How to pass data between ViewModels in SwiftUI - ios

Question

I have this use case where I have a parent view and a child view. Both of the views have their own corresponding ViewModels.
ParentView:
struct ParentView: View {
#StateObject var parentViewModel = ParentViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List {
TextField("Add Name", text: $parentViewModel.newListName)
NavigationLink(destination: ChildView()) {
Label("Select Products", systemImage: K.ListIcons.productsNr)
}
}
}
}
ParentViewModel:
class ParentViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var newListName: String = ""
func saveList() {
// some logic to save to CoreData, method would be called via a button
// how do I reference "someString" from ChildViewModel in this ViewModel?
}
}
ChildView:
struct ChildView: View {
#StateObject var childViewModel = ChildViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List{
Text("Some element")
.onTapGesture {
childViewModel.alterData()
}
}
}
}
}
ChildViewModel:
class ChildViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var someString: String = ""
func alterData() {
someString = "Toast"
}
}
My question now is, how do I pass the new value of "someString" from ChildViewModel into the ParentViewModel, in order to do some further stuff with it?
I've tried to create a #StateObject var childViewModel = ChildViewModel() reference in the ParentViewModel, but that does obviously not work, as this will create a new instance of the ChildViewModel and therefore not know of the changes made to "someString"
Solution:
As proposed by Josh, I went with the approach to use a single ViewModel instead of two. To achieve this, the ParentView needs a .environmentObject(T) modifier.
ParentView:
struct ParentView: View {
#StateObject var parentViewModel = ParentViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List {
TextField("Add Name", text: $parentViewModel.newListName)
NavigationLink(destination: ChildView()) {
Label("Select Products", systemImage: K.ListIcons.productsNr)
}
}
}.environmentObject(parentViewModel)
}
The ChildView then references that environment Object via #EnvironmentObject without an initializer:
struct ChildView: View {
#EnvironmentObject var parentViewModel: ParentViewModel
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List{
Text("Some element")
.onTapGesture {
parentViewModel.alterData()
}
}
}
}
}

Answer 1

Most likely you would use a binding for this situation:
struct ChildView: View {
#Binding var name: String
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List{
Text("Some element")
.onTapGesture {
name = "Altered!"
}
}
}
}
}
And in the parent:
struct ParentView: View {
#StateObject var parentViewModel = ParentViewModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationView {
List {
TextField("Add Name", text: $parentViewModel.newListName)
NavigationLink(destination: ChildView(name: $parentViewModel.newListName)) {
Label("Select Products", systemImage: K.ListIcons.productsNr)
}
}
}
}
Also, I think you can remove the NavigationView view from ChildView. Having it ParentView is enough.