how to pass dictionary with key to table view - ios

Question

import UIKit
import Firebase
class PendingVC: UIViewController,UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
#IBOutlet weak var myTableView: UITableView!
let ref = firebasehelper.firebaseURL()
var data = [[:]]
//MARK: vars
var address:AnyObject!
var postTitle:AnyObject!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
myTableView.dataSource = self
myTableView.delegate = self
//The example below work great I get the layout the way it should look, but i want to generate the dictionary from the firebase function below.
/*
self.data = [
[
"firstname": "sallie",
"lastname": "ammy"
],
[
"firstname": "jamie",
"lastname": "brown"
]
]
*/
It should look something like this and i want to past the data to the table. Im not sure if i should be looping. the way it is below bring the following error "fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value" the variables are not nil when i print them i get data back.
ref.childByAppendingPath("backend/posts").queryOrderedByChild("requestFrom").queryEqualToValue(ref.authData.uid).observeEventType(.ChildAdded, withBlock: {snapshot in
var firstname = snapshot.value["firstname"] as! String
var lastname = snapshot.value["lastname"] as! String
self.data = [
[
"firstname": firstname,
"lastname": lastname
]
]
print(self.data)
})
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return data.count
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("cell", forIndexPath: indexPath) as! statusPrototypeCell
let object = data[indexPath.row]
cell.firstname.text = object["firstname"] as! String
cell.lastname.text = object["lastname"] as! String
return cell
}
override func viewWillAppear(animated: Bool) {
navigationController?.navigationBarHidden = false
navigationController?.navigationBar.barTintColor = UIColor(red:0.4, green:0.76, blue:0.93, alpha:1.0)
navigationController?.navigationBar.translucent = false
self.title = "Signup"
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.tintColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
navigationController?.navigationBar.titleTextAttributes = [NSForegroundColorAttributeName: UIColor.whiteColor()]
}
}

Answer 1

While you can use a dictionary as a dataSource, it's unordered which means the items in your tableView will also be unordered. Using an array is a better solution. In fact, an array of dictionaries make a nice ordered data source.
Also, to clarify, you don't pass a dictionary or data to a tableView per your question. The tableView gathers it's data from a datasource via it's delegate methods
Assume the following Firebase data structure
"users" : {
"uid_0" : {
"first_name" : "Bill",
"last_name" : "Nye"
},
"uid_1" : {
"first_name" : "Leroy",
"last_name" : "Jenkins"
},
"uid_2" : {
"first_name" : "Peter",
"last_name" : "Sellers"
}
}
and to populate an array of dictionaries:
var usersArray: [Dictionary<String, String>] = []
let usersRef = self.myRootRef.childByAppendingPath("users")
usersRef.observeEventType(.ChildAdded, withBlock: { snapshot in
var userDict = [String:String]()
userDict["key"] = snapshot.key
userDict["firstName"] = snapshot.value["first_name"] as? String
userDict["lastName"] = snapshot.value["last_name"] as? String
self.usersArray.append(userDict)
})
to access the data, use the keys you created above.
For example: to print the users in the array from a button
for userDict in self.usersArray {
let key = userDict["key"]
let fName = userDict["firstName"]
let lName = userDict["lastName"]
print("\(key!) \(fName!) \(lName!)")
}
Once you have an understanding of that, you can then use the usersArray to populate the tableView.
let userDict = usersArray[indexPath.row]
cell.firstname.text = userDict["firstName"] as! String
cell.lastname.text = userDict["lastName"] as! String
The tricky bit is loading the array with all of the data needed, then reload the tableView to display it. If you have a small set of data, .Value will work for that. A larger set of data requires another technique, see This Answer

Answer 2

You are using Dictionary so it doesn't returning count value so better to use array like [] instead of [:]
One more thing You have forgot the following statement to include in ViewDidLoad method
myTableView.delegate = self