Is it possible to add an interface to a Dart extension? In Swift you can do this:
protocol MyProtocol {
associatedtype Item
mutating func nextItem() -> Item?
}
extension MyClass: MyProtocol {
public typealias Item = T
public mutating func nextItem() -> T? {
// ...
}
}
How do you do that in Dart? It seems this is not possible:
extension MyClassExtension<T> on MyClass implements MyInterface {
T? nextItem() {
// ...
}
}
It isn't possible to add an interface to a Dart extension. See the discussion here:
https://github.com/dart-lang/language/issues/475
https://github.com/dart-lang/language/issues/736
You have to manually add the methods from the interface as you would a normal extension method:
extension MyClassExtension<T> on MyClass<T> {
T? nextItem() {
// ...
}
}
Related
How can we call class functions with a dynamic class name?
Assume the following example where I have two class with methods with same signature
class Foo{
class func doSomething()
}
class Foobar {
class func doSomething()
}
class ActualWork{
//call following method with a variable type so that it accepts dynamic class name
func callDynamicClassMethod(x: dynamicClass)
x.doSomething()
}
How can this be implemented so that x accepts values at run time
Edit: Sorry, I missed to mention that I was looking for any other ways other than protocol oriented approach. This is more of an exploratory question to explore if there is a more direct approach/pods/libraries to achieve this.
I liked this question, because it made me to think a lit'bit outside of the box.
I'll answer it, by dividing it into a few parts.
First
call class functions
Class function is basically a Type methods, which can be achieved using the static word inside the class context.
Taking that into account, you can get a simple solution, using protocol and passing the class reference (conforming to that protocol) like this:
protocol Aaa{
static func doSomething();
}
class Foo : Aaa{
static func doSomething() {
print("Foo doing something");
}
}
class FooBar : Aaa{
static func doSomething() {
print("FooBar doing something");
}
}
class ActualWork{
//Using class (static) method
func callDynamicClassMethod <T: Aaa> (x: T.Type) {
x.doSomething();
}
}
//This is how you can use it
func usage(){
let aw = ActualWork();
aw.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.self);
aw.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.self);
}
Second
In case you don't really need the method on the class context, you may consider using instance methods. In that case the solution would be even simpler, like this:
protocol Bbb{
func doSomething();
}
class Bar : Bbb{
func doSomething() {
print("Bar instance doing something");
}
}
class BarBar : Bbb{
func doSomething() {
print("BarBar instance doing something");
}
}
class ActualWork{
//Using instance (non-static) method
func callDynamicInstanceMethod <T: Bbb> (x: T){
x.doSomething();
}
}
//This is how you can use it
func usage(){
let aw = ActualWork();
aw.callDynamicInstanceMethod(x: Bar());
aw.callDynamicInstanceMethod(x: BarBar());
}
Third
If you need to use the class func syntax, as OP originally did:
class func doSomething()
You CANNOT simply use a protocol. Because protocol is not a class...
So compiler won't allow it.
But it's still possible, you can achieve that by using
Selector with NSObject.perform method
like this:
class ActualWork : NSObject{
func callDynamicClassMethod<T: NSObject>(x: T.Type, methodName: String){
x.perform(Selector(methodName));
}
}
class Ccc : NSObject{
#objc class func doSomething(){
print("Ccc class Doing something ");
}
}
class Ddd : NSObject{
#objc class func doSomething(){
print("Ccc class Doing something ");
}
#objc class func doOther(){
print("Ccc class Doing something ");
}
}
//This is how you can use it
func usage() {
let aw = ActualWork();
aw.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Ccc.self, methodName: "doSomething");
aw.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Ddd.self, methodName: "doSomething");
aw.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Ddd.self, methodName: "doOther");
}
Generics and Protocol oriented programming will do the job:
protocol Doable {
static func doSomething()
}
class Foo: Doable {
static func doSomething() {
debugPrint("Foo")
}
}
class Foobar: Doable {
static func doSomething() {
debugPrint("Foobar")
}
}
class ActualWork {
func callDynamicClassMethod<T: Doable>(x: T.Type) {
x.doSomething()
}
}
let work = ActualWork()
work.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.self)
work.callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foobar.self)
you can achieve this with help of Protocol
protocol common {
static func doSomething()
}
class Foo : common{
static func doSomething() {
print("Foo")
}
}
class Foobar : common {
static func doSomething() {
print("Foobar")
}
}
class ActualWork{
//call following method with a variable type so that it accepts dynamic class name
func callDynamicClassMethod(x: common.Type) {
x.doSomething()
}
}
let fooObj : common = Foo()
let Foobarobj : common = Foobar()
let workObk = ActualWork()
workObk.callDynamicClassMethod(x:Foo.self)
workObk.callDynamicClassMethod(x:Foobar.self)
I think, there are three solutions. I shared an sample below.
