Use the Value of a Variable in an Object Property

Question

I am developing a game for iOS 13 using Xcode 11 and Swift 5. (I'm a beginner.) I have 16 buttons on the screen, and I want to change a button's image and isEnabled setting randomly. I have this function that is called:

func startSequence()
{
    timeUntilChange = Int.random(in: 1...2)
    nextMole = Int.random(in: 0...15)
    timeMoleShows = Double.random(in: 0.5...1.5)
    timer = Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: TimeInterval(timeUntilChange), target: self, selector: #selector(showMole), userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
}`

Then I have this:

@objc func showMole()
{
    if gameInSession == true
    {      
        moleImage_0.setBackgroundImage(UIImage(named:"mole_t.png"), for: [])
        moleImage_0.isEnabled = true
    }
}

So where I have moleImage_0 I want the 0 to be the randomly generated number held in the variable "nextMole".

I did search here and found some things about arrays and dictionaries. I tried an array, but couldn't figure it out.

Is what I'm trying to do possible?

keep working on the array idea. it will be like moleImage[randomIndex].setBackgroundImage(....) — john elemans
– john elemans, Commented Feb 26, 2020 at 2:14

Muhammad Afzal · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-26 05:39:49Z

1

attach all buttons to outlet collections and update your showMole with following.

@IBOutlet var allButtons: [UIButton]!
@objc func showMole()
{
    if gameInSession == true
    {
        allButtons[nextMole].setBackgroundImage(UIImage(named:"mole_t.png"), for: [])
        allButtons[nextMole].isEnabled = true
    }
}

answered Feb 26, 2020 at 5:39

Muhammad Afzal

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Comments

mwahlig · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-26 03:10:10Z

1

To expand on what John said, you could store all your mole buttons in an array defined like so (assuming your buttons are instances/subclasses of UIButton):

var moleButtons = [UIButton]()

Then you could even make your nextMole value a computed property like so:

var nextMoleIndex: Int {
    return Int.random(in: 0 ..< moleButtons.count)
}

Finally, your showMole function can be updated to reference this array when updating the random button:

@objc func showMole() {
    if gameInSession {
        moleButtons[nextMoleIndex].setBackgroundImage(UIImage(named:"mole_t.png"), for: .normal)
        moleButtons[nextMoleIndex].isEnabled = true
    }
}

Hope this helps!

answered Feb 26, 2020 at 3:10

mwahlig

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Comments

William L. Marr III · Accepted Answer · 2020-02-26 03:35:30Z

0

I like the answer mwahlig provided, but in case you are not sure how to get the 16 buttons into the moleButtons array, you'll need to add each one to it like this somewhere in your setup code:

moleButtons.append(button1)
moleButtons.append(button2)
moleButtons.append(button3)
// etc. for buttons 4 through 16

Also, as to your specific question about being able to randomly generate the "0" part of the variable name "moleImage_0" - you can't do that in Swift; constant and variable names are fixed when you declare and/or define them.

Hope that helps you out!

answered Feb 26, 2020 at 3:35

William L. Marr III

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