Parsing JSON response using Codable in Swift - ios

I will receive an API response as JSON with array of objects. For example,
{
"Header": "Verification",
"Info": [
{
"mobile": "**** **** 123"
},
{
"email": "s******k**#g***.com"
}
],
}
I used Codable feature and created a Struct like the following,
struct cResponse: Codable
{
var Header: String?
var Info: [Info]
}
struct Info: Codable {
var mobile: String!
var email: String!
}
I am trying to decode the JSON response by using JSONDecoder in swift like below code,
let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let decodedcRES: cResponse = try decoder.decode(cResponse.self, from: CData)
This is working fine untill Info from server is only mobile and email.
But Info will be dynamic at runtime (i.e) I will receive more JSON Objects under Info from server. So if i create a Struct like the following,
struct cResponse: Codable
{
var Header: String?
var Info: [String]
}
i am receiving "The data couldn’t be read because it isn’t in the correct format." as error .
How can i handle the dynamic JSON array objects in swift with Codable feature?

The info key contains array of object, so change your struct to:
struct cResponse: Codable
{
var Header: String?
var Info: [[String: String]]
}

Info is array of objects, so you can make something like this to parse it.
struct cResponse: Codable
{
var Header: String?
var Info: [[String : String]]
}

A better approach is to use a Custom enum as a Decodable :
enum ContactType: Decodable {
case email(String)
case mobile(String)
case unknown
enum MyKeys: String, CodingKey {
case email
case mobile
}
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: MyKeys.self)
if let emailString = try? container.decode(String.self, forKey: .email) {
self = .email(emailString)
} else if let mobileString = try? container.decode(String.self, forKey: .mobile) {
self = .mobile(mobileString)
} else {
self = .unknown
}
}
}

Related

Swift Codable struct with a generic property

Say we've got a cursor based paginated API where multiple endpoints can be paginated. The response of such an endpoint is always as follows:
{
"nextCursor": "someString",
"PAYLOAD_KEY": <generic response>
}
So the payload always returns a cursor and the payload key depends on the actual endpoint we use. For example if we have GET /users it might be users and the value of the key be an array of objects or we could cal a GET /some-large-object and the key being item and the payload be an object.
Bottom line the response is always an object with a cursor and one other key and it's associated value.
Trying to make this generic in Swift I was thinking of this:
public struct Paginable<Body>: Codable where Body: Codable {
public let body: Body
public let cursor: String?
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case body, cursor
}
}
Now the only issue with this code is that it expects the Body to be accessible under the "body" key which isn't the case.
We could have a struct User: Codable and the paginable specialized as Paginable<[Users]> where the API response object would have the key users for the array.
My question is how can I make this generic Paginable struct work so that I can specify the JSON payload key from the Body type?
The simplest solution I can think of is to let the decoded Body to give you the decoding key:
protocol PaginableBody: Codable {
static var decodingKey: String { get }
}
struct RawCodingKey: CodingKey, Equatable {
let stringValue: String
let intValue: Int?
init(stringValue: String) {
self.stringValue = stringValue
intValue = nil
}
init(intValue: Int) {
stringValue = "\(intValue)"
self.intValue = intValue
}
}
struct Paginable<Body: PaginableBody>: Codable {
public let body: Body
public let cursor: String?
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: RawCodingKey.self)
body = try container.decode(Body.self, forKey: RawCodingKey(stringValue: Body.decodingKey))
cursor = try container.decodeIfPresent(String.self, forKey: RawCodingKey(stringValue: "nextCursor"))
}
}
For example:
let jsonString = """
{
"nextCursor": "someString",
"PAYLOAD_KEY": {}
}
"""
let jsonData = Data(jsonString.utf8)
struct SomeBody: PaginableBody {
static let decodingKey = "PAYLOAD_KEY"
}
let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let decoded = try? decoder.decode(Paginable<SomeBody>.self, from: jsonData)
print(decoded)
Another option is to always take the "other" non-cursor key as the body:
struct Paginable<Body: Codable>: Codable {
public let body: Body
public let cursor: String?
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: RawCodingKey.self)
let cursorKey = RawCodingKey(stringValue: "nextCursor")
cursor = try container.decodeIfPresent(String.self, forKey: cursorKey)
// ! should be replaced with proper decoding error thrown
let bodyKey = container.allKeys.first { $0 != cursorKey }!
body = try container.decode(Body.self, forKey: bodyKey)
}
}
Another possible option is to pass the decoding key directly to JSONDecoder inside userInfo and then access it inside init(from:). That would give you the biggest flexibility but you would have to specify it always during decoding.
You can use generic model with type erasing, for example
struct GenericInfo: Encodable {
init<T: Encodable>(name: String, params: T) {
valueEncoder = {
var container = $0.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
try container.encode(name, forKey: . name)
try container.encode(params, forKey: .params)
}
}
// MARK: Public
func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
try valueEncoder(encoder)
}
// MARK: Internal
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case name
case params
}
let valueEncoder: (Encoder) throws -> Void
}

