Using Alamofire in MVVM and wrapping in Async (iOS, Swift) - ios

I was trying to wrap Alamofire with async, but the answers that I found couldn't help me, but after finding the solution, I thought that I should help some one with this same problem.

There's no need to wrap Alamofire for async / await, it already offers a native version of that API.
let response = await AF.request(...).serializingDecodable(<YourType>.self)
You can also await .result and try await .value on the above to access the parts you need.

Following a very decoupled MVVM project, my DataLayer was outside from the ViewModel Layer, so I couldn't let the AF.request handler the Diffable direct. So my solution was wraping the #escaping with withCheckedContinuation
In DataLayer.swift:
func fetchRequests() async -> [MyModel] {
await withCheckedContinuation{ continuation in
downloadJson{ models in
continuation.resume(returning: models)
}
}
}
private func downloadJson(completion: #escaping ([MyModel]) -> Void){
let url = "https://......"
AF.request(url).responseDecodable(of: [MyModel].self){ response in
guard let models = response.value else {return}
completion(models)
}
}
ModelModule.swift:
var data: [MyModel]
func loadData() async {
data = await dataLayer.fetchRequests()
}
Finally the ViewModel.swift:
func configure(dataSource: AnyDiffableDataSource<MySection, MyModelItem>) {
self.dataSource = dataSource
Task {
await modelModule.loadData()
dataSource.create(sections: [.main], animated: true)
updateDateSource(animated: true)
//... rest of the configuration
}
}

Related

How to convert firebase snapshot listener to async await function swift

I am using firebase snapshot listener in my application and it uses completion handler but i want to convert this into async/ await so that i can match my functions with that i have tried some thing but it is generating an error
func listner<T:Codable>(docPath: String, model: T.Type) async {
await withCheckedContinuation { conti in
let docRef = db.document(docPath)
docRef.addSnapshotListener { response, error in
if error != nil {
conti.resume(with: .failure(FBError.someThingWentWrong))
}
do {
let data = try response?.data(as: model)
conti.resume(with: .success(data))
} catch {
conti.resume(with: .failure(FBError.someThingWentWrong))
}
}
}
}
This code is reverting me error of Generic parameter 'T' could not be inferred
on up at "await withCheckedContinuation"
please help me resolve this issue
thanks in advance.

Swift/iOS - How to use a value from one scope/function and pass it into another?

I am trying to pass the value of gyroX to another function but it just ends up in it having a value of 0 when I use it as gyroX in that other function.
Here is the code:
var gyroX = Float()
motion.startGyroUpdates(to: .main) { (data, error) in
if let myData = data {
gyroX = Float(myData.rotationRate.x)
}
}
With Xcode 13 Beta and Swift 5.5
This is a problem that we can now solve with Async/Await's Continuations
We would first make a function that converts the callback into an awaitable result like:
func getXRotation(from motion: CMMotionManager) async throws -> Float {
try await withCheckedThrowingContinuation { continuation in
class GyroUpdateFailure: Error {} // make error to throw
motion.startGyroUpdates(to: .main) { (data, error) in
if let myData = data {
continuation.resume(returning: Float(myData.rotationRate.x))
} else {
throw GyroUpdateFailure()
}
}
}
}
Then we can assign the variable and use it like so:
let gyroX = try await getXRotation(from: motion)
callSomeOtherFunction(with: gyroX)
With Xcode <= 12 and Combine
In the current release of Swift and Xcode we can use the Combine framework to make callback handling a little easier for us. First we'll convert the closure from the motion manager into a "Future". Then we can use that future in a combine chain.
func getXRotation(from motion: CMMotionManager) -> Future<CMGyroData, Error> {
Future { promise in
class GyroUpdateFailure: Error {} // make error to throw
motion.startGyroUpdates(to: .main) { (data, error) in
if let myData = data {
promise(.success(myData))
} else {
promise(.failure(GyroUpdateFailure()))
}
}
}
}
// This is the other function you want to call
func someOtherFunction(_ x: Float) {}
// Then we can use it like so
_ = getXRotation(from: motion)
.eraseToAnyPublisher()
.map { Float($0.rotationRate.x) }
.map(someOtherFunction)
.sink { completion in
switch completion {
case .failure(let error):
print(error.localizedDescription)
default: break
}
} receiveValue: {
print($0)
}
There are some important parts to the combine flow. The _ = is one of them. The result of "sinking" on a publisher is a "cancellable" object. If we don't store that in a local variable the system can clean up the task before it fishes executing. So you will want to do that for sure.
I highly recommend you checkout SwiftBySundell.com to learn more about Combine or Async/Await and RayWenderlich.com for mobile development in general.

