Swift: Modifying an Array using a variable to specify the array name

Question

I am working on an app that parses XML responses from a web service. This web service will return several instances of an object of many different types using object stacking. I just want to take these objects and populate them into an array. Right now I have a switch that is repeating several different lines of similar code based on "objectStack.last" type. This is what it looks like right now in the parserDidEndElement function of the XML parser:

    switch(objectStack.last){
    case _ as apple:
        apples.removeAll()
        for apple in objectStack as! [apple]{
            apples.append(apple.name.value)
        objectType = "apple"
        }
    case _ as orage:
        oranges.removeAll()
        for orange in objectStack as! [orange]{
            oranges.append(orange.name.value)
        }
        objectType = "orange"
    case _ as bananas:
        bananas.removeAll()
        for banana in objectStack as! [banana]{
            bananas.append(banana.name.value)
        }
        objectType = "banana"
    case default:
        break

The problem is that the webservice will be returning a large number of different types, and I would rather not have to build a switch case for each. For the purposes of this discussion, let's say I have created an empty array for each type just by adding a "s" to the type name (ie apples, oranges and bananas). Is there a way for me to manipulate the arrays using a variable? Something like this:

   objectStack.last + "s".removeAll()
   for objectStack.last in objectStack.last + "s" as! [objectStack.last]{
      objectStack.last + "s".append(objectStack.last.name.value)
      objectType = objectStack.last
   }

Obviously this second code block is not valid code, I'm just hoping it helps to illustrate what I am trying to accomplish.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Put em in a dictionary is the most obvious answer

David Berry
– David Berry

2017-02-11 06:29:52 +00:00
Commented Feb 11, 2017 at 6:29 — David Berry
– David Berry, Commented Feb 11, 2017 at 6:29
@DavidBerry what would that look like?

GED125
– GED125

2017-02-11 06:40:46 +00:00
Commented Feb 11, 2017 at 6:40 — GED125
– GED125, Commented Feb 11, 2017 at 6:40

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-23 12:34:03Z

0

I ended up using inheritance to fix my issue. Although I have objects of many types, I created a "baseObject" class that contains the fields I needed for this to be successful. I was then able to use the following:

for obj in objectStack{
    let obj2 = obj as! baseObject
    fieldArrays[objectType]!.append(obj2.name.value)
}

I also used the solution here to use a dictionary to populate the correct array using the "didSet" event on the dictionary.

edited May 23, 2017 at 12:34

CommunityBot

11 silver badge

answered Feb 13, 2017 at 21:21

GED125

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