Swift: self.init (coder : aDecoder) is crashing app with EXC_BAD_ACCESS - ios

Question

Error is crashing app when using NSCoder and NSKeyArchiver.
I had made a recent post around NSCoder but since then I've changed my code around and got a new error and decided a new post is best.
The app is a blog reader, reading from a MYSQL database using PHP to fill a table view with custom objects in Swift using JSON. I've been trying to save mainArray so that when the user moves cells across sections (each section has an array) it can save where the user left it.
Blog.swift: Handles the Blogs custom objects
import UIKit
class Blog: NSObject, NSCoding {
var blogName: String!
var blogStatus1: String!
var blogStatus2: String!
var blogURL: String!
var blogID: String!
var blogType: String!
var blogDate: String!
var blogPop: String!
static func createBlog(from jsonObject: AnyObject) -> Blog? {
guard let bID: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "id") as? String,
let bName: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogName") as? String,
let bStatus1: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogStatus1") as? String,
let bStatus2: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogStatus2") as? String,
let bURL: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogURL") as? String,
let bType: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogType") as? String,
let bDate: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogDate") as? String,
let bPop: String = jsonObject.object(forKey: "blogPop") as? String
else {
print("Error: (Creating Blog Object)")
return nil
}
let blog = Blog()
blog.blogName = bName
blog.blogStatus1 = bStatus1
blog.blogStatus2 = bStatus2
blog.blogURL = bURL
blog.blogID = bID
blog.blogType = bType
blog.blogDate = bDate
blog.blogPop = bPop
return blog
}
// NSCoding
convenience required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
self.init (coder : aDecoder) // *** Crashes Here ***
self.blogName = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogName") as! String
self.blogStatus1 = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogStatus1") as! String
self.blogStatus2 = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogStatus2") as! String
self.blogURL = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogURL") as! String
self.blogID = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogID") as! String
self.blogType = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogType") as! String
self.blogDate = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogDate") as! String
self.blogPop = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "blogPop") as! String
}
func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
aCoder.encode(blogName, forKey: "blogName")
aCoder.encode(blogStatus1, forKey: "blogStatus1")
aCoder.encode(blogStatus2, forKey: "blogStatus2")
aCoder.encode(blogURL, forKey: "blogURL")
aCoder.encode(blogID, forKey: "blogID")
aCoder.encode(blogType, forKey: "blogType")
aCoder.encode(blogDate, forKey: "blogDate")
aCoder.encode(blogPop, forKey: "blogPop")
}
}
MainController.swift - Where table view is located
var mainArray = [Blog]()
var followedArray = [Blog]()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Receiving Data from Server
retrieveData()
if let data = UserDefaults.standard.data(forKey: "mainArrayKey"),
let myBlogList = NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveObject(with: data) as? [Blog] {
mainArray = myBlogList
print("mainArray: \(mainArray)")
} else {
print("Error: (Saving to UserDefaults)")
}
}
// Retrieving Data from Server
func retrieveData() {
let getDataURL = "http://example.com/receiving.php"
let url: NSURL = NSURL(string: getDataURL)!
do {
let data: Data = try Data(contentsOf: url as URL)
let jsonArray = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: .mutableContainers) as! NSMutableArray
// Looping through jsonArray
for jsonObject in jsonArray {
if let blog = Blog.createBlog(from: jsonObject as AnyObject) {
mainArray.append(blog)
// Save to UserDefaults
let encodedData = NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: mainArray)
UserDefaults.standard.set(encodedData, forKey: "mainArrayKey")
}
}
}
catch {
print("Error: (Retrieving Data)")
}
myTableView.reloadData()
// Logs
print("This is mainArray", mainArray)
// Check UserDefaults
if UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: "mainArrayKey") != nil{
print("mainArray key exists")
}
else {
print("mainArray key does not exist")
}
}

Answer 1

Looks like an infinite loop to me. You call init(coder:), and the first line calls init(coder:), and the first line calls init(coder:), and so on ad infinitum.
You need to call a different initializer inside it. Try self.init() instead.

Answer 2

As others have stated it's indeed an infinite loop. What you need to do is change it to self.init() and also add in the following to your code. Or implement your own init that does whatever needs to be done.
override init() {
super.init()
}