How can I store a Dictionary with RealmSwift? - ios

Question

Considering the following model:
class Person: Object {
dynamic var name = ""
let hobbies = Dictionary<String, String>()
}
I'm trying to stock in Realm an object of type [String:String] that I got from an Alamofire request but can't since hobbies has to to be defined through let according to RealmSwift Documentation since it is a List<T>/Dictionary<T,U> kind of type.
let hobbiesToStore: [String:String]
// populate hobbiestoStore
let person = Person()
person.hobbies = hobbiesToStore
I also tried to redefine init() but always ended up with a fatal error or else.
How can I simply copy or initialize a Dictionary in RealSwift?
Am I missing something trivial here?

Answer 1

Dictionary is not supported as property type in Realm.
You'd need to introduce a new class, whose objects describe each a key-value-pair and to-many relationship to that as seen below:
class Person: Object {
dynamic var name = ""
let hobbies = List<Hobby>()
}
class Hobby: Object {
dynamic var name = ""
dynamic var descriptionText = ""
}
For deserialization, you'd need to map your dictionary structure in your JSON to Hobby objects and assign the key and value to the appropriate property.

Answer 2

I am currently emulating this by exposing an ignored Dictionary property on my model, backed by a private, persisted NSData which encapsulates a JSON representation of the dictionary:
class Model: Object {
private dynamic var dictionaryData: NSData?
var dictionary: [String: String] {
get {
guard let dictionaryData = dictionaryData else {
return [String: String]()
}
do {
let dict = try NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(dictionaryData, options: []) as? [String: String]
return dict!
} catch {
return [String: String]()
}
}
set {
do {
let data = try NSJSONSerialization.dataWithJSONObject(newValue, options: [])
dictionaryData = data
} catch {
dictionaryData = nil
}
}
}
override static func ignoredProperties() -> [String] {
return ["dictionary"]
}
}
It might not be the most efficient way but it allows me to keep using Unbox to quickly and easily map the incoming JSON data to my local Realm model.

Answer 3

I would save the dictionary as JSON string in Realm. Then retrive the JSON and convert to dictionary. Use below extensions.
extension String{
func dictionaryValue() -> [String: AnyObject]
{
if let data = self.data(using: String.Encoding.utf8) {
do {
let json = try JSONSerialization.jsonObject(with: data, options: JSONSerialization.ReadingOptions.allowFragments) as? [String: AnyObject]
return json!
} catch {
print("Error converting to JSON")
}
}
return NSDictionary() as! [String : AnyObject]
} }
and
extension NSDictionary{
func JsonString() -> String
{
do{
let jsonData: Data = try JSONSerialization.data(withJSONObject: self, options: .prettyPrinted)
return String.init(data: jsonData, encoding: .utf8)!
}
catch
{
return "error converting"
}
}
}

Answer 4

UPDATE 2021
Since Realm 10.8.0, it is possible to store a dictionary in a Realm object using the Map type.
Example from the official documentation:
class Dog: Object {
#objc dynamic var name = ""
#objc dynamic var currentCity = ""
// Map of city name -> favorite park in that city
let favoriteParksByCity = Map<String, String>()
}

Answer 5

Perhaps a little inefficient, but works for me (example dictionary from Int->String, analogous for your example):
class DictObj: Object {
var dict : [Int:String] {
get {
if _keys.isEmpty {return [:]} // Empty dict = default; change to other if desired
else {
var ret : [Int:String] = [:];
Array(0..<(_keys.count)).map{ ret[_keys[$0].val] = _values[$0].val };
return ret;
}
}
set {
_keys.removeAll()
_values.removeAll()
_keys.appendContentsOf(newValue.keys.map({ IntObj(value: [$0]) }))
_values.appendContentsOf(newValue.values.map({ StringObj(value: [$0]) }))
}
}
var _keys = List<IntObj>();
var _values = List<StringObj>();
override static func ignoredProperties() -> [String] {
return ["dict"];
}
}
Realm can't store a List of Strings/Ints because these aren't objects, so make "fake objects":
class IntObj: Object {
dynamic var val : Int = 0;
}
class StringObj: Object {
dynamic var val : String = "";
}
Inspired by another answer here on stack overflow for storing arrays similarly (post is eluding me currently)...