arraysswiftdictionarysetproperty-observer

How can I observe a specific element with Swift collection types using property observers?


Inspired when answering the question of How do I know if a value of an element inside an array was changed?, The answer was using a Property Observer for checking if an array has been modified.

However, How can I determine what is/are the updated element(s) in a collection type in a property observer? For example:

class MyClass {
    var strings: [String] = ["hello", "world", "!"] {
        didSet(modifiedStrings) {
            print("strings array has been modified!!:")
            print(modifiedStrings)
        }
    }
}

let myClass = MyClass()
myClass.strings.append("a string")
myClass.strings[0] = "Hello"
myClass.strings.removeLast()

Note that the didSet code has been called for each of adding, updating or deletion operation, but how can I exactly know what are the effected elements? is there even a way to achive this by decalring strings array as a Property Observer?

I am asking about all collection types in Swift because I assume that it should be the same behavior for all of them, it is about the observing.

Thanks.


Solution

  • Thanks for @hnh, based on his answer, I ended up with:

    class MyNumber: NSObject {
    
        // NOTE that it works in both "willSet" and "didSet"
    
        /// Array ///
        var arrayNumbers: [String] = ["one", "two", "three"] {
            willSet {
                let oldStrings = Set(arrayNumbers)
                let newStrings = Set(newValue)
    
                print("removed from array: \(oldStrings.subtracting(newStrings))")
                print("added to array:   \(newStrings.subtracting(oldStrings))")
    
                print("----------")
            }
        }
    
        /// Set ///
        var setNumbers: Set = ["one", "two", "three"] {
            didSet(newSet) {
                print("removed from set: \(newSet.subtracting(setNumbers))")
                print("added to set:   \(setNumbers.subtracting(newSet))")
    
                print("----------")
            }
        }
    
        var dictionaryNumbers = ["1": "one", "2": "two", "3": "three"] {
            didSet(modified) {
                let oldKeys = Set(dictionaryNumbers.keys)
                let newKeys = Set(modified.keys)
    
                let oldValues = Set(dictionaryNumbers.values)
                let newValues = Set(modified.values)
    
                print("removed from dictionary (keys): \(newKeys.subtracting(oldKeys)) (values): \(newValues.subtracting(oldValues))")
                print("added to dictionary (keys):   \(oldKeys.subtracting(newKeys)) (values):    \(oldValues.subtracting(newValues))")
                print("----------")
    
    //            print("removed (values): \(newValues.subtracting(oldValues))")
    //            print("added (values):   \(oldValues.subtracting(newValues))")
    
            }
        }
    }
    

    Execution:

    let myNumber = MyNumber()
    
    /// Array ///
    
    // adding:
    myNumber.arrayNumbers.append("four")
    /* Logging:
     removed: [] means that nothing has been removed form the array
     added:   ["four"]
     ----------
     */
    
    // updating:
    myNumber.arrayNumbers[0] = "One"
    /* Logging:
     removed: ["one"]
     added:   ["One"]
     ----------
     */
    
    // deleting:
    myNumber.arrayNumbers.removeLast()
    /* Logging:
     removed: ["four"]
     added:   [] means that nothing has been added to the array
     ----------
     */
    
    
    /// Set ///
    
    // adding:
    myNumber.setNumbers.insert("four")
    /* Logging:
     removed from set: [] means that nothing has been removed form the set
     added to set:   ["four"]
     ----------
     */
    
    // deleting:
    myNumber.setNumbers.removeFirst()
    /* Logging:
     removed from set: ["three"] // sets are unsorted...
     added to set:   [] means that nothing has been added to the set
     ----------
     */
    
    
    /// Dictionary ///
    
    // adding:
    myNumber.dictionaryNumbers["4"] = "four"
    /* Logging:
     removed from dictionary (keys): [] (values): []
     added to dictionary (keys):   ["4"] (values):    ["four"]
     ----------
     */
    
    // updating:
    myNumber.dictionaryNumbers["1"] = "One"
    /* Logging:
     removed from dictionary (keys): [] (values): ["one"]
     added to dictionary (keys):   [] (values):    ["One"]
     ----------
     */
    
    // deleting:
    myNumber.dictionaryNumbers.removeValue(forKey: "2")
    /* Logging:
     removed from dictionary (keys): ["2"] (values): ["two"]
     added to dictionary (keys):   [] (values):    []
     ----------
     */
    

    This shows how to deal with array, set and dictionary.