Swift 4 Codable : Common struct for all model

Here i am getting API response of all of my api.
{
"success" : true,
"message" : "",
"data" : {
/multipal data parameter/
}
}
And here is my codable model
struct Login: Codable {
let success: Bool
let message: String
let data: Data
struct Data: Codable {
}
}
How can i create common Sturct for success and message parameter.
You can make the root struct representing the network response generic, this will allow you to keep the success and message parts common between all specialised responses.
struct NetworkResponse<ResponseData:Codable>: Codable {
let success: Bool
let message: String
let data: ResponseData
}
You shouldn't create custom types with the same name as built in types, since that will lead to confusion, especially for other people reading your code, so I renamed your custom Data type to ResponseData.
For instance you can create a LoginResponse model and decode it like below. You can do the same for other responses from the same API.
let loginResponse = """
{
"success" : true,
"message" : "",
"data" : {
"username":"test",
"token":"whatever"
}
}
"""
struct LoginResponse: Codable {
let username: String
let token: String
}
do {
print(try JSONDecoder().decode(NetworkResponse<LoginResponse>.self, from: Data(loginResponse.utf8)))
} catch {
print(error)
}
Common structure :
I have created something like that
struct statusModel<T:Codable>: Codable {
let message : String
let resultData : [T]?
let status : Int
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case message = "message"
case resultData = "resultData"
case status = "status"
}
}
Regular model (resultData)
struct modelInitialize : Codable {
let profileimgurl : String?
let projecturl : String?
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case profileimgurl = "profileimgurl"
case projecturl = "projecturl"
}
}
You can set like as below
do {
guard let reponseData = responseData.value else {return} //Your webservice response in Data
guard let finalModel = try?JSONDecoder().decode(statusModel<modelInitialize>.self, from: reponseData) else {return}
}

