Images in tableview load another for a few seconds - ios

Question

I have an image in tableview that is downloaded from a Json, everything works perfect but when scrolling before seeing the corresponding image it loads another for a few seconds (these images are those that are already visible in the table).
The structure of my data is:
struct Data: Decodable {
let name: String
let img: String
let phone: String
let linktaller: String
let web: String
}
The code of my cell where the image is loaded is:
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
guard let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell") as? AseguradorasTableViewCell else { return UITableViewCell() }
cell.titleLbl.text = company[indexPath.row].name
.
.
.
// load image
if let imageURL = URL(string: company[indexPath.row].img) {
DispatchQueue.global().async {
let data = try? Data(contentsOf: imageURL)
if let data = data {
let image = UIImage(data: data)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
cell.myImage.image = image
}
}
}
}
return cell
}
The function to load the data is:
func downloadJSON() {
let url = URL(string: "http://myserver.com/data.json")
URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: url!) { (data, response, error) in
if error == nil {
do {
self.company = try JSONDecoder().decode([Data].self, from: data!)
print(self.company)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.tableView.reloadData()
self.refreshControl.endRefreshing()
}
} catch let jsonError{
print("error + \(jsonError)")
}
}
}.resume()
}
See image for more detail:
Any suggestions are welcome to fix this problem.

Answer 1

In UITableView dequeueReusableCell- Each UITableViewCell will be reused several times with different data(image).
In your case, every cellForRowAt is called, the image will be load from server so it will have delay.
Solution: You must to cache image with url in local app when the image load finish.
(1)- Use SDWebImage - with cache support
(2)- You can save image in a array -> in cellForRowAt load from this array if existed and load from server if does not exist
(image from internet)

Answer 2

Add the following class for cache image support:
class ImageLoader {
var cache = NSCache<AnyObject, AnyObject>()
class var sharedInstance : ImageLoader {
struct Static {
static let instance : ImageLoader = ImageLoader()
}
return Static.instance
}
func imageForUrl(urlString: String, completionHandler:#escaping (_ image: UIImage?, _ url: String) -> ()) {
let data: NSData? = self.cache.object(forKey: urlString as AnyObject) as? NSData
if let imageData = data {
let image = UIImage(data: imageData as Data)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
completionHandler(image, urlString)
}
return
}
let downloadTask: URLSessionDataTask = URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: URL.init(string: urlString)!) { (data, response, error) in
if error == nil {
if data != nil {
let image = UIImage.init(data: data!)
self.cache.setObject(data! as AnyObject, forKey: urlString as AnyObject)
DispatchQueue.main.async {
completionHandler(image, urlString)
}
}
} else {
completionHandler(nil, urlString)
}
}
downloadTask.resume()
}
}
In the cell, load the image as follows:
// Load image
let fimage = company[indexPath.row].img
ImageLoader.sharedInstance.imageForUrl(urlString: fimage, completionHandler: { (image, url) in
if image != nil {
cell.myImage.image = image
}
})
With that, the download of the images should work correctly

Answer 3

Because of when ever the cell is showing, you download the image from internet by
let data = try? Data(contentsOf: imageURL)
You should
Check if image in imageURL has cached or not
If cached, load image from local
If not cache, download it from internet, then cache it.
Or just simple using SDWebImage or anything else, it will auto check the step 1 to 3 for you :D
For example by using SDWebImage
import SDWebImage
imageView.sd_setImage(with: URL(string: "your_image_url"))

Answer 4

This is a classic cell reuse problem. You should install a placeholder image, or nil, into the image view of each cell in your tableView(cellForRowAt:) method before you begin the download. That will clear out the previous image that was installed into the cell, and then the async download can run in the background and install the image once it's done loading.

Answer 5

To resolve similar issues, I changed my code to coordinate the downloading of images with the creation of tableView cells, storing the images in a local array.
I create a dictionary array to hold the downloaded images, using the url string as the key:
imagesArray = [String:UIImage]()
Then, at the point in the code where each image completes downloading, I add the image to the array and insert one new row into the tableView:
imagesArray.updateValue(UIImage(data: data!)!, forKey: imageURL as! String)
tableView.beginUpdates()
tableView.insertRows(at:[IndexPath(row: imagesArray.count-1, section: 0)], with: .automatic)
tableView.endUpdates()
tableView.reloadData()
I also maintain a separate array of information elements for each image, including the image url string as one element. This allows me to present the correct items in the tableView cell:
cell.itemNameLabel.text = itemRecords[indexPath.row].itemName
cell.itemImage.image = imagesArray[itemRecords[indexPath.row].imageURL]
While the images are downloading, I present a progress indicator spinner.
Once the images are all downloaded and are loaded into the imagesArray, there is NO delay in presenting as the user scrolls up and down to view the listed cells, and reused cells are loaded with the correct images.