Use "protocol" that has "doSomething()" function requirements.
Create a function which gets function definition as a parameter.
Use reflection. you can use EVReflection that is good Api for reflection.
sample code:
protocol FooProtocol {
static func doSomething()
}
class Foo: FooProtocol {
class func doSomething() {
print("Foo:doSomething")
}
}
class Foobar: FooProtocol {
class func doSomething() {
print("Foobar:doSomething")
}
}
class ActualWork {
func callDynamicClassMethod<T: FooProtocol>(x: T.Type) {
x.doSomething()
}
func callDynamicClassMethod(x: #autoclosure () -> Void) {
x()
}
func callDynamicClassMethod(x: () -> Void) {
x()
}
}
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.self)
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foobar.self)
print("\n")
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.doSomething())
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foobar.doSomething())
print("\n")
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foo.doSomething)
ActualWork().callDynamicClassMethod(x: Foobar.doSomething)
Looks like you are searching for duck typing, and this is harder to achieve in a statically typed language (with some exceptions, listed in the linked Wikipedia page).
This is because dynamically calling a method requires knowledge about the layout of the target object, thus either inheritance of the class declaring the method, or conformance to a protocol that requires that method.
Starting with Swift 4.2, and the introduction of dynamic member lookup, there is another approach to solve your problem, however it also involves some ceremony:
// This needs to be used as base of all classes that you want to pass
// as arguments
#dynamicMemberLookup
class BaseDynamicClass {
subscript(dynamicMember member: String) -> () -> Void {
return { /* empty closure do nothing */ }
}
}
// subclasses can choose to respond to member queries any way they like
class Foo: BaseDynamicClass {
override subscript(dynamicMember member: String) -> () -> Void {
if member == "doSomething" { return doSomething }
return super[dynamicMember: member]
}
func doSomething() {
print("Dynamic from Foo")
}
}
class Bar: BaseDynamicClass {
override subscript(dynamicMember member: String) -> () -> Void {
if member == "doSomething" { return doSomething }
return super[dynamicMember: member]
}
func doSomething() {
print("Dynamic from Bar")
}
}
func test(receiver: BaseDynamicClass) {
receiver.doSomething()
}
test(receiver: Bar()) // Dynamic from Bar
To conclude, in the current Swift version there is no way to have both the argument and the method dynamic, some common ground needs to be set.
Here is a simple protocol:
protocol StringsInitiable {
init(strings: [String])
}
Trying to use the initializer in an extension works when constraint to NSObject...
extension StringsInitiable where Self: NSObject {
func test() {
let _ = Self(strings: [])
}
}
...but not when constraint to UIViewController. It then complains that the initializer should be labeled 'coder', referring to the mandatory initializer from NSCoding.
extension StringsInitiable where Self: UIViewController {
func test() {
let _ = Self(strings: []) // error label 'strings:' expected 'coder:'
}
}
Is there a way to use the initializer declared in the protocol even when being a UIViewController subclass?
EDIT
It seems to be working when constraining the extension to a base class (NSObject or any Swift class that doesn't inherit from anything) but not when constraining the extension to a child class.