RxSwift: How to create cache for last network response without creating class/struct property?

I'm working on iOS App that uses the IP Stack API for geolocation. I'd like to optimise the IP Stack Api usage by asking for external (public) IP address first and then re-use lat response for that IP if it hasn't changed.
So what I'm after is that I ask every time the https://www.ipify.org about external IP, then ask https://ipstack.com with given IP address. If I ask the second time but IP doesn't changed then re-use last response (or actually cached dictionary with IP's as keys and responses as values).
I have a solution but I'm not happy with this cache property in my code. It is some state and some other part of code can mutate this. I was thinking about using some scan() operator in RxSwfit but I just can't figure out any new ideas.
class ViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet var geoButton: UIButton!
let disposeBag = DisposeBag()
let API_KEY = "my_private_API_KEY"
let provider = PublicIPProvider()
var cachedResponse: [String: Any] = [:] // <-- THIS
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
#IBAction func geoButtonTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
// my IP provider for ipify.org
// .flatMap to ignore all nil values,
// $0 - my structure to contains IP address as string
let fetchedIP = provider.currentPublicIP()
.timeout(3.0, scheduler: MainScheduler.instance)
.flatMapLatest { Observable.from(optional: $0.ip) }
.distinctUntilChanged()
// excuse me my barbaric URL creation, it's just for demonstration
let geoLocalization = fetchedIP
.flatMapLatest { ip -> Observable<Any> in
// check if cache contains response for given IP address
guard let lastResponse = self.cachedResponse[ip] else {
return URLSession.shared.rx.json(request: URLRequest(url: URL(string: "http://api.ipstack.com/\(ip)?access_key=\(API_KEY)")! ))
.do(onNext: { result in
// store cache as a "side effect"
print("My result 1: \(result)")
self.cachedResponse[ip] = result
})
}
return Observable.just(lastResponse)
}
geoLocalization
.subscribe(onNext: { result in
print("My result 2: \(result)")
})
.disposed(by: disposeBag)
}
}
Is it possible to achieve the same functionality but without var cachedResponse: [String: Any] = [:] property in my class?
OMG! I spent a bunch of time with the answer for this question (see below) and then realized that there is a much simpler solution. Just pass the correct caching parameter in your URLRequest and you can do away with the internal cache completely! I left the original answer because I also do a general review of your code.
class ViewController: UIViewController {
let disposeBag = DisposeBag()
let API_KEY = "my_private_API_KEY"
let provider = PublicIPProvider()
#IBAction func geoButtonTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
// my IP provider for ipify.org
let fetchedIP: Maybe<String> = provider.currentPublicIP() // `currentPublicIP()` returns a Single
.timeout(3.0, scheduler: MainScheduler.instance)
.map { $0.ip ?? "" }
.filter { !$0.isEmpty }
// excuse me my barbaric URL creation, it's just for demonstration
let geoLocalization = fetchedIP
.flatMap { (ip) -> Maybe<Any> in
let url = URL(string: "http://api.ipstack.com/\(ip)?access_key=cce3a2a23ce22922afc229b154d08393")!
return URLSession.shared.rx.json(request: URLRequest(url: url, cachePolicy: .returnCacheDataElseLoad))
.asMaybe()
}
geoLocalization
.observeOn(MainScheduler.instance)
.subscribe(onSuccess: { result in
print("My result 2: \(result)")
})
.disposed(by: disposeBag)
}
}
Original Answer
The short answer here is no. The best you can do is wrap the state in a class to limit its access. Something like this generic approach:
final class Cache<Key: Hashable, State> {
init(qos: DispatchQoS, source: #escaping (Key) -> Single<State>) {
scheduler = SerialDispatchQueueScheduler(qos: qos)
getState = source
}
func data(for key: Key) -> Single<State> {
lock.lock(); defer { lock.unlock() }
guard let state = cache[key] else {
let state = ReplaySubject<State>.create(bufferSize: 1)
getState(key)
.observeOn(scheduler)
.subscribe(onSuccess: { state.onNext($0) })
.disposed(by: bag)
cache[key] = state
return state.asSingle()
}
return state.asSingle()
}
private var cache: [Key: ReplaySubject<State>] = [:]
private let scheduler: SerialDispatchQueueScheduler
private let lock = NSRecursiveLock()
private let getState: (Key) -> Single<State>
private let bag = DisposeBag()
}
Using the above isolates your state and creates a nice reusable component for other situations where a cache is necessary.
