Getting IndexPath Item in TableView Embedded in CollectionView - ios

Question

I have a TableView that is embedded into a CollectionView, and I am trying to show relevant data in the TableView that corresponds to the correct CollectionViewCell or IndexPath Item. I tried assigning tag as such: cell.tableView.tag = indexPath.item but it seems to be problematic.
I tried print(tableView.tag) in my collectionViewCell and it printed
2 1 0 3 4 5
but I have 7 collectionViewCells in total so the last tag isn't printing for some reason.
My collectionView is embedded in another TableView already, below is the code in the MasterTableViewCell.swift:
func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
if diningIndexPath.section == 0 {
let cell: FoodCourtCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "foodCourtCell", for: indexPath) as! FoodCourtCollectionViewCell
cell.tableView?.register(UINib(nibName: "RestaurantTableViewCell", bundle: nil), forCellReuseIdentifier: "restaurantCell")
cell.tableView.tag = indexPath.item
//...
return cell
}
}
In the customCollectionViewCell.swift, I have this code for my tableView:
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell: RestaurantTableViewCell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "restaurantCell", for: indexPath) as! RestaurantTableViewCell
print(tableView.tag)
let currentRestaurant = foodCourts[tableView.tag].childLocations[indexPath.row]
cell.textLabel.text = currentRestaurant.name
//...
return cell
}
Is there any way to fix this, or are there other ways to achieve what I want to do? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

Answer 1

Nesting these entities is always a pain especially when you need to access indexPaths of items later. If if get your problem correctly. One of the solutions I suggest is to store a map (dictionary) of your paths. For a fast access to them. Here's an example of how I managed this in a similar situation:
typealias CollectionIndexPath = IndexPath
typealias TableIndexPath = IndexPath
var indexMap: [CollectionIndexPath: TableIndexPath] = [:]
Now when you need to access some of the items or configure it.
func cellForItemAtIndexPath { ... } {
let cell = { ... }
let cellPath = indexPath
let tablePath = indexMap[cellPath]
let foodCourtForCell = foodCourts[cellPath.item]
let childLocationsForTableView = foodCourtForCell.childLocations
cell.configureWith(court: foodCourtForCell, locations: childLocations)
Now you can manage all the data related to this nested monster from the outside.