How can I encode (with NSCoding) an enum that has no rawValue?

Question

I'm trying to make my class conform to NSCoding, but running into problems because one of its properties is an enum, like this:

enum Direction {
    case north
    case south
}

If enums were codable I could do it like this:

class MyClass: NSObject, NSCoding {
    var direction: Direction!
    required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        direction = aDecoder.decodeObject(forKey: "direction") as! Direction
    }
    func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
        aCoder.encode(direction, forKey: "direction")
    }
}

but enums aren't codable so encode() throws an error.

The answers to "How do I encode enum using NSCoder in swift?" suggest encoding the enum's rawValue and then initializing it from rawValue on the other end. But in this case, Direction doesn't have a rawValue!

It does have a hashValue, which seems promising. I can encode its hashValue without a problem, and decode back to an Int on the other end. But there doesn't seem to be a way to initialize an enum from its hashValue, so I can't turn it back into a Direction.

How can I encode and decode a valueless enum?

So you can't change the Enum to add a raw value. But can you do other changes to the Enum? — Sweeper, Apr 20 '17 at 06:53
@Sweeper I was hoping for a way to do it without changing the enum. I am curious though, what changes (other than adding a rawValue) would help? — Robert, Apr 20 '17 at 06:56

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 27 '17 at 20:10

New in Swift 4, an enum is encodable. However, it must have a raw value. You can easily do with no additional code, however:

enum Direction : String, Codable {
    case north
    case south
}

To make your Codable enum work with an NSCoding class MyClass, implement your init(coder:) and encode(with:) like this:

class MyClass: NSObject, NSCoding {
    var direction: Direction!
    required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        direction = (aDecoder as! NSKeyedUnarchiver).decodeDecodable(Direction.self, forKey: "direction")
    }
    func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
        try? (aCoder as! NSKeyedArchiver).encodeEncodable(direction, forKey: "direction")
    }
}

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 20 '17 at 07:02

2

You can define some keys and store them instead.

fileprivate let kDirectionKeyNorth = 1
fileprivate let kDirectionKeySouth = 2

// ...

required init(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    let key = aDecoder.decodeInteger(forKey: "direction")
    switch key {
        case kDirectionKeyNorth:
    // ...
    }
}

// and vise versa

It's a bit tricky way. You should always look after the library with Direction is part of. And add keys for new directions.

answered Apr 20 '17 at 07:02

Daniyar

2,975
2
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So if I understand this right, you're assigning a known value to each case of the enum and encoding that, then manually creating a new enum from the decoded value? – Robert Apr 20 '17 at 07:06
2

@Robert right! And since `switch` statement must be exhaustive you'll get an issue while compiling if a new `Direction` case will appear. – Daniyar Apr 20 '17 at 07:09

Sweeper · Accepted Answer · 2018-03-22T20:07:23.393

I think adding a raw value to the enum here is the solution with the least code and is the most maintainable. So if you can modify the enum, add a raw value.

Now let's assume you can't modify the enum. You still can do this in a few ways.

The first one, which I think is quite ugly, is to add an extension of the enum and add a static method like this:

static func direction(from rawValue: String) -> Direction {
    switch rawValue {
        case: "north": return .north
        case: "south": return .south
        default: fatalError()
    }
}

To convert Direction to a codeable value, use String(describing:) to convert the enum to a string. To convert a string back to an enum, just use the method above.

The second one, slightly better, but still not as good as just adding a raw value.

You use a dictionary:

let enumValueDict: [String: Direction] = [
    "north": .north, "south": .south
]

To convert Direction to a codeable value, use String(describing:) to convert the enum to a string. To convert a string back to an enum, just access the dictionary.

Imanou Petit · Answer 4 · 2019-07-13T12:20:25.847

With Swift 5, if your enum Direction can have raw values, you can use Codable (Decodable and Encodable protocols) as an alternative to NSCoding:

enum Direction: String, Codable {
    case north, south
}

final class MyClass: Codable {

    let direction: Direction

    init(direction: Direction) {
        self.direction = direction
    }

}

Usage:

import Foundation

let encoder = JSONEncoder()
let myClass = MyClass(direction: .north)

if let data = try? encoder.encode(myClass),
    let jsonString = String(data: data, encoding: .utf8) {
    print(jsonString)
}

/*
 prints:
 {"direction":"north"}
 */

import Foundation

let jsonString = """
{
  "direction" : "south"
}
"""

let jsonData = jsonString.data(using: .utf8)!
let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let myClassInstance = try! decoder.decode(MyClass.self, from: jsonData)
dump(myClassInstance)

/*
 prints:
 ▿ __lldb_expr_319.MyClass #0
   - direction: __lldb_expr_319.Direction.south
 */

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 09 '18 at 15:34

One option is to make the enum conform to Codable. This could be through whichever mechanism you want (e.g. use a raw value such as Int or String, or implement the methods).

So lets assume we have the following:

enum Direction { case north, south, east, west }

extension Direction: Codable {
    // etc etc - make it conform
}

final class MyClass: NSObject {
    var direction: Direction!
}

In the required methods for NSCoding, you can then do the following:

extension MyClass: NSCoding {

    func encode(with aCoder: NSCoder) {
        guard let keyedCoder = aCoder as? NSKeyedArchiver else {
            fatalError("Must use Keyed Coding")
        }
        try! keyedCoder.encodeEncodable(direction, forKey: "direction")
    }

    convenience init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        self.init()
        guard let keyedDecoder = aDecoder as? NSKeyedUnarchiver else { 
            fatalError("Must use Keyed Coding") 
        }
        direction = keyedDecoder.decodeDecodable(Direction.self, forKey: "direction") ?? .north
    }
}

So, this works, because NSKeyedArchiver and NSKeyedUnarchiver are aware of Codable, but NSCoder is not. However, given that NSArchiver and NSUnarchiver are now deprecated, and essentially, non-keyed archiving is strongly discouraged, so for your project, it is safe to use fatalError() in this manner - assuming that you test your code.

How can I encode (with NSCoding) an enum that has no rawValue?

5 Answers5