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Write Data - SwiftUI

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  • Perform a Quick Write
  • Update an Object's Properties
  • Add or Remove Objects in an ObservedResults Collection
  • Append an Object to a List
  • Use Create to Copy an Object Into the Realm
  • Perform an Explicit Write

Perform a Quick Write

In addition to performing writes inside a transaction block, the Realm Swift SDK offers a convenience feature to enable quick writes without explicitly performing a write transaction.

When you use the @ObservedRealmObject or @ObservedResults property wrappers, you can implicitly open a write transaction. Use the $ operator to create a two-way binding to the state object. Then, when you make changes to the bound object or collection, you initiate an implicit write.

The Realm SwiftUI property wrappers work with frozen data to provide thread safety. When you use $ to create a two-way binding, the Realm Swift SDK manages thawing the frozen objects so you can write to them.

Update an Object's Properties

In this example, we create a two-way binding with one of the state object's properties. $dog.favoriteToy creates a binding to the model Dog object's favoriteToy property

When the app user updates that field in this example, Realm opens an implicit write transaction and saves the new value to the database.

struct EditDogDetails: View {
    @ObservedRealmObject var dog: Dog
    
    var body: some View {
        VStack {
            Text(dog.name)
                .font(.title2)
            TextField("Favorite toy", text: $dog.favoriteToy)
        }
    }
}

Add or Remove Objects in an ObservedResults Collection

While a regular Realm Results collection is immutable, ObservedResults is a mutable collection that allows you to perform writes using a two-way binding. When you update the bound collection, Realm opens an implicit write transaction and saves the changes to the collection.

In this example, we remove an element from the results set using $dogs.remove in the onDelete. Using the $dogs here creates a two-way binding to a BoundCollection that lets us mutate the @ObservedResults dogs collection.

We add an item to the results using $dogs.append in the addDogButton.

These actions write directly to the @ObservedResults collection.

struct DogsListView: View {
    @ObservedResults(Dog.self) var dogs
    
    var body: some View {
        NavigationView {
            VStack {
                // The list shows the dogs in the realm.
                List {
                    ForEach(dogs) { dog in
                        DogRow(dog: dog)
                        // Because `$dogs` here accesses an ObservedResults
                        // collection, we can remove the specific dog from the collection.
                        // Regular Realm Results are immutable, but you can write directly
                        // to an `@ObservedResults` collection.
                    }.onDelete(perform: $dogs.remove)
                }.listStyle(GroupedListStyle())
                    .navigationBarTitle("Dogs", displayMode: .large)
                    .navigationBarBackButtonHidden(true)
                // Action bar at bottom contains Add button.
                HStack {
                    Spacer()
                    Button(action: {
                        // The bound collection automatically
                        // handles write transactions, so we can
                        // append directly to it. This example assumes
                        // we have some values to populate the Dog object.
                        $dogs.append(Dog(value: ["name":"Bandido"]))
                    }) { Image(systemName: "plus") }
                    .accessibilityIdentifier("addDogButton")
                }.padding()
            }
        }
    }
}

Note

The @ObservedResults property wrapper is intended for use in a SwiftUI View. If you want to observe results in a view model, register a change listener.

Append an Object to a List

When you have a two-way binding with an @ObservedRealmObject that has a list property, you can add new objects to the list.

In this example, the Person object has a list property that forms a to-many relationship with one or more dogs.

class Person: Object, ObjectKeyIdentifiable {
   @Persisted(primaryKey: true) var _id: ObjectId
   @Persisted var firstName = ""
   @Persisted var lastName = ""
   ...
   @Persisted var dogs: List<Dog>
}

When the user presses the Save button, this:

  • Creates a Dog object with the details that the user has entered

  • Appends the Dog object to the Person object's dogs list

struct AddDogToPersonView: View {
    @ObservedRealmObject var person: Person
    @Binding var isInAddDogView: Bool
    @State var name = ""
    @State var breed = ""
    @State var weight = 0
    @State var favoriteToy = ""
    @State var profileImageUrl: URL?
    var body: some View {
        Form {
            TextField("Dog's name", text: $name)
            TextField("Dog's breed", text: $breed)
            TextField("Dog's weight", value: $weight, format: .number)
            TextField("Dog's favorite toy", text: $favoriteToy)
            TextField("Image link", value: $profileImageUrl, format: .url)
                            .keyboardType(.URL)
                            .textInputAutocapitalization(.never)
                            .disableAutocorrection(true)
            Section {
                Button(action: {
                    let dog = createDog(name: name, breed: breed, weight: weight, favoriteToy: favoriteToy, profileImageUrl: profileImageUrl)
                    $person.dogs.append(dog)
                    isInAddDogView.toggle()
                }) {
                    Text("Save")
                }
                Button(action: {
                    isInAddDogView.toggle()
                }) {
                    Text("Cancel")
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Use Create to Copy an Object Into the Realm

There may be times when you create a new object, and set one of its properties to an object that already exists in the realm. Then, when you go to add the new object to the realm, you see an error similar to:

Object is already managed by another Realm. Use create instead to copy it into this Realm.

