Want indexed tableview with reference back to source array - ios

Question

In iOS/Swift I've created an indexed "client" UITableView based on the clientName property in my Client class. I created a dictionary with A to Z as the sections. The indexed tableview works great. However, I'm trying to figure out a way to determine which row it is in the original source array, when the user selects a row. I was thinking of building some type of cross reference array, except that the dictionary ends up sorted to match the sections, so I don't know which section/row combo matches which original array entry. Is there a common approach to handling this issue?
In an attempt to clarify...
class Client {
var clientId : Int!
var firstName : String!
var lastName : String!
var email : String!
var phone : String!
...
init() {
}
}
var clients: [Client] = []
// clients array loaded from web service
...
// Create dictionary to be source for indexed tableview
func createClientDict() {
clientDict = [String: [String]]()
clientSectionTitles = [String]()
var clientNames:[String] = []
for i in 0..<clients.count {
let client = clients[i]
let clientName = "\(client.lastName), \(client.firstName)"
clientNames.append(clientName)
}
for name in clientNames {
var client: Client = Client()
// Get the first letter of the name and build the dictionary
let clientKey = name.substringToIndex(name.startIndex.advancedBy(1))
if var clientValues = clientDict[clientKey] {
clientValues.append(name)
clientDict[clientKey] = clientValues
} else {
clientDict[clientKey] = [name]
}
}
// Get the section titles from the dictionary's keys and sort them in ascending order
clientSectionTitles = [String](clientDict.keys)
clientSectionTitles = clientSectionTitles.sort { $0 < $1 }
}
Now, when the user taps a row in the tableview, I can get the section and row (indexPath). However, how can I determine which row in the clients array is the match, assuming there could be duplicate names? Is there some way to create a cross reference of indexed section/row mapped to row in source array on the fly? I was going to try to do that while building the dictionary, except that the dictionary gets sorted after, so nothing would match up. Maybe I should somehow be including the source row number in/with the dictionary??
Here is the tableview code:
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("Cell") as! ClientCell
let clientKey = clientSectionTitles[indexPath.section]
if let clientValues = clientDict[clientKey] {
cell.clientName.text = clientValues[indexPath.row]
}
return cell
}
func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
return clientSectionTitles.count
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
let clientKey = clientSectionTitles[section]
if let clientValues = clientDict[clientKey] {
return clientValues.count
}
return 0
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? {
return clientSectionTitles[section]
}
func sectionIndexTitlesForTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> [String]? {
return clientIndexTitles
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, sectionForSectionIndexTitle title: String, atIndex index: Int) -> Int {
guard let index = clientSectionTitles.indexOf(title) else {
return -1
}
return index
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat {
return 20
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, willDisplayHeaderView view: UIView, forSection section: Int) {
let headerView = view as! UITableViewHeaderFooterView
headerView.contentView.backgroundColor = UIColor ( red: 0.0, green: 0.3294, blue: 0.6392, alpha: 1.0 )
headerView.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.greenColor()
headerView.textLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Noteworthy-bold", size: 15.0)
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) {
selectedIndex = indexPath
// In the following prepare for segue, I need to somehow use the selected indexpath to find the correct entry
// in the clients array and pass it along.
performSegueWithIdentifier("clientDetailSegue", sender: self)
}

Answer 1

I figured it out. I didn't realize (until I recently tried it) that you could nest an array of any class in a dictionary. When I changed my dictionary to have my clients array nested in it, all was solved. I changed my function as shown below.
func createClientDict() {
// Declared for view controller. Re-initialized here.
clientDict = [String: [Client]]()
clientSectionTitles = [String]()
clients.sortInPlace ({ $0.lastName < $1.lastName })
for c in clients {
let clientName = "\(c.lastName), \(c.firstName)"
// Get the first letter of the name and build the dictionary
let clientKey = clientName!.substringToIndex(clientName!.startIndex.advancedBy(1))
if var clientValues = clientDict[clientKey] {
clientValues.append(c)
clientDict[clientKey] = clientValues
} else {
clientDict[clientKey] = [c]
}
}
// Get the section titles from the dictionary's keys and sort them in ascending order
clientSectionTitles = [String](clientDict.keys)
clientSectionTitles = clientSectionTitles.sort { $0 < $1 }
}
However, this line was the key to the solution:
let clientDict = [String: [Client]]()