem is happening because of the "self" keyword but I am not sure how to get around it. My end goal is store all the values from the database into an array that I create and can globally access.
Here is the code:
import Foundation
class DataLoader
{
var allData: [Int] = []
init()
{
allData = []
generateAllData()
println(allData.count)
}
private func generateAllData()
{
var tempVal: Int = 0
var tempArray: [Int] = []
Parse.setApplicationId("CENSORED FOR PRIVACY REASONS", clientKey: "CENSORED FOR PRIVACY REASONS")
var query = PFQuery(className: "Snapshot")
query.selectKeys(["objectID"])
query.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock
{
(objects: [AnyObject]!, error: NSError!) -> Void in
if error == nil
{
for obj in objects
{
var temp: String = obj.objectId
var newQuery = PFQuery(className: "Data")
newQuery.getObjectInBackgroundWithId(temp)
{
(dataValue: PFObject!, error: NSError!) -> Void in
if error == nil && dataValue != nil
{
tempVal = dataValue["Year"].integerValue
}
else
{
println(error)
}
}
self.allData.append(tempVal)
println(self.allData.count)
}
}
}
println(allData.count)
}
}
The problem is that the println's at the end of the method and the end of the init are happening while the background operation is still getting the data.
When you call "query.findObjectsInBackgroundWithBlock", it will go off into the background and get the data. But that does not block the next line from being called and it does not stop the function returning.
I suggest you add a callback or delegate method so that the rest of your code knows when the data has completely downloaded.
And you use of "self" is correct. Inside a block, you have to provide that context.
Update:
Adding more info about blocks and callbacks.
When you are using a block, the code after the block continues on without waiting for the block to complete. So a good way to know when the block has finished it to send a callback function as one of the parameters to the function containing the block. Once the block has completed, it can use the callback function to report back.
As a shorter example than your code, have a look at this animation function:
doSomeAnimation() // call the function below
func doSomeAnimation() {
println("Starting doSomeAnimation")
UIView.animateWithDuration(2.0,
animations: { () -> Void in
// animate something here
self.alphaButton.alpha = 1.0
}) { (animationDone) -> Void in
// animation over
println("Animation complete")
}
println("Ending doSomeAnimation")
}
You will see it contains 3 println() statements and the order in which they appear may surprise you:
Starting doSomeAnimation
Ending doSomeAnimation
Animation complete
So the doSomeAnimation() function is over long before the animation has completed. In this trivial example, that doesn't matter, but what if you need to know before the rest of your code could proceed?
One solution is to send a callback function to the function with the block. Here is the previous example with a callback in place:
doSomeAnimation() { (complete : Bool) in
println("Animation callback")
}
func doSomeAnimation(callback : ( Bool ) -> Void) {
println("Starting doSomeAnimation")
UIView.animateWithDuration(2.0,
animations: { () -> Void in
// animate something here
self.alphaButton.alpha = 1.0
}) { (animationDone) -> Void in
// animation over
println("Animation complete")
callback(animationDone)
}
println("Ending doSomeAnimation")
}
So the doSomeAnimation() function is called, but it is provided with a function as its parameter. It performs the animation and when the animation has finished, it uses this supplied callback function to report back to the caller.
And now the println() statements show as follows:
Starting doSomeAnimation
Ending doSomeAnimation
Animation complete
Animation callback
Hopefully this makes it clearer, both what the issue is an a possible solution.