Getting objects from JSON - ios

Question

My problem:
I use the site API - https://www.themealdb.com/api.php .
I want to get a list of all products. For this purpose, the link is https://www.themealdb.com/api/json/v1/1/categories.php
In my code, I created a structure:
struct Category: Decodable {
var idCategory: Int?
var strCategory: String?
var strCategoryDescription: String?
var strCategoryThumb: String?
}
Then I try to get to the address and get the data. I can convert the incoming data to JSON. It works.
Next, I want to convert the data and write it into an array of structures.
func load(url: String, completion: #escaping (_ objects: [Category])->()) {
guard let url = URL(string: url) else { return }
let session = URLSession.shared
session.dataTask(with: url) { (data, response, error) in
guard let data = data else { return }
do {
//let json = try? JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: [])
//print("JSONSerialization" + "\(json)")
let object = try JSONDecoder().decode([Category].self, from: data)
print("JSONDecoder" + "\(object)")
completion(object)
} catch {
print(error.localizedDescription)
}
}.resume()
}
But in this line I get an error in the console:
The data couldn’t be read because it isn’t in the correct format.
Probably a mistake in my structure. I can not deal with this problem.

Answer 1

There are two mistakes.
The actual error
Type 'Array' mismatch: Expected to decode Array but found a dictionary instead.
indicates that you are ignoring the root object, the dictionary with key categories
The value for key id is String not Int, note the double quotes in the JSON
Declare all struct members as non-optional constants as the JSON provides all keys the in dictionaries. And please map the horrible dictionary keys to more meaningful member names.
And print all errors and never .localizedDescription in a Decodable catch block.
struct Response: Decodable {
let categories: [Category]
}
struct Category: Decodable {
let id: String
let name: String
let description: String
let thumbnailURL: URL
private enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case id = "idCategory"
case name = "strCategory"
case description = "strCategoryDescription"
case thumbnailURL = "strCategoryThumb"
}
}
func load(url: String, completion: #escaping ([Category]) -> Void) {
guard let url = URL(string: url) else { return }
let session = URLSession.shared
session.dataTask(with: url) { (data, _, error) in
if let error = error { print(error); return }
do {
let response = try JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data!)
print("JSONDecoder", response)
completion(response.categories)
} catch {
print(error)
completion([])
}
}.resume()
}

Answer 2

You need two codables
struct MyData: Codable {
var categories: [Category]?
}
And
let object = try JSONDecoder().decode(MyData.self, from: data)

Answer 3

With a wrapper class you can fetch your categories. The following code works fine in Playground:
let json = """
{
"categories": [
{"idCategory": "1"},
{"idCategory": "2"}
]
}
"""
struct CategoryHolder: Codable {
var categories: [Category]
}
struct Category: Codable {
let idCategory: String?
let strCategory: String?
let strCategoryDescription: String?
let strCategoryThumb: String?
}
let jsonData = Data(json.utf8)
let categories = try JSONDecoder().decode(CategoryHolder.self, from: jsonData).categories