I know it looks more complex than your current code, but gracefully handles the situation where there are multiple requests for the same key before any response is returned. It does this by pushing the same response object to all observers. (The scheduler and lock exist to protect data(for:) which could be called on any thread.)
I have some other suggested improvements for your code as well.
Instead of using flatMapLatest to unwrap an optional, just filter optionals out. But in this case, what's the difference between an empty String and a nil String? Better would be to use the nil coalescing operator and filter out empties.
Since you have the code in an IBAction, I assume that currentPublicIP() only emits one value and completes or errors. Make that clear by having it return a Single. If it does emit multiple values, then you are creating a new chain with every function call and all of them will be emitting values. It's unlikely that this is what you want.
URLSession's json(request:) function emits on a background thread. If you are going to be doing anything with UIKit, you will need to observe on the main thread.
Here is the resulting code with the adjustments mentioned above:
class ViewController: UIViewController {
private let disposeBag = DisposeBag()
private let provider = PublicIPProvider()
private let responses: Cache<String, Any> = Cache(qos: .userInitiated) { ip in
return URLSession.shared.rx.json(request: URLRequest(url: URL(string: "http://api.ipstack.com/\(ip)?access_key=cce3a2a23ce22922afc229b154d08393")!))
.asSingle()
}
#IBAction func geoButtonTapped(_ sender: UIButton) {
// my IP provider for ipify.org
let fetchedIP: Maybe<String> = provider.currentPublicIP() // `currentPublicIP()` returns a Single
.timeout(3.0, scheduler: MainScheduler.instance)
.map { $0.ip ?? "" }
.filter { !$0.isEmpty }
let geoLocalization: Maybe<Any> = fetchedIP
.flatMap { [weak responses] ip in
return responses?.data(for: ip).asMaybe() ?? Maybe.empty()
}
geoLocalization
.observeOn(MainScheduler.instance) // this is necessary if your subscribe messes with UIKit
.subscribe(onSuccess: { result in
print("My result 2: \(result)")
}, onError: { error in
// don't forget to handle errors.
})
.disposed(by: disposeBag)
}
}
I'm afraid that unless you have some way to cache your network responses (ideally with URLRequest's native caching mechanism), there will always be side-effects.
Here's a suggestion to try to keep them contained though:
Use Rx for your button tap as well, and get rid of the #IBAction. It's not great to have all that code in an #IBAction anyway (unless you did that for demonstration purposes).
That way, you can use a local-scope variable inside the setup function, which will only be captured by your flatMapLatest closure. It makes for some nice, clean code and helps you make sure that your cachedResponse dictionary is not tampered by other functions in your class.
class ViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet var geoButton: UIButton!
let disposeBag = DisposeBag()
let API_KEY = "my_private_API_KEY"
let provider = PublicIPProvider()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
prepareGeoButton()
}
func prepareGeoButton() {
// ----> Use RxCocoa UIButton.rx.tap instead of #IBAction
let fetchedIP = geoButton.rx.tap
.flatMap { _ in self.provider.currentPublicIP() }
.timeout(3.0, scheduler: MainScheduler.instance)
.flatMapLatest { Observable.from(optional: $0.ip) }
.distinctUntilChanged()
// ----> Use local variable.
// Still has side-effects, but is much cleaner and safer.
var cachedResponse: [String: Any] = [:]
let geoLocalization = fetchedIP
.flatMapLatest { ip -> Observable<Any> in
// check if cache contains response for given IP address
guard let lastResponse = cachedResponse[ip] else {
return URLSession.shared.rx.json(request: URLRequest(url: URL(string: "http://api.ipstack.com/\(ip)?access_key=cce3a2a23ce22922afc229b154d08393")! ))
.do(onNext: { result in
print("My result 1: \(result)")
cachedResponse[ip] = result
})
}
return Observable.just(lastResponse)
}
geoLocalization
.subscribe(onNext: { result in
print("My result 2: \(result)")
})
.disposed(by: disposeBag)
}
}
I did not want to change the code too much from what you had and add more implementation details into the mix, but if you choose to go this way, please:
a) Use a Driver instead of an observable for your button tap. More on Drivers here.
b) Use [weak self] inside your closures. Don't retain self as this might lead to your ViewController being retained in memory multiple times when you move away from the current screen in the middle of a network request, or some other long-running action.

