Proper way of setting delegates in MVVM - ios

Question

I would like to know what is a proper way of setting delegates in the ViewModel in MVVM pattern in Swift.
I'm instantiating the ViewController from another class:
let viewModel = DashboardViewModel()
let viewController = DashboardViewController(viewModel: viewModel)
My ViewModel:
protocol DashboardViewModelType {
var items: [Item] { get }
var reloadDelegate: DashboardDataReloadDelegate? { get set }
}
protocol DashboardDataReloadDelegate: class {
func reloadData()
}
class DashboardViewModel: DashboardViewModelType {
var items: [Item] = []
weak var reloadDelegate: DashboardDataReloadDelegate?
init() {
loadItems()
}
func loadItems() {
let databaseFetcher = DatabaseDaysFetcher()
databaseFetcher.getDays(onData: { (items) in
self.items = items
reloadDelegate?.reloadData() //delegate is nil here
}) { (error) in
print(error)
}
}
}
and ViewController:
class DashboardViewController: UIViewController {
var viewModel: DashboardViewModelType?
init(viewModel: DashboardViewModelType) {
self.viewModel = viewModel
super.init(nibName: nil, bundle: nil)
self.viewModel!.reloadDelegate = self // it is executed after
}
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
}
extension DashboardViewController: DashboardDataReloadDelegate {
func reloadData() {
print("data reloaded")
}
}
So the main problem is that if I want to inject the viewModel in another class I'm instantiating the viewModel when delegate is not yet set. Would it be better to declare loadItems inside the DashboardViewModelType protocol and then call this function from the init or viewDidLoad inside the ViewController?

Answer 1

Yes, you could inject DatabaseDaysFetcher in the init for the DashboardViewModel and then as you say, move loadItems to the DashboardViewModelType protocol.
Then when you call loadItems, it should callback in to the caller.
Then use [weak self] in the loadItems callback.
This would negate the need for the delegate.
protocol DashboardViewModelType {
init(databaseFetcher: DatabaseDaysFetcher)
func loadItems(completion: ([Item]) -> Void, error: (Error) -> Void)
}
final class DashboardViewModel: DashboardViewModelType {
private var databaseFetcher: DatabaseDaysFetcher
init(databaseFetcher: DatabaseDaysFetcher) {
self.databaseFetcher = databaseFetcher
}
func loadItems(completion: ([Item]) -> Void, onError: (Error) -> Void) {
self.databaseFetcher.getDays(onData: { (items) in
completion(items)
}) { (error) in
onError(error)
}
}
}