Swift 4.1 Decodable Can't decode nested array with nestedContainer

Trying to write a simple Swift 4.1 using Codable to parse json.
I have a struct like this:
struct GameCharacter : Codable {
var name : String
var weapons : [Weapon]
enum CodingKeys : String, CodingKey {
case name
case weapons
}
init(from decoder: Decoder) {
do {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
self.name = try container.decode(String.self, forKey: .name)
let weaponsContainer = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: Weapon.CodingKeys.self, forKey: .weapons)
self.weapons = try weaponsContainer.decode([Weapon].self, forKey: .weapons)
} catch let error {
print("error: \(error)")
fatalError("error is \(error)")
}
}
}
and another like this:
struct Weapon : Codable {
var name : String
enum CodingKeys : String, CodingKey {
case name
}
init(from decoder: Decoder) {
do {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
self.name = try container.decode(String.self, forKey: .name)
} catch let error {
print("error: \(error)")
fatalError("error is \(error)")
}
}
}
I also have a struct for the wrapper like this:
struct Game : Codable {
var characters : [GameCharacter]
enum CodingKeys : String, CodingKey { case characters }
}
The json data looks like this:
{
"characters" : [{
"name" : "Steve",
"weapons" : [{
"name" : "toothpick"
}]
}]
}
However, I am always getting a typeMismatcherror error:
error: typeMismatch(Swift.Dictionary,
Swift.DecodingError.Context(codingPath: [CodingKeys(stringValue:
"characters", intValue: nil), _JSONKey(stringValue: "Index 0",
intValue: 0)], debugDescription: "Expected to decode
Dictionary but found an array instead.", underlyingError:
nil))
on this line:
let weaponsContainer = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: Weapon.CodingKeys.self, forKey: .weapons)
I am not sure what the issue is, as I am clearly (in my view) asking for an array of Weapons, but it thinks I am looking for a dictionary anyway.
Wondering if anyone has any insight as to what I am missing.
nestedContainers is only needed if you want to decode a sub-dictionary or sub-array into the parent struct – for example decode the weapons object into the Game struct – which is not the case because you declared all nested structs.
To decode the JSON you can omit all CodingKeys and the initializers, take advantage of the magic of Codable, this is sufficient:
struct Game : Codable {
let characters : [GameCharacter]
}
struct GameCharacter : Codable {
let name : String
let weapons : [Weapon]
}
struct Weapon : Codable {
let name : String
}
and call it
do {
let result = try JSONDecoder().decode(Game.self, from: data)
print(result)
} catch { print(error) }
Replace your struct with following no need for any custom initializers
import Foundation
struct Weapon: Codable {
let characters: [Character]
}
struct Character: Codable {
let name: String
let weapons: [WeaponElement]
}
struct WeaponElement: Codable {
let name: String
}
And create
extension Weapon {
init(data: Data) throws {
self = try JSONDecoder().decode(Weapon.self, from: data)
}
Now just
let weapon = try Weapon(json)
try this
let string = """
{
"characters" : [{
"name" : "Steve",
"weapons" : [{
"name" : "toothpick"
}]
}]
}
"""
struct GameCharacter: Codable {
let characters: [Character]
}
struct Character: Codable {
let name: String
let weapons: [Weapon]
}
struct Weapon: Codable {
let name: String
}
let jsonData = string.data(using: .utf8)!
let decodr = JSONDecoder()
let result = try! decodr.decode(GameCharacter.self, from: jsonData)
let weapon = result.characters.flatMap {$0.weapons}
for weaponname in weapon {
print(weaponname.name) //Output toothpick
}
I Have the same problem, JSONDecoder() only decode the first level of my JSON and then I solve this problem with commented these methods from the body of my class that extended from Codable
public class Response<T:Codable> : Codable {
public let data : T?
//commented this two function and my problem Solved <3
// enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
// case data
// }
// required public init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
// data = try T(from: decoder)
// }
}

Codable object mapping array element to string

I have a (annoying) situation where my back-end returns an object like this:
{
"user": {
"name": [
"John"
],
"familyName": [
"Johnson"
]
}
}
where each property is an array that holds a string as its first element. In my data model struct I could declare each property as an array but that really would be ugly. I would like to have my model as such:
struct User: Codable {
var user: String
var familyName: String
}
But this of course would fail the encoding/decoding as the types don't match. Until now I've used ObjectMapper library which provided a Map object and currentValue property, with that I could declare my properties as String type and in my model init method assig each value through this function:
extension Map {
public func firstFromArray<T>(key: String) -> T? {
if let array = self[key].currentValue as? [T] {
return array.first
}
return self[key].currentValue as? T
}
}
But now that I am converting to Codable approach, I don't know how to do such mapping. Any ideas?
You can override init(from decoder: Decoder):
let json = """
{
"user": {
"name": [
"John"
],
"familyName": [
"Johnson"
]
}
}
"""
struct User: Codable {
var name: String
var familyName: String
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container:KeyedDecodingContainer = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
let nameArray = try container.decode([String].self, forKey: .name)
let familyNameArray = try container.decode([String].self, forKey: .familyName)
self.name = nameArray.first!
self.familyName = familyNameArray.first!
}
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case name
case familyName
}
}
let data = json.data(using: .utf8)!
let decodedDictionary = try JSONDecoder().decode(Dictionary<String, User>.self, from: data)
print(decodedDictionary) // ["user": __lldb_expr_48.User(name: "John", familyName: "Johnson")]
let encodedData = try JSONEncoder().encode(decodedDictionary["user"]!)
let encodedStr = String(data: encodedData, encoding: .utf8)
print(encodedStr!) // {"name":"John","familyName":"Johnson"}
My tendency would be to adapt your model to the data coming in and create computed properties for use in the application, e.g.
struct User: Codable {
var user: [String]
var familyName: [String]
var userFirstName: String? {
return user.first
}
var userFamilyName: String? {
return familyName.first
}
}
This allows you to easily maintain parody with the data structure coming in without the maintenance cost of overriding the coding/decoding.
If it goes well with your design, you could also have a UI wrapper Type or ViewModel to more clearly differentiate the underlying Model from it's display.

