Unarchive Array with NSKeyedUnarchiver unarchivedO

Question

Since upgrading to Swift 4.2 I've found that many of the NSKeyedUnarchiver and NSKeyedArchiver methods have been deprecated and we must now use the type method static func unarchivedObject<DecodedObjectType>(ofClass: DecodedObjectType.Type, from: Data) -> DecodedObjectType? to unarchive data.

I have managed to successfully archive an Array of my bespoke class WidgetData, which is an NSObject subclass:

private static func archiveWidgetDataArray(widgetDataArray : [WidgetData]) -> NSData {

    guard let data = try? NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: widgetDataArray as Array, requiringSecureCoding: false) as NSData
        else { fatalError("Can't encode data") }

    return data

}

The problem comes when I try to unarchive this data:

static func loadWidgetDataArray() -> [WidgetData]? {

    if isKeyPresentInUserDefaults(key: USER_DEFAULTS_KEY_WIDGET_DATA) {

        if let unarchivedObject = UserDefaults.standard.object(forKey: USER_DEFAULTS_KEY_WIDGET_DATA) as? Data {

            //THIS FUNCTION HAS NOW BEEN DEPRECATED:
            //return NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveObject(with: unarchivedObject as Data) as? [WidgetData]

            guard let nsArray = try? NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchivedObject(ofClass: NSArray.self, from: unarchivedObject as Data) else {
                fatalError("loadWidgetDataArray - Can't encode data")
            }

            guard let array = nsArray as? Array<WidgetData> else {
                fatalError("loadWidgetDataArray - Can't get Array")
            }

            return array

        }

    }

    return nil

}

But this fails, as using Array.self instead of NSArray.self is disallowed. What am I doing wrong and how can I fix this to unarchive my Array?

Answer 1

You can use unarchiveTopLevelObjectWithData(_:) to unarchive the data archived by archivedData(withRootObject:requiringSecureCoding:). (I believe this is not deprecated yet.)

But before showing some code, you should better:

• Avoid using NSData, use Data instead

• Avoid using try? which disposes error info useful for debugging

• Remove all unneeded casts

---

Try this:

private static func archiveWidgetDataArray(widgetDataArray : [WidgetData]) -> Data {
    do {
        let data = try NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: widgetDataArray, requiringSecureCoding: false)

        return data
    } catch {
        fatalError("Can't encode data: \(error)")
    }

}

static func loadWidgetDataArray() -> [WidgetData]? {
    guard
        isKeyPresentInUserDefaults(key: USER_DEFAULTS_KEY_WIDGET_DATA), //<- Do you really need this line?
        let unarchivedObject = UserDefaults.standard.data(forKey: USER_DEFAULTS_KEY_WIDGET_DATA)
    else {
        return nil
    }
    do {
        guard let array = try NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveTopLevelObjectWithData(unarchivedObject) as? [WidgetData] else {
            fatalError("loadWidgetDataArray - Can't get Array")
        }
        return array
    } catch {
        fatalError("loadWidgetDataArray - Can't encode data: \(error)")
    }
}

---

But if you are making a new app, you should better consider using Codable.

Answer 2

 if #available(iOS 12.0, *) {
        guard let unarchivedFavorites = try? NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveTopLevelObjectWithData(favoritesData!)
            else {
                return
        }
        self.channelFavorites = unarchivedFavorites as! [ChannelFavorite]
    } else {
        if let unarchivedFavorites = NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchiveObject(with: favoritesData!) as? [ChannelFavorite] {
            self.channelFavorites = unarchivedFavorites
        }

// Achieving data

 if #available(iOS 12.0, *) {
            // use iOS 12-only feature
            do {
                let data = try NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: channelFavorites, requiringSecureCoding: false)
                UserDefaults.standard.set(data, forKey: "channelFavorites")
            } catch {
                return
            }
        } else {
            // handle older versions
            let data = NSKeyedArchiver.archivedData(withRootObject: channelFavorites)
            UserDefaults.standard.set(data, forKey: "channelFavorites")
        }

This is the way I have updated my code and its working for me

Answer 3

unarchiveTopLevelObjectWithData(_:) 

is deprecated as well. So to unarchive data without secure coding you need to:

1. Create NSKeyedUnarchiver with init(forReadingFrom: Data)
2. Set requiresSecureCoding of created unarchiver to false.
3. Call decodeObject(of: [AnyClass]?, forKey: String) -> Any? to get your object, just use proper class and NSKeyedArchiveRootObjectKeyas key.

Answer 4

You are likely looking for this:

if let widgetsData = UserDefaults.standard.data(forKey: USER_DEFAULTS_KEY_WIDGET_DATA) {
        if let widgets = (try? NSKeyedUnarchiver.unarchivedObject(ofClasses: [NSArray.self, WidgetData.self], from: widgetsData)) as? [WidgetData] {
            // your code
        }
    }