How to make async / await in Swift?

I would like to simulate async and await request from Javascript to Swift 4. I searched a lot on how to do it, and I thought I found the answer with DispatchQueue, but I don't understand how it works.
I want to do a simple stuff:
if let items = result.value {
var availableBornes = [MGLPointFeature]()
for item in items {
guard let id = item.id else { continue }
let coordinate = CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: Double(coor.x), longitude: Double(coor.y))
// ...
// This is an asynchronous request I want to wait
await _ = directions.calculate(options) { (waypoints, routes, error) in
guard error == nil else {
print("Error calculating directions: \(error!)")
return
}
// ...
if let route = routes?.first {
let distanceFormatter = LengthFormatter()
let formattedDistance = distanceFormatter.string(fromMeters: route.distance)
item.distance = formattedDistance
// Save feature
let feature = MGLPointFeature()
feature.attributes = [
"id": id,
"distance": formattedDistance
]
availableBornes.append(feature)
}
}
}
// This should be called after waiting for the async requests
self.addItemsToMap(availableBornes: availableBornes)
}
What should I do?
Thanks to vadian's comment, I found what I expected, and it's pretty easy. I use DispatchGroup(), group.enter(), group.leave() and group.notify(queue: .main){}.
func myFunction() {
let array = [Object]()
let group = DispatchGroup() // initialize
array.forEach { obj in
// Here is an example of an asynchronous request which use a callback
group.enter() // wait
LogoRequest.init().downloadImage(url: obj.url) { (data) in
if (data) {
group.leave() // continue the loop
}
}
}
group.notify(queue: .main) {
// do something here when loop finished
}
}
We have to await!
The async-await Swift Evolution proposal SE-0296 async/await was accepted after 2 pitches and revision modifications recently on December 24th 2020. This means that we will be able to use the feature in Swift 5.5. The reason for the delay is due to backwards-compatibility issues with Objective-C, see SE-0297 Concurrency Interoperability with Objective-C. There are many side-effects and dependencies of introducing such a major language feature, so we can only use the experimental toolchain for now. Because SE-0296 had 2 revisions, SE-0297 actually got accepted before SE-0296.
General Use
We can define an asynchronous function with the following syntax:
private func raiseHand() async -> Bool {
sleep(3)
return true
}
The idea here is to include the async keyword alongside the return type since the call site will return (BOOL here) when complete if we use the new await keyword.
To wait for the function to complete, we can use await:
let result = await raiseHand()
Synchronous/Asynchronous
Defining synchronous functions as asynchronous is ONLY forward-compatible - we cannot declare asynchronous functions as synchronous. These rules apply for function variable semantics, and also for closures when passed as parameters or as properties themselves.
var syncNonThrowing: () -> Void
var asyncNonThrowing: () async -> Void
...
asyncNonThrowing = syncNonThrowing // This is OK.
Throwing functions
The same consistency constraints are applied to throwing functions with throws in their method signature, and we can use #autoclosures as long as the function itself is async.
We can also use try variants such as try? or try! whenever we await a throwing async function, as standard Swift syntax.
rethrows unfortunately still needs to go through Proposal Review before it can be incorporated because of radical ABI differences between the async method implementation and the thinner rethrows ABI (Apple wants to delay the integration until the inefficiencies get ironed out with a separate proposal).
Networking callbacks
This is the classic use-case for async/await and is also where you would need to modify your code:
// This is an asynchronous request I want to wait
await _ = directions.calculate(options) { (waypoints, routes, error) in
Change to this:
func calculate(options: [String: Any]) async throws -> ([Waypoint], Route) {
let (data, response) = try await session.data(from: newURL)
// Parse waypoints, and route from data and response.
// If we get an error, we throw.
return (waypoints, route)
}
....
let (waypoints, routes) = try await directions.calculate(options)
// You can now essentially move the completion handler logic out of the closure and into the same scope as `.calculate(:)`
The asynchronous networking methods such as NSURLSession.dataTask now has asynchronous alternatives for async/await. However, rather than passing an error in the completion block, the async function will throw an error. Thus, we have to use try await to enable throwing behaviour. These changes are made possible because of SE-0297 since NSURLSession belongs to Foundation which is still largely Objective-C.
Code impacts
This feature really cleans up a codebase, goodbye Pyramid of Doom 👋!
As well as cleaning up the codebase, we improve error handling for nested networking callbacks since the error and result are separated.
We can use multiple await statements in succession to reduce the dependency on DispatchGroup. 👋 to Threading Deadlocks when synchronising DispatchGroups across different DispatchQueues.
Less error-prone because the API is clearer to read. Not considering all exit paths from a completions handler, and conditional branching means subtle bugs can build up that are not caught at compile time.