Parse Complex Nested Data From server

I'm trying to parse data i've received from the server so as to display it into a UIPicker view. but it's too complex for me to parse and get it displayed into UIPIcker View. Whats the best way i can parse the following data into and make it ready for a UIPickerView.
This is the session trying to parse the information from the server
let url = NSURL(string: "http://dummy.com/api")!
let request = URLRequest(url: url as URL)
URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) { data, response, error in
if error == nil {
do {
let json = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data!, options: .mutableContainers) as? NSDictionary
guard let parseJSON = json else{
print("Error While Parsing")
return
}
print(parseJSON)
let responseDic = parseJSON["response"] as? NSDictionary
let utilityCode = responseDic?["utility_code"] as? String
if utilityCode == "AFRICELL" {
let africellPackages = responseDic?["packages"] as! NSArray
print(africellPackages)
}
}catch{
return
}
}
}.resume()
The following data is the response from the server when the GET request is made.
{
"status": "OK",
"response": [
{
"utility_code": "AIRTEL",
"packages": [
{
"package_id": 33,
"package_name": "Daily 10MB",
"package_code": "6000",
"package_price": 300
},
{
"package_id": 34,
"package_name": "Daily 20MB",
"package_code": "6002",
"package_price": 500
},
{
"package_id": 65,
"package_name": "Weekly Roaming 200MB",
"package_code": "6030",
"package_price": 100000
}
]
},
{
"utility_code": "AFRICELL",
"packages": [
{
"package_id": 68,
"package_name": "Daily 10 MB",
"package_code": "5000",
"package_price": 290
}
]
},
{
"utility_code": "SMART",
"packages": [
{
"package_id": 69,
"package_name": "Daily 50 MB",
"package_code": "8000",
"package_price": 500
}
]
},
{
"utility_code": "SMILE",
"packages": [
{
"package_id": 70,
"package_name": "Smile 1GB",
"package_code": "7006",
"package_price": 32000
}
]
}
]
}
Cheers and thanks for the help!
All examples below are provided without error checking for brevity. For production code, you should handle errors properly.
Swift 3 without any external framework
Most of the work to decode JSON manually involves defining the data model:
struct JSONResponse {
var status: String
var response: [Utility]
init(jsonDict: [String: AnyObject]) {
self.status = jsonDict["status"] as! String
self.response = [Utility]()
let response = jsonDict["response"] as! [AnyObject]
for r in response.map({ $0 as! [String: AnyObject] }) {
let utility = Utility(jsonDict: r)
self.response.append(utility)
}
}
}
struct Utility {
var code: String
var packages: [Package]
init(jsonDict: [String: AnyObject]) {
self.code = jsonDict["utility_code"] as! String
self.packages = [Package]()
let packages = jsonDict["packages"] as! [AnyObject]
for p in packages.map({ $0 as! [String: AnyObject] }) {
let package = Package(jsonDict: p)
self.packages.append(package)
}
}
}
struct Package {
var id: Int
var name: String
var code: String
var price: Int
init(jsonDict: [String: AnyObject]) {
self.id = jsonDict["package_id"] as! Int
self.name = jsonDict["package_name"] as! String
self.code = jsonDict["package_code"] as! String
self.price = jsonDict["package_price"] as! Int
}
}
And how to use it:
let jsonDict = try! JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data) as! [String: AnyObject]
let jsonResponse = JSONResponse(jsonDict: jsonDict)
let utilities = jsonResponse.response
print(utilities)
Swift 3 with ObjectMapper
Decoding JSON is it of a pain in standard Swift. You need an external JSON framework like ObjectMapper to ease the pain in mapping between the JSON data and your data model. Install ObjectMapper from CocoaPod or Carthage.
First, define your data model in a separate file:
import ObjectMapper
struct JSONResponse : Mappable {
var status: String?
var response: [Utility]?
init?(map: Map) { }
mutating func mapping(map: Map) {
