Iterate over JSON and stored pointers in Swift - json

Question

After receiving a JSON payload from a web request, I need to parse out the data into variables in an NSObject subclass.
My variables are declared in the object:
var name:String?
var email:String?
var aboutMe:String?
Then I start parsing through all the possible data the JSON may return:
if let name = json["Name"] as? String
{
self.name = name
}
if let email = json["Email"] as? String
{
self.email = email
}
if let aboutMe = json["AboutMe"] as? String
{
self.aboutMe = aboutMe
}
This is becoming rather long as we have a lot of data.
I was wanting to shorted it by using a Dictionary containing the JSON key and the variable like this:
let varMap:[String:Any?] = [
"Name": self.name,
"Email": self.email,
"AboutMe": self.aboutMe
]
Then iterating over them like this:
for (key, var variable) in varMap
{
if let string = json[key]
{
variable = string
}
}
The problem here is that the Dictionary copies the value from the variable and not a pointer to it, so setting it to a new value has no effect on the variables of the overall object.
Is there a way to achieve what I am trying? If not, what other pattern would be a better way to do this instead of having tons of if statements?

Answer 1

For JSON parsing, you can simply use Codable types.
Let's assume your JSON looks like,
{
"name": "Alex",
"email": "alex#gmail.com",
"about_Me": "My name is Alex"
}
Models:
class Root: Decodable {
let name: String?
let email: String?
let aboutMe: String?
enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
case name, email
case aboutMe = "about_Me"
}
}
Parse the JSON data like so,
do {
let response = try JSONDecoder().decode(Root.self, from: data)
print(response) //use response here...
} catch {
print(error)
}

Answer 2

You can use updateValue function for that, it finds the property and changes it.
if let oldValue = varMap.updateValue(self.name, forKey: "Name") {
print("The old value of \(oldValue) was replaced with a new one.")
}
So you for iteration is;
for (key, var variable) in varMap
{
varMap.updateValue(string, forKey: key )
//if let string = json[key]
//{
// variable = string
//}
}
After you update the dictionary you can call that part;
if let name = json["Name"] as? String
{
self.name = name
}
if let email = json["Email"] as? String
{
self.email = email
}
if let aboutMe = json["AboutMe"] as? String
{
self.aboutMe = aboutMe
}
I believe that part in a function, if its not, you can refactor it.
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swift/dictionary/3127179-updatevalue