When this occurs, you can use the .create method to initialize the object, and use modified: .update to set its property to the existing object.

Example

Consider a version of the DoggoDB Dog model where the favoriteToy property isn't just a String, but is an optional DogToy object:

class Dog: Object, ObjectKeyIdentifiable {
   @Persisted(primaryKey: true) var _id: UUID
   @Persisted var name = ""
   ...
   @Persisted var favoriteToy: DogToy?
   ...
}

When your app goes to create a new Dog object, perhaps it checks to see if the DogToy already exists in the realm, and then set the favoriteToy property to the existing dog toy.

When you go to append the new Dog to the Person object, you may see an error similar to:

Object is already managed by another Realm. Use create instead to copy it into this Realm.

The Dog object remains unmanaged until you append it to the Person object's dogs property. When the Realm Swift SDK checks the Dog object to find the realm that is currently managing it, it finds nothing.

When you use the $ notation to perform a quick write that appends the Dog object to the Person object, this write uses the realm it has access to in the view. This is a realm instance implicitly opened by the @ObservedRealmObject or @ObservedResults property wrapper. The existing DogToy object, however, may be managed by a different realm instance.

To solve this error, use the .create method when you initialize the Dog object, and use modified: .update to set its favoriteToy value to the existing object:

// When working with an `@ObservedRealmObject` `Person`, this is a frozen object.
// Thaw the object and get its realm to perform the write to append the new dog.
let thawedPersonRealm = frozenPerson.thaw()!.realm!
try! thawedPersonRealm.write {
    // Use the .create method with `update: .modified` to copy the
    // existing object into the realm
    let dog = thawedPersonRealm.create(Dog.self, value:
                                        ["name": "Maui",
                                         "favoriteToy": wubba],
                                       update: .modified)
    person.dogs.append(dog)
}

Perform an Explicit Write

In some cases, you may want or need to explicitly perform a write transaction instead of using the implicit $ to perform a quick write. You may want to do this when:

  • You need to look up additional objects to perform a write

  • You need to perform a write to objects you don't have access to in the view

If you pass an object you are observing with @ObservedRealmObject or @ObservedResults into a function where you perform an explicit write transaction that modifies the object, you must thaw it first.

let thawedCompany = company.thaw()!

You can access the realm that is managing the object or objects by calling .realm on the object or collection:

let realm = company.realm!.thaw()

Because the SwiftUI property wrappers use frozen objects, you must thaw the realm before you can write to it.

Example

Consider a version of the DoggoDB app where a Company object has a list of Employee objects. Each Employee has a list of Dog objects. But for business reasons, you also wanted to have a list of Dog objects available directly on the Company object, without being associated with an Employee. The model might look something like:

class Company: Object, ObjectKeyIdentifiable {
    @Persisted(primaryKey: true) var _id: ObjectId
    @Persisted var companyName = ""
    @Persisted var employees: List<Employee>
    @Persisted var dogs: List<Dog>
}

Consider a view where you have access to the Company object, but want to perform an explicit write to add an existing dog to an existing employee. Your function might look something like:

// The `frozenCompany` here represents an `@ObservedRealmObject var company: Company`
performAnExplicitWrite(company: frozenCompany, employeeName: "Dachary", dogName: "Maui")
func performAnExplicitWrite(company: Company, employeeName: String, dogName: String) {
    // Get the realm that is managing the `Company` object you passed in.
    // Thaw the realm so you can write to it.
    let realm = company.realm!.thaw()
    // Thawing the `Company` object that you passed in also thaws the objects in its List properties.
    // This lets you append the `Dog` to the `Employee` without individually thawing both of them.
    let thawedCompany = company.thaw()!
    let thisEmployee = thawedCompany.employees.where { $0.name == employeeName }.first!
    let thisDog = thawedCompany.dogs.where { $0.name == dogName }.first!
    try! realm.write {
        thisEmployee.dogs.append(thisDog)
    }
}
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