I'm not entirely convinced, but this smells like a bug. Have a look at this example which doesn't compile:
protocol P {
init(n: Int)
}
class A {}
class B : A {}
extension P where Self : B {
func f() -> Self {
return Self(n: 3) // Error
}
}
But this compiles:
extension P where Self : A {
func f() -> Self {
return Self(n: 3)
}
}
Probably you don't want a protocol for that anyways, since you even named it StringsViewController. You should probably subclass UIViewController:
class StringsViewController : UIViewController {
convenience init(strings: [String]) {
self.init()
}
}
extension StringsViewController {
func test() {
let _ = StringsViewController(strings: [])
}
}
Or if you really want a protocol you can do something like this:
protocol HasView {
var view : UIView! { get }
}
protocol StringsInitable {
init(strings: [String])
}
extension UIViewController : HasView {}
extension HasView where Self : StringsInitable {
func test() {
let n = Self(strings: [])
print(n.view)
}
}
UIViewController doesn't have such an initialiser, because you haven't implemented the StringsViewController protocol. You would not be able to implement this protocol for UIViewController, because you cannot declare a designed initialiser into an extension. On the other hand you need a designated initialiser in order to conform to a init requirement of a protocol.
Let us consider this example which compiles without any issues :
protocol AProtocol {
func veryImportantMethod()
}
protocol BProtocol : AProtocol {
}
extension BProtocol {
func veryImportantMethod() {
print("A's protocol requirement satisfied!")
}
}
class ConcreteClass : BProtocol {
}
However, if we do this :
#objc protocol AProtocol { //Added #objc here
func veryImportantMethod()
}
protocol BProtocol : AProtocol {
}
extension BProtocol {
func veryImportantMethod() {
print("A's protocol requirement satisfied!")
}
}
class ConcreteClass : BProtocol {
}
It doesn't compile with a message saying :
Type 'ConcreteClass' does not conform to protocol 'AProtocol'
However, if we actually implement it,
class ConcreteClass : NSObject, BProtocol {
func veryImportantMethod() { }
}
the code compiles. Why is this happening? Is there anything that I am missing here?
I am trying to achieve this form of protocol hierarchy for UITableViewDataSource and I really do not want to repeat tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: code across conformants.
The compiler wants to make sure that the class can be compiled with ObjC. Once you inherit from an ObjC class (like NSObject) the compiler knows it, but you implement the extension before that point. You could avoid the error by defining the protocol to be implemented by a class that inherits from NSObject, like this:
#objc protocol AProtocol {
func veryImportantMethod()
}
protocol BProtocol : AProtocol {
}
class BProtocolClass: NSObject {
}
extension BProtocolClass {
func veryImportantMethod() {
print("A's protocol requirement satisfied!")
}
}
class ConcreteClass: BProtocolClass {
}
I got a struct :
struct ErrorResultType: ErrorType {
var description: String
var code: Int
}
and a protocol:
protocol XProtocol {
func dealError(error: ErrorResultType)
}
Now I want to make an extention of UIViewController:
extension UIViewController: XProtocol {
func dealError(error: ErrorResultType) {
// do something
}
}
So I can subclass from this and override the function like:
class ABCViewController: UIViewController {
--->override func dealError(error: ErrorResultType) {
super.dealError(error)
// do something custom
}
}
But it goes wrong with: Declarations from extensions cannot be overridden yet
It doesn't make any sense to me. When I replace all ErrorResultType with AnyObject, the error won't appear any more.
Anything I missed?
For now the method in the extension must be marked with #objc to allow overriding it in subclasses.
extension UIViewController: XProtocol {
#objc
func dealError(error: ErrorResultType) {
// do something
}
}
But that requires all types in the method signature to be Objective-C compatible which your ErrorResultType is not.
Making your ErrorResultType a class instead of a struct should work though.
If i am not making mistake this is connected with Swift official extension mechanism for adding methods to classes.
