How can I filter an array of type [[String:String]

Question

I have parsed a JSON array which gives me [[String:String]] which I then put into a table view.

I want to use a UISearchBar to be able to search the data, but am having trouble because I'm not sure how to deal with the [[String:String]] format.

I have tried creating another variable which holds the array data as [String] and I can filter it, but I can't display the results correctly. Sorry if this is a bit confusing as i have confused myself the last couple of hours trying to figure it out. Thank you!

import UIKit
import Alamofire
import SwiftyJSON

class StartViewController: UIViewController, UISearchBarDelegate, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {

    var names = [
        [String: String]
        ]()

    var isSearching = false
    var filteredData = [String]()


    @IBOutlet weak
    var tableView: UITableView!

    @IBOutlet weak
    var searchBar: UISearchBar!

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell",
                                                 for: indexPath)
        let name = names[indexPath.row]
        let text: String!

        // here I get 'Cannot assign value of type '[String : String]' to type 'String?''
        if isSearching {
            text = filteredData[indexPath.row]

        } else {
            text = nil
        }

        cell.textLabel ? .text = name["name"]
        cell.textLabel ? .textColor = UIColor.blue

        return cell
    }
}

Here are two sections

func searchBar(_ searchBar: UISearchBar, textDidChange searchText: String) {

    if searchBar.text == nil || searchBar.text == "" {

        isSearching = false

        view.endEditing(true)

        tableView.reloadData()
    } else {
        isSearching = true

        // and here I get 'Binary operator '==' cannot be applied to operands of type '[String : String]' and 'String?''
        filteredData = names.filter({
            $0 == searchBar.text
        })

        tableView.reloadData()
    }
}

Thanks for the help.

edit: // here is my parsing function if that helps at all

func parse(json: JSON) {
    for result in json[].arrayValue {
        let name = result["name"].stringValue
        let obj = ["name": name]

        names.append(obj)

    }
    tableView.reloadData()
}

}

Answer 1

To be able to display both full and filtered data both arrays must be of the same type.

var filteredData = [[String:String]]()

In cellForRow use the array depending on isSearching

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "cell",
                                             for: indexPath)

    let text : [String:String]
    if isSearching {
        text = filteredData[indexPath.row]
    } else {
        text = names[indexPath.row]
    }

    cell.textLabel?.text = text["name"]
    cell.textLabel?.textColor = UIColor.blue

    return cell
}

In searchBar:searchDidChange you have to filter by a key for example

filteredData = names.filter({
     $0["name"] == searchBar.text
})

However I recommend to use a custom class or struct rather than a dictionary.