How to check if NSDictionary is not nil in Swift 2 - ios

Question

I'm getting NSDictionary as parameter in my function but having problem because don't know how to check if that parameter is not nil.
My function looks like this:
func doSmth(val : NSDictionary)
Inside my function I'm trying to get some values:
let action = val["action"] as! String
But getting error "fatal error: unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value" when receive parameter val as nil.

Answer 1

The error is due to assuming (force casting) a value that can sometimes be nil. Swift is awesome, because it allows conditional unwraps and conditional casts in very concise statements. I recommend the following (for Swift 1-3):
Use "if let" to conditionally check for "action" in the dictionary.
Use as? to conditionally cast the value to a String
if let actionString = val["action"] as? String {
// action is not nil, is a String type, and is now stored in actionString
} else {
// action was either nil, or not a String type
}

Answer 2

You can also access the allKeys or alternatively allValues property and check if the array contains any elements like so:
let dic = NSDictionary()
let total = dic.allKeys.count
if total > 0 {
// Something's in there
}
else {
// Nothing in there
}
EDIT
Here is how you can detect if the NSDictionary is nil, if they key you are looking for exists, and if it does attempt to access it's value:
let yourKey = "yourKey"
if let dic = response.someDictionary as? NSDictionary {
// We've got a live one. NSDictionary is valid.
// Check the existence of key - OR check dic.allKeys.containsObject(yourKey).
let keyExists: Bool = false;
for var key as String in dic.allKeys {
if key == yourKey {
keyExists = true;
}
}
// If yourKey exists, access it's possible value.
if keyExists == true {
// Access your value
if let value = dic[yourKey] as? AnyObject {
// We're in business. We have the value!
}
else {
// yourKey does not contain a value.
}
}
else {
// yourKey does not exist in NSDictionary.
}
}
else {
// Call an ambulance. NSDictionary is nil.
}

Answer 3

That's not particularly related to Swift 2.
If the dictionary could be nil declare it as optional
func doSmth(val : NSDictionary?)
Then use optional bindings to check
if let valIsNonOptional = val {
let action = valIsNonOptional["action"] as! String
}
The code assumes that there is a key action containing a String value anyway if the dictionary is not nil

Answer 4

Your dictionary parameter is probably not nil. The problem is probably that your dictionary doesn't contain a value for the key "action".
When you say val["action"], the dictionary (being an NSDictionary) returns an Optional<AnyObject>. If val contains the key "action", it returns Some(value). If val doesn't contain the key "action", it returns None, which is the same as nil.
You can unwrap the Optional in your cast, and choose a course of action based on whether it was nil, using an if-let statement:
if let action = val["action"] as? String {
// action is a String, not an Optional<String>
} else {
// The dictionary doesn't contain the key "action", and
// action isn't declared in this scope.
}
If you really think val itself might be nil, you need to declare your function that way, and you can unwrap val without renaming it using a somewhat confusing guard statement:
func doSmth(val: NSDictionary?) {
guard let val = val else {
// If val vas passed in as nil, I get here.
return
}
// val is now an NSDictionary, not an Optional<NSDictionary>.
...
}