Conclusion :
At the moment, it's not possible to override entities declared in
extension by subclassing, like so:
class Base { }
extension Base {
var foo: String { return "foo" }
}
class Sub: Base {
override var foo: String { return "FOO" } // This is an error
}
Please check this resource for more information : https://github.com/ksm/SwiftInFlux/blob/master/README.md#overriding-declarations-from-extensions
I have an extension on UIView implementing a protocol
protocol SomeProtocol {
var property : Int
}
extension UIView : SomeProtocol {
var property : Int {
get {
return 0
}
set {
// do nothing
}
}
}
in a concrete subclass I want to override this extension method:
class Subclass : UIView, SomeProtocol {
var _property : Int = 1
var property : Int {
get { return _property}
set(val) {_property = val}
}
}
I set breakpoints and see that the extension method is called and not the concrete subclass method:
var subclassObject = Subclass()
someObject.doSomethingWithConcreteSubclassObject(subclassObject)
// other code;
fun doSomethingWithConcreteSuclassObject(object : UIView) {
var value = object.property // always goes to extension class get/set
}
As others have noted, Swift does not (yet) allow you to override a method declared in a class extension. However, I'm not sure whether you'll ever get the behavior you want even if/when Swift someday allows you to override these methods.
Consider how Swift deals with protocols and protocol extensions. Given a protocol to print some metasyntactic variable names:
protocol Metasyntactic {
func foo() -> String
func bar() -> String
}
An extension to provide default implementations:
extension Metasyntactic {
func foo() -> String {
return "foo"
}
func bar() -> String {
return "bar"
}
}
And a class that conforms to the protocol:
class FooBar : Metasyntactic {
func foo() -> String {
return "FOO"
}
func bar() -> String {
return "BAR"
}
}
Swift will use dynamic dispatch to call the appropriate implementations of foo() and bar() based on each variable's runtime type rather than on the type inferred by the compiler:
let a = FooBar()
a.foo() // Prints "FOO"
a.bar() // Prints "BAR"
let b: Metasyntactic = FooBar()
b.foo() // Prints "FOO"
b.bar() // Prints "BAR"
If, however, we extend the protocol further to add a new method:
extension Metasyntactic {
func baz() -> String {
return "baz"
}
}
And if we override our new method in a class that conforms to the protocol:
class FooBarBaz : Metasyntactic {
func foo() -> String {
return "FOO"
}
func bar() -> String {
return "BAR"
}
func baz() -> String {
return "BAZ"
}
}
Swift will now use static dispatch to call the appropriate implementation of baz() based on the type inferred by the compiler:
let a = FooBarBaz()
a.baz() // Prints "BAZ"
let b: Metasyntactic = FooBarBaz()
b.baz() // Prints "baz"
Alexandros Salazar has a fantastic blog post explaining this behavior in depth, but suffice it to say that Swift only uses dynamic dispatch for methods declared in the original protocol, not for methods declared in protocol extensions. I imagine the same would be true of class extensions, as well.
I know this question has been asked a while ago. But this will be handy for someone who looking for an easier way. There is a way of overriding an extension methods. I know its bit hacky but it does the job beautifully.
If you declare your protocol with #objc
#objc protocol MethodOverridable {
func overrideMe()
}
In Extension
extension MainClass: MethodOverridable {
func overrideMe() {
print("Something useful")
}
}
Subclass - You can able to override it in your subclass. It works like a magic. Well, not really when adding #objc it exposes your protocol to Objective-C and its Runtime. That allows your subclass to override.
class SubClass: MainClass {
override func overrideMe() {
print("Something more useful")
}
}
Swift 5
class Class
{
#objc dynamic func make() { print("make from class") }
}
class SubClass: Class {}
extension SubClass {
override func make() {
print("override")
}
}
It looks like you can override property for 2nd super class property. For example, you can access UIView property by making extension to the UILabel wanting to override frame property of UIView. This sample works for me in Xcode 6.3.2
extension UILabel {
override public var frame: CGRect {
didSet {
println("\(frame)")
}
}
}
You can't do this through normal means.
It's in Apple's docs that you can't override a method in an extension in a subclass.
Also, extensions can add new functionality to a type, but they cannot override existing functionality.
https://docs.swift.org/swift-book/LanguageGuide/Extensions.html
I think you forgot to override the superclass property in your subclass:
class Subclass : UIView {
var _property : Int = 1
override var property : Int {
get { return _property}
set(val) {_property = val}
}
}