How to decode an array of inherited classes in Swift

Question

The problem: decode an array of objects belonging to Parent and Child classes.

I read a lot of stuff on this subject but I have not been able to find a simple solution.

Answer 1

I think a major part of the problem is that you are using an array of mixed types, [Any], and then you are decoding it as one type Parent because it is quite possible to get the child objects to be properly encoded as Child.

One solution is to create a new Codable struct that holds the array and that with the use of a type property keeps track on how to decode the objects in the array

enum ObjectType: String, Codable {
    case parent
    case child
}

struct ParentAndChild: Codable {
    let objects: [Parent]

    enum CodingKeys: CodingKey {
        case objects
    }

    enum ObjectTypeKey: CodingKey {
        case type
    }

    init(with objects: [Parent]) {
        self.objects = objects
    }

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
            let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
            var objectsArray = try container.nestedUnkeyedContainer(forKey: CodingKeys.objects)
            var items = [Parent]()

        var array = objectsArray
        while !objectsArray.isAtEnd {
            let object = try objectsArray.nestedContainer(keyedBy: ObjectTypeKey.self)
            let type = try object.decode(ObjectType.self, forKey: ObjectTypeKey.type)
            switch type {
            case .parent:
                items.append(try array.decode(Parent.self))
            case .child:
                items.append(try array.decode(Child.self))
            }
        }
        self.objects = items
    }
}

I have also made some changes to the classes as well, the Parent class is hugely simplified and the Child class has modified functionality for encoding/decoding where the main change is that init(from:) calls supers init(from:)

class Parent: Codable, CustomDebugStringConvertible {
    var debugDescription: String {
        return "[\(name)]"
    }

    var name: String
    init(name: String) {
        self.name = name
    }
}

class Child: Parent {

    override var debugDescription: String {
        return "[\(name) - \(age)]"
    }
    var age: Int

    init(name: String, age: Int) {
        self.age = age
        super.init(name: name)
    }

    enum CodingKeys: CodingKey {
        case age
    }

    required init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
        age = try container.decode(Int.self, forKey: .age)
        try super.init(from: decoder)
    }

    override func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
        try super.encode(to: encoder)
        var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)
        try container.encode(age, forKey: .age)
    }
}