How to search through array properties in Model - ios

Question

I have to make a Contacts-like app. I have a model object. Please notice the 2 properties phoneNumbers & addresses are Arrays
class Contact: NSObject {
var name: String?
var companyName: String?
var phoneNumbers: [String]?
var addresses: [String]?
.. // Custom init methods etc
}
Now I have to populate these and search them using search View Controller.
I followed the simple way, implemented a searchViewController in TableViewController. Much like here: https://www.raywenderlich.com/113772/uisearchcontroller-tutorial
func filterContentForSearchText(searchText: String, scope: String = "All") {
filteredContacts.removeAll(keepCapacity: false)
let searchPredicate = NSPredicate(format: "name CONTAINS[c] %# OR companyName CONTAINS[c] %#", searchController.searchBar.text!, searchController.searchBar.text!, searchController.searchBar.text!)
let array = (contacts as NSArray).filteredArrayUsingPredicate(searchPredicate)
filteredContacts = array as! [Contact]
tableView.reloadData()
}
My problem is how to search throught the array of phone numbers and addresses? The above code works good searching through non-array properties, but how to search through the arrays?

Answer 1

Here is code you paste in a playground to test searching within properties that are arrays. I kept the search functions simple for clarity, but the code can be shortened using filters and closures.
import UIKit
class Contact {
var name: String?
var companyName: String?
var phoneNumbers: [String]?
var addresses: [String]?
init (name: String, companyName: String, phoneNumbers: [String], addresses: [String]) {
self.name = name
self.companyName = companyName
self.phoneNumbers = phoneNumbers
self.addresses = addresses
}
}
var contacts: [Contact] =
[(Contact.init(name: "Tom Jones", companyName: "Jones", phoneNumbers: ["111-1111", "111-1112", "111-1113"], addresses: ["Hollywood", "New York"])),
(Contact.init(name: "Aretha Franklin", companyName: "Franklin", phoneNumbers: ["111-1114", "111-1115", "111-1116"], addresses: ["Detroit", "Hollywood"])),
(Contact.init(name: "Axel Rose", companyName: "Rose", phoneNumbers: ["111-1117", "111-11128", "111-1111"], addresses: ["London", "New York"])) ]
let phoneNumberSearchString = "111-1111"
func searchByPhoneNumber (searchNumber: String, inDataSet contacts: [Contact]) -> [Contact] {
var searchResult: [Contact] = []
for contact in contacts {
for phoneNumber in contact.phoneNumbers! {
if phoneNumber == searchNumber {
searchResult.append(contact)
}
}
}
return searchResult
}
func searchByAddress (searchAddress: String, inDataSet contacts: [Contact]) -> [Contact] {
var searchResult: [Contact] = []
for contact in contacts {
for address in contact.addresses! {
if address == searchAddress {
searchResult.append(contact)
}
}
}
return searchResult
}
let foundContacts = searchByPhoneNumber("111-1111", inDataSet: contacts)
for contact in foundContacts {
print(contact.name!)
}
let foundContacts2 = searchByAddress("Hollywood", inDataSet: contacts)
for contact in foundContacts2 {
print(contact.name!)
}
/* Print results
Tom Jones
Axel Rose
Tom Jones
Aretha Franklin
*/