async / await is not back-deployable to devices running < iOS 13, so we have to add if #available(iOS 13, *) checks where supporting old devices. We still need to use GCD for older OS versions.
(Note: Swift 5 may support await as you’d expect it in ES6!)
What you want to look into is Swift's concept of "closures". These were previously known as "blocks" in Objective-C, or completion handlers.
Where the similarity in JavaScript and Swift come into play, is that both allow you to pass a "callback" function to another function, and have it execute when the long-running operation is complete. For example, this in Swift:
func longRunningOp(searchString: String, completion: (result: String) -> Void) {
// call the completion handler/callback function
completion(searchOp.result)
}
longRunningOp(searchString) {(result: String) in
// do something with result
}
would look like this in JavaScript:
var longRunningOp = function (searchString, callback) {
// call the callback
callback(err, result)
}
longRunningOp(searchString, function(err, result) {
// Do something with the result
})
There's also a few libraries out there, notably a new one by Google that translates closures into promises: https://github.com/google/promises. These might give you a little closer parity with await and async.
You can use this framework for Swift coroutines - https://github.com/belozierov/SwiftCoroutine
Unlike DispatchSemaphore, when you call await it doesn’t block the thread but only suspends coroutine, so you can use it in the main thread as well.
func awaitAPICall(_ url: URL) throws -> String? {
let future = URLSession.shared.dataTaskFuture(for: url)
let data = try future.await().data
return String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)
}
func load(url: URL) {
DispatchQueue.main.startCoroutine {
let result1 = try self.awaitAPICall(url)
let result2 = try self.awaitAPICall2(result1)
let result3 = try self.awaitAPICall3(result2)
print(result3)
}
}
In iOS 13 and up, you can now do this using Combine. Future is analogous to async and the flatMap operator on publishers (Future is a publisher) is like await. Here's an example, loosely based on your code:
Future<Feature, Error> { promise in
directions.calculate(options) { (waypoints, routes, error) in
if let error = error {
promise(.failure(error))
}
promise(.success(routes))
}
}
.flatMap { routes in
// extract feature from routes here...
feature
}
.receiveOn(DispatchQueue.main) // UI updates should run on the main queue
.sink(receiveCompletion: { completion in
// completion is either a .failure or it's a .success holding
// the extracted feature; if the process above was successful,
// you can now add feature to the map
}, receiveValue: { _ in })
.store(in: &self.cancellables)
Edit: I went into more detail in this blog post.
You can use semaphores to simulate async/await.
func makeAPICall() -> Result <String?, NetworkError> {
let path = "https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/todos/1"
guard let url = URL(string: path) else {
return .failure(.url)
}
var result: Result <String?, NetworkError>!
let semaphore = DispatchSemaphore(value: 0)
URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: url) { (data, _, _) in
if let data = data {
result = .success(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8))
} else {
result = .failure(.server)
}
semaphore.signal()
}.resume()
_ = semaphore.wait(wallTimeout: .distantFuture)
return result
}
And here is example how it works with consecutive API calls:
func load() {
DispatchQueue.global(qos: .utility).async {
let result = self.makeAPICall()
.flatMap { self.anotherAPICall($0) }
.flatMap { self.andAnotherAPICall($0) }
DispatchQueue.main.async {
switch result {
case let .success(data):
print(data)
case let .failure(error):
print(error)
}
}
}
}
Here is the article describing it in details.
And you can also use promises with PromiseKit and similar libraries
Async/await is now officially supported in Swift.
It would yield be something like this
func myFunction() async throws {
let array: [Object] = getObjects()
let images = try await withThrowingTaskGroup(of: Data.self, returning: [Data].self) { group in
array.forEach { object in
group.async {
try await LogoRequest().downloadImage(url: object.url)
}
}
return try await group.reduce([], {$0 + [$1]})
}
// at this point all `downloadImage` are done, and `images` is populated
_ = images
}
Use async/ await below like this,
enum DownloadError: Error {
case statusNotOk
case decoderError
}
Method Call
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
async{
do {
let data = try await fetchData()
do{
let json = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options:.mutableLeaves)
print(json)
}catch{
print(error.localizedDescription)
}
}catch{
print(error.localizedDescription)
}
}
}
func fetchData() async throws -> Data{
let url = URL(string: "https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays.json")!
let request = URLRequest(url:url)
let (data,response) = try await URLSession.shared.data(for: request)
guard let httpResponse = response as? HTTPURLResponse, httpResponse.statusCode == 200 else{
throw DownloadError.statusNotOk
}
return data
}
Here you can see a basic difference, how the callBack replacing by async/await
Basically, scene A and scene B = Call API by the closure.
Scene C and scene D= Calling API by Async/Await.
Scene E = Serial API call by nested closure.
Scene F= Serial API call by Async/Await.
Scene G = Parallel API call by Async/Await.
Parallel API call

