Converting Key-Value Observation in AppKit/UIKit to Combine and SwiftUI - core-data

Question

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around how to use Combine in SwiftUI. I'm accustomed to using key-value observation in AppKit an UIKit because view controllers don't need to know about each other and can just react to some global objects that help determine state.
For example, in an AppKit/UIKit app, I would create a global state object like this:
//Global State file
#objc class AppState: NSObject {
#objc dynamic var project: Project?
}
//Create an instance I can access anywhere in my app
let app = AppState()
Then in a view controller, I can get notified of any changes to my app-wide project instance and react accordingly:
//View Controller
class MyViewController: NSViewController{
var observerProject: NSKeyValueObservation?
override func viewDidLoad() {
observerProject = app.observe(\.project) { object, change in
self.refreshData()
}
}
func refreshData(){
//Query my persistent store and update my UI
}
}
What is the Combine/SwiftUI analog to this?
Do I need to create a Publisher and then listen to my global object changes? If so, how do I make my Core Data #FetchRequest (whose predicate includes my global Project object) respond in real-time?
I've done things the old way for so long that this transition to SwiftUI/Combine is rather confusing to me. 🙂

Answer 1

#FetchRequest doesn't work well with a dynamic predicate (There are some workarounds in SO) you will have to use the "old school" NSFetchedResultsController for that and put it into an ObservableObject. Here is a video with a sample. It is a lot of setup and code.
import SwiftUI
import Combine
class AppState: ObservableObject {
static let shared = AppState()
#Published var project: String?
//Just to mimic updates
var count = 0
private init() {
//Mimic getting updates to project
Timer.scheduledTimer(withTimeInterval: 2, repeats: true){ timer in
print("Timer")
self.project = self.count.description
self.count += 1
if self.count >= 15{
timer.invalidate()
}
}
}
}
class MyViewModel: ObservableObject{
#Published var refreshedData: String = "init"
let appState: AppState = AppState.shared
var projectCancellable: AnyCancellable?
init() {
projectCancellable = appState.$project.sink(receiveValue: {
value in
print(value ?? "nil")
self.refreshData()
})
}
func refreshData() {
refreshedData = Int.random(in: 0...100).description
}
}
struct MyView: View {
#StateObject var vm: MyViewModel = MyViewModel()
var body: some View {
VStack{
Text(vm.refreshedData)
}
}
}
struct MyView_Previews: PreviewProvider {
static var previews: some View {
MyView()
}
}