How to Declare an Array of Weak References in Swift

How do I declare an array of weak references in Swift?

Create a generic wrapper as:

class Weak<T: AnyObject> {
  weak var value : T?
  init (value: T) {
    self.value = value
  }
}

Add instances of this class to your array.

class Stuff {}
var weakly : [Weak<Stuff>] = [Weak(value: Stuff()), Weak(value: Stuff())]

When defining Weak you can use either struct or class.

Also, to help with reaping array contents, you could do something along the lines of:

extension Array where Element:Weak<AnyObject> {
  mutating func reap () {
    self = self.filter { nil != $0.value }
  }
}

The use of AnyObject above should be replaced with T - but I don't think the current Swift language allows an extension defined as such.

Iterate array of weak references where objects conform to a protocol in Swift

Generics don't do protocol inheritance of their resolving type in the way that you seem to imagine. Your Weak<ClassWithReloadFRC> type is going to be generally useless. For example, you can't make one, let alone load up an array of them.

class Thing : ClassWithReloadFRC {
    func reloadFRC(){}
}
let weaky = Weak(value:Thing()) // so far so good; it's a Weak<Thing>
let weaky2 = weaky as Weak<ClassWithReloadFRC> // compile error

I think the thing to ask yourself is what you are really trying to do. For example, if you are after an array of weakly referenced objects, there are built-in Cocoa ways to do that.

iOS Swift to Objective-C how to pass weak references to arrays?

Unless you are using NSPointerArray, when you add the object to an array the array will hold a strong reference to it, preventing the object from being released.

Only after the object is removed from the array, or the array itself is released will the object be eligible for deallocation.

This means that the array cannot be left holding a nil reference.

How to avoid a retain cycle when using an array of delegates in Swift

The problem is that weakDelegates is a strong reference and its reference to its elements of type WeakDelegateContainer is a strong reference.

Your situation is why the class NSHashTable exists. Initialize using weakObjects(). This will give you a set of ARC-weak references, each of which will be nilified and removed when the referenced object goes out of existence (with no need for any extra bookkeeping on your part, and no need for your WeakDelegateContainer type).

Your set will have to be typed as holding AnyObject, but you can easily mediate to ensure that you are supplying and retrieving SomeDelegate-conformant objects:

let list = NSHashTable<AnyObject>.weakObjects()
func addToList(_ obj:SomeDelegate) {
    list.add(obj)
}
func retrieveFromList(_ obj:SomeDelegate) -> SomeDelegate? {
    if let result = list.member(obj) as? SomeDelegate {
        return result
    }
    return nil
}
func retrieveAllFromList() -> [SomeDelegate] {
    return list.allObjects as! [SomeDelegate]
}

The function retrieveAllFromList() lists only objects that still exist. Any object that has gone out existence has been changed to nil in the NSHashTable and is not included in allObjects. That is what I mean by "no extra bookkeeping"; the NSHashTable has already done the bookkeeping.

Here is code that tests it:

func test() {
    let c = SomeClass() // adopter of SomeDelegate
    self.addToList(c)
    if let cc = self.retrieveFromList(c) {
        cc.someFunction() 
    }
    print(self.retrieveAllFromList()) // one SomeClass object
    delay(1) {
        print(self.retrieveAllFromList()) // empty
    }
}

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Alternatively, you can use NSPointerArray. Its elements are pointer-to-void, which can be a little verbose to use in Swift, but you only have to write your accessor functions once (credit to https://stackoverflow.com/a/33310021/341994):

let parr = NSPointerArray.weakObjects()
func addToArray(_ obj:SomeDelegate) {
    let ptr = Unmanaged<AnyObject>.passUnretained(obj).toOpaque()
    self.parr.addPointer(ptr)
}
func fetchFromArray(at ix:Int) -> SomeDelegate? {
    if let ptr = self.parr.pointer(at:ix) {
        let obj = Unmanaged<AnyObject>.fromOpaque(ptr).takeUnretainedValue()
        if let del = obj as? SomeDelegate {
            return del
        }
    }
    return nil
}

Here is code to test it:

    let c = SomeClass()
    self.addToArray(c)
    for ix in 0..<self.parr.count {
        if let del = self.fetchFromArray(at:ix) {
            del.someFunction() // called
        }
    }
    delay(1) {
        print(self.parr.count) // 1
        for ix in 0..<self.parr.count {
            if let del = self.fetchFromArray(at:ix) {
                del.someFunction() // not called
            }
        }
    }

Interestingly, after our SomeClass goes out of existence, our array's count remains at 1 — but cycling through it to call someFunction, there is no call to someFunction. That is because the SomeClass pointer in the array has been replaced by nil. Unlike NSHashTable, the array is not automatically purged of its nil elements. They do no harm, because our accessor code has guarded against error, but if you would like to compact the array, here's a trick for doing it (https://stackoverflow.com/a/40274426/341994):

    self.parr.addPointer(nil)
    self.parr.compact()

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