Populate array of custom classes from two different network requests

In my Swift iOS project, I am trying to populate an array of custom class objects using JSON data retrieved with Alamofire and parsed with SwiftyJSON. My problem, though, is combining the results of two different network request and then populating a UITableView with the resulting array.
My custom class is implemented:
class teamItem: Printable {
var name: String?
var number: String?
init(sqljson: JSON, nallenjson: JSON, numinjson: Int) {
if let n = sqljson[numinjson, "team_num"].string! as String! {
self.number = n
}
if let name = nallenjson["result",0,"team_name"].string! as String! {
self.name = name
}
}
var description: String {
return "Number: \(number) Name: \(name)"
}
}
Here is my viewDidLoad():
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
tableView.dataSource = self
refresh() {
() -> Void in
self.tableView(self.tableView, numberOfRowsInSection: self.teamsArr.count)
self.tableView.reloadData()
for item in self.teamsArr {
println(item)
}
return
}
self.tableView.reloadData()
}
which goes to the refresh() method:
func refresh(completionHandler: (() -> Void)) {
populateArray(completionHandler)
}
and finally, populateArray():
func populateArray(completionHandler: (() -> Void)) {
SqlHelper.getData("http://cnidarian1.net16.net/select_team.php", params: ["team_num":"ALL"]) {
(result: NSData) in
let jsonObject : AnyObject! = NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(result, options: NSJSONReadingOptions.MutableContainers, error: nil)
let json = JSON(jsonObject)
self.json1 = json
println(json.count)
for var i = 0; i < json.count; ++i {
var teamnum = json[i,"team_num"].string!
NSLog(teamnum)
Alamofire.request(.GET, "http://api.vex.us.nallen.me/get_teams", parameters: ["team": teamnum])
.responseJSON { (req, res, json, err) in
let json = JSON(json!)
self.json2 = json
self.teamsArr.append(teamItem(sqljson: self.json1, nallenjson: self.json2, numinjson: i))
}
}
completionHandler()
}
}
the first problem I had was that i in the for loop reached 3 and caused errors when I thought it really shouldn't because that JSON array only contains 3 entries. My other main problem was that the table view would be empty until I manually triggered reloadData() with a reload button in my UI, and even then there were problems with the data in the tables.
really appreciate any assistance, as I am very new to iOS and Swift and dealing with Alamofire's asynchronous calls really confused me. The code I have been writing has grown so large and generated so many little errors, I thought there would probably be a better way of achieving my goal. Sorry for the long-winded question, and thanks in advance for any responses!
The Alamofire request returns immediately and in parallel executes the closure, which will take some time to complete. Your completion handler is called right after the Alamofire returns, but the data aren't yet available. You need to call it from within the Alamofire closure - this ensures that it is called after the data became available.

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