How to enumerate an enum with String type?

Question

enum Suit: String {
    case spades = "♠"
    case hearts = "♥"
    case diamonds = "♦"
    case clubs = "♣"
}

For example, how can I do something like:

for suit in Suit {
    // do something with suit
    print(suit.rawValue)
}

Resulting example:

♠
♥
♦
♣

Answer 1

You could iterate through an enum by implementing the ForwardIndexType protocol.

The ForwardIndexType protocol requires you to define a successor() function to step through the elements.

enum Rank: Int, ForwardIndexType {
    case Ace = 1
    case Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten
    case Jack, Queen, King

    // ... other functions

    // Option 1 - Figure it out by hand
    func successor() -> Rank {
        switch self {
            case .Ace:
              return .Two
            case .Two:
              return .Three

            // ... etc.

            default:
              return .King
        }
    }

    // Option 2 - Define an operator!
    func successor() -> Rank {
        return self + 1
    }
}

// NOTE: The operator is defined OUTSIDE the class
func + (left: Rank, right: Int) -> Rank {
    // I'm using to/from raw here, but again, you can use a case statement
    // or whatever else you can think of

    return left == .King ? .King : Rank(rawValue: left.rawValue + right)!
}

Iterating over an open or closed range (..< or ...) will internally call the successor() function which allows you to write this:

// Under the covers, successor(Rank.King) and successor(Rank.Ace) are called to establish limits
for r in Rank.Ace...Rank.King {
    // Do something useful
}

Answer 2

While dealing with Swift 2.0 here is my suggestion:

I have added the raw type to Suit enum

enum Suit: Int {

then:

struct Card {
    var rank: Rank
    var suit: Suit


    func fullDeck()-> [Card] {

        var deck = [Card]()

        for i in Rank.Ace.rawValue...Rank.King.rawValue {

            for j in Suit.Spades.rawValue...Suit.Clubs.rawValue {

                deck.append(Card(rank:Rank(rawValue: i)! , suit: Suit(rawValue: j)!))
            }
        }

        return deck
    }
}

Answer 3

Another solution:

enum Suit: String {
    case spades = "♠"
    case hearts = "♥"
    case diamonds = "♦"
    case clubs = "♣"

    static var count: Int {
        return 4   
    }

    init(index: Int) {
        switch index {
            case 0: self = .spades
            case 1: self = .hearts
            case 2: self = .diamonds
            default: self = .clubs
        }
    }
}

for i in 0..<Suit.count {
    print(Suit(index: i).rawValue)
}

Answer 4

I found myself doing .allValues alot throughout my code. I finally figured out a way to simply conform to an Iteratable protocol and have an rawValues() method.

protocol Iteratable {}
extension RawRepresentable where Self: RawRepresentable {

    static func iterateEnum<T: Hashable>(_: T.Type) -> AnyIterator<T> {
        var i = 0
        return AnyIterator {
            let next = withUnsafePointer(to: &i) {
                $0.withMemoryRebound(to: T.self, capacity: 1) { $0.pointee }
            }
            if next.hashValue != i { return nil }
            i += 1
            return next
        }
    }
}

extension Iteratable where Self: RawRepresentable, Self: Hashable {
    static func hashValues() -> AnyIterator<Self> {
        return iterateEnum(self)
    }

    static func rawValues() -> [Self.RawValue] {
        return hashValues().map({$0.rawValue})
    }
}


// Example
enum Grocery: String, Iteratable {
    case Kroger = "kroger"
    case HEB = "h.e.b."
    case Randalls = "randalls"
}

let groceryHashes = Grocery.hashValues() // AnyIterator<Grocery>
let groceryRawValues = Grocery.rawValues() // ["kroger", "h.e.b.", "randalls"]

Answer 5

The experiment was: EXPERIMENT

Add a method to Card that creates a full deck of cards, with one card of each combination of rank and suit.

So without modifying or enhancing the given code other than adding the method (and without using stuff that hasn't been taught yet), I came up with this solution:

struct Card {
    var rank: Rank
    var suit: Suit

    func simpleDescription() -> String {
        return "The \(rank.simpleDescription()) of \(suit.simpleDescription())"
    }

    func createDeck() -> [Card] {
        var deck: [Card] = []
        for rank in Rank.Ace.rawValue...Rank.King.rawValue {
            for suit in Suit.Spades.rawValue...Suit.Clubs.rawValue {
                let card = Card(rank: Rank(rawValue: rank)!, suit: Suit(rawValue: suit)!)
                //println(card.simpleDescription())
                deck += [card]
            }
        }
        return deck
    }
}
let threeOfSpades = Card(rank: .Three, suit: .Spades)
let threeOfSpadesDescription = threeOfSpades.simpleDescription()
let deck = threeOfSpades.createDeck()

Answer 6

The other solutions work but they all make assumptions of for example the number of possible ranks and suits, or what the first and last rank may be. True, the layout of a deck of cards probably isn't going to change much in the foreseeable future. In general, however, it's neater to write code which makes as little assumptions as possible. My solution:

I've added a raw type to the suit enum, so I can use Suit(rawValue:) to access the Suit cases:

enum Suit: Int {
    case Spades = 1
    case Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs
    func simpleDescription() -> String {
        switch self {
            case .Spades:
                return "spades"
            case .Hearts:
                return "hearts"
            case .Diamonds:
                return "diamonds"
            case .Clubs:
                return "clubs"
        }
    }
    func color() -> String {
        switch self {
        case .Spades:
            return "black"
        case .Clubs:
            return "black"
        case .Diamonds:
            return "red"
        case .Hearts:
            return "red"
        }
    }
}

enum Rank: Int {
    case Ace = 1
    case Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten
    case Jack, Queen, King
    func simpleDescription() -> String {
        switch self {
            case .Ace:
                return "ace"
            case .Jack:
                return "jack"
            case .Queen:
                return "queen"
            case .King:
                return "king"
            default:
                return String(self.rawValue)
        }
    }
}

Below the implementation of Card's createDeck() method. init(rawValue:) is a failable initializer and returns an optional. By unwrapping and checking it's value in both while statements, there's no need to assume the number of Rank or Suit cases:

struct Card {
    var rank: Rank
    var suit: Suit
    func simpleDescription() -> String {
        return "The \(rank.simpleDescription()) of \(suit.simpleDescription())"
    }
    func createDeck() -> [Card] {
        var n = 1
        var deck = [Card]()
        while let rank = Rank(rawValue: n) {
            var m = 1
            while let suit = Suit(rawValue: m) {
                deck.append(Card(rank: rank, suit: suit))
                m += 1
            }
            n += 1
        }
        return deck
    }
}

Here is how to call the createDeck method:

let card = Card(rank: Rank.Ace, suit: Suit.Clubs)
let deck = card.createDeck()