How to work with Firebase without allowing optional values - ios

Question

I'm new to iOS development and I understand that allowing optional values when an object is initialized is not a 'good citizen' technique. That being said, I've read that it is good practice to always have values set, like this:
class Item{
var name: String
var color: String
init(name: String, color: String) {
self.name = name
self.color = color
}
}
This looks nice and tidy but how can I do something like that working with Firebase? Look what I've got so far:
private func loadPosts(){
databaseHandle = ref.child("users/\(self.user.uid)/posts").observe(.value, with:{(snapshot) in
var newPosts = [Post]()
for itemSnapShot in snapshot.children {
let post = Post(snapshot: itemSnapShot as! FIRDataSnapshot)
newPosts.append(post!)
}
self.posts = newPosts
self.tableView.reloadData()
})
}
This guy is placed in my PostsViewController where I have my table view. This is my model:
class Post {
var ref: FIRDatabaseReference?
var title: String?
var answer: String?
var contentUrl: String?
var photoUrl: String?
var createdAt: String?
var feeling: String?
var kind: String?
var text: String?
var uid: String?
var measurements: Dictionary<String, String>?
//MARK: Initialization
init?(snapshot: FIRDataSnapshot){
ref = snapshot.ref
let data = snapshot.value as! Dictionary<String, Any>
title = data["title"]! as? String
answer = data["answer"] as? String
contentUrl = data["content_url"] as? String
photoUrl = data["photo_url"] as? String
createdAt = data["created_at"] as? String
feeling = data["feeling"] as? String
kind = data["kind"] as? String
text = data["text"] as? String
uid = data["uid"] as? String
measurements = data["measurements"] as? Dictionary<String, String>
}
}
I don't know exactly why but those question marks doesn't feel quite right and now and then I get some nil pointer error, which I think I should be able to avoid by using the 'good citizen' technique.
So, does anybody know how can I use Firebase following Swift best practices?

Answer 1

Either you wish to allow the properties of your Post class to be nil or you don't.
If you do, that's fine. The code you posted allows any of them to be nil. You just need to safely access each property every time you need it.
If you don't, then don't make them optional. Then in your init you need to ensure none of the properties are set to nil by giving each a default if there is no value in the snapshot.
class Post {
var ref: FIRDatabaseReference
var title: String
var answer: String
var contentUrl: String
var photoUrl: String
var createdAt: String
var feeling: String
var kind: String
var text: String
var uid: String
var measurements: [String : String]
//MARK: Initialization
init?(snapshot: FIRDataSnapshot) {
if let data = snapshot.value as? [String : Any] {
self.ref = snapshot.ref
title = data["title"] as? String ?? ""
answer = data["answer"] as? String ?? ""
contentUrl = data["content_url"] as? String ?? ""
photoUrl = data["photo_url"] as? String ?? ""
createdAt = data["created_at"] as? String ?? ""
feeling = data["feeling"] as? String ?? ""
kind = data["kind"] as? String ?? ""
text = data["text"] as? String ?? ""
uid = data["uid"] as? String ?? ""
measurements = data["measurements"] as? [String : String] ?? [:]
} else {
return nil
}
}
}
Note how this ensures there is a proper snapshot. Note how a default value is set to each property if there is no value in the snapshot. Obviously you can assign any default you wish. I use the empty string as an example.
Even if you want to allow the properties to be nil, you should at least update your code to check for a valid snapshot like in the code above.
Of course you can have a combination where some properties can't be nil and some can. That's up to your needs.

Answer 2

First it is fine for you to have optionals in your data model, as long as you assign value to it later on in the future.
I would recommend to use ObserveSingleEvent() and you should make use of completion handler to make it easy. If you don't know completion handler: Link
I recommend:
• not to put database ref in your class model, and instead of using Dictionary<String, String>? just use [String: AnyObject]?
• make your post array public so that it can be accessed into the tableview.
Here's example:
class func getPosts(uid: String, _ completion: #escaping (_ posts: [Post]?, _ error: Error?) -> Void) {
//update inside users node
var posts = [Post]()
Firebase.databaseRef.child("users").child(uid).child("posts").observeSingleEvent(of: FIRDataEventType.value, with: { (dataSnapshot) in
guard let postsDictionary = dataSnapshot.value as? [String: AnyObject] else {
completion(nil, nil)
return
}
let n = postsDictionary.count
for postDictionary in postsDictionary {
let post = Post()
post.userID = uid
if let content = postDictionary.value["content"] as? String {
post.content = content
}
if let imageURL = postDictionary.value["imageURL"] as? String {
post.imageURL = imageURL
}
if let timeStamp = postDictionary.key as String! {
if let date = timeStamp.convertToDate() {
post.timeStamp = date
}
post.postIdentifier = timeStamp
}
posts.append(post)
if posts.count == n {
// Sort the array by the newest post
let sortedPosts = posts.sorted(by: { $0.timeStamp.compare($1.timeStamp) == .orderedDescending })
completion(sortedPosts, nil)
}
}
}) { (error) in
completion(nil, error)
}
}
Assigning to tableview be like:
getPosts(uid: Current.user.userID!) { (posts, error) in
guard error == nil else {
print(error.debugDescription)
return
}
cell.label.text = posts[indexPath.item].content