IOS/Swift rendering table after JSON request - ios

Question

I am new to IOS and swift. I am trying to implement an api get request that returns json and then display it in a table. Below is my current code. When I run simulator I am getting the following error:
fatal error: Cannot index empty buffer
If I remove the hardcoded return 3 in the tableView function and instead use doDatItems.count nothing renders in the table because I guess the array of doDatItems starts empty before the get request is made. It seems like a timing thing? How do I ensure the get request is made before the table loads?
import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate {
var doDatItems:[String] = []
#IBOutlet weak var doDatItem: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var yourDoDats: UILabel!
#IBAction func addDoDat(sender: AnyObject) {
doDatItems.append(doDatItem.text)
println(doDatItems)
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let urlPath = "http://localhost:3000/dodats"
let url: NSURL = NSURL(string: urlPath)!
let session = NSURLSession.sharedSession()
let task = session.dataTaskWithURL(url, completionHandler: {data, response, error -> Void in
println("Task completed")
if((error) != nil) {
// If there is an error in the web request, print it to the console
println(error.localizedDescription)
}
var err: NSError?
var jsonResult = NSJSONSerialization.JSONObjectWithData(data, options: NSJSONReadingOptions.MutableContainers, error: &err) as NSDictionary
if(err != nil) {
// If there is an error parsing JSON, print it to the console
println("JSON Error \(err!.localizedDescription)")
} else {
let dataArray = jsonResult["dodats"] as [String]
for item in dataArray {
self.doDatItems.append(item)
}
// println(self.doDatItems)
}
})
task.resume()
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return 3
}
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell
{
let cell = UITableViewCell(style: UITableViewCellStyle.Default, reuseIdentifier: "Cell")
println(self.doDatItems)
cell.textLabel?.text = self.doDatItems[indexPath.row]
return cell
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
}

Answer 1

I found several problems -
You ViewController should conform to UITableViewDatasource (which is missing, not sure how it went that far)
Do not return 3 when self.doDatItems does not have any items. It will cause a crash. As long as the data loads let the table remain empty. return self.doDatItems.count
Once data is loaded and ready to display from self.doDatItems array, just call reloadData() method of your table view.
Before that, you should have a reference (or IBOutlet) of your tableView so that you can call reloadData() from anywhere.

Answer 2

You need to trigger a page refresh once the data has been received and parsed.
Something along the lines of
self.tableView.reloadData()

Answer 3

In this delegate method, which return number of rows,
func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int
Don't use static number as 3. Get your Array Count & return the count in here.
After the json response comes, reload the tableView. In objective-c it's done by
[tableView reloadData];