self.status <- map["status"]
self.response <- map["response"]
}
}
struct Utility : Mappable {
var code: String?
var packages: [Package]?
init?(map: Map) { }
mutating func mapping(map: Map) {
self.code <- map["code"]
self.packages <- map["packages"]
}
}
struct Package : Mappable {
var id: Int?
var name: String?
var code: String?
var price: Int?
init?(map: Map) { }
mutating func mapping(map: Map) {
self.id <- map["package_id"]
self.name <- map["package_name"]
self.code <- map["package_code"]
self.price <- map["package_price"]
}
}
Then you can use it to map JSON to your object like this:
// data is what your get in the dataTask's completion block
let jsonString = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!
if let jsonResponse = JSONResponse(JSONString: jsonString),
let utilities = jsonResponse.response {
print(utilities)
}
Everything has to be declared optional because you don't know if the value will be in the JSON string or not.
In Swift 4
Things get a lot simpler in Swift 4 with the new Encodable and Decodable protocols. Both combined to form the Encodable protocol (yes, protocol composition is a new thing in Swift 4). You no longer need ObjectMapper in Swift 4.
You still need to define your data model first:
struct JSONResponse : Codable {
var status: String
var response: [Utility]
}
struct Utility : Codable {
var code: String
var packages: [Package]
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case code = "utility_code"
case packages
}
}
struct Package : Codable {
var id: Int
var name: String
var code: String
var price: Int
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case id = "package_id"
case name = "package_name"
case code = "package_code"
case price = "package_price"
}
}
And here's how you use the new JSONDecoder struct in Swift 4:
let jsonRepsonse = try! JSONDecoder().decode(JSONResponse.self, from: data)
let utilities = jsonRepsonse.response
print(utilities)
So what's going on here?
Both ObjectMapper and Codable map the values in JSON to your data model.
In ObjectMapper, you have to explicitly list which property maps to which value in JSON in a function named mapping(map:):
mutating func mapping(map: Map) {
self.id <- map["package_id"]
self.name <- map["package_name"]
self.code <- map["package_code"]
self.price <- map["package_price"]
}
<- is the "mapping operator" defined by ObjectMapper (it's not in the Standard Library).
With Swift 4's Codable, the compiler automates a lot of things for you, which makes it appear magical and confusing at first. Essentially you define your mappings in an enum called CodingKeys:
struct JSONResponse : Codable {
var status: String
var response: [Utility]
// Define your JSON mappings here
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case status = "status"
case response = "response"
}
}
struct Package : Codable {
var id: Int
var name: String
var code: String
var price: Int
// Define your JSON mappings here
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case id = "package_id"
case name = "package_name"
case code = "package_code"
case price = "package_price"
}
}
If your JSON keys are the same as your property name, like in the JSONResponse struct, you don't have to define the explicit value for each case and you can simply write:
struct JSONResponse : Codable {
var status: String
var response: [Utility]
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case status // no explicit value here
case response
}
}
Better yet, since every JSON key is the same as your property name, you can omit the CodingKeys enum all together and let the compiler handle that for you:
// All you need to do is to conform it to Codable
// CodingKeys is generated automatically
struct JSONResponse : Codable {
var status: String
var response: [Utility]
}
To learn more about Codable, watch the What's new in Foundation session from WWDC 2017.

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