[swift-users] Pass Value of Variable to a Function

[Zhao Xin]

Now I understand your point. But as Jens said, Swift is a static language,
it won't interpret `property` as a variable after `.`(dot). So for Swift
compiler, you just refer to a none-exist property.

Zhaoxin

On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 12:39 PM, Michael Sheaver <msheaver at me.com> wrote:

> Hi Zhao,
>
> Many thanks for your response, and I will give this a try. However, I
> think that I might have used a bad example for the bigger question I was
> trying to ask, and for that I am sorry.
>
> The question that I am really trying to address here is: Is there a more
> Swift-y way to, when passing a parameter to a function, we can tell it
> whether:
> a) we intend to pass in the literal string, or
> b) we want to pass the contents of the named variable?
>
> I know that in some languages, if you prepend the passed parameter with a
> '$', as in $propertyName, the receiving function knows to use the
> *contents* of the variable named propertyName (in this case "calendar")
> instead of the literal string "propertyName".
>
> Can we easily do this in Swift? If not, why not? Can we propose a change
> request to implement either a computed property or a method on the Any()
> class that would allow us to tell a called function whether we are passing
> in a literal type or a variable that contains the data to be processed?
>
> Maybe this would violate the type safety for which Swift is thankfully so
> strongly trying to preserve. I don't know, but I would at lest like to
> consider it, for there ARE good business cases for it.
>
> Does this help to clarify the question. I am posing?
>
> Shawn, let me put this into a Swift file and shoot it your way.
>
> Many thanks!
> Michael
>
> On Sep 6, 2016, at 11:21 PM, Zhao Xin <owenzx at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I think you messed up with `Locale` and `NSLocale`.
>
> `Locale` is a struct in Swift 3 to replace the legacy `NSLocale`. The
> latter is a class, it has an inner `structure` called `NSLocale.Key`. For
> `Locale`, there is no `NSLocale.Key`. All there keys are instance
> properties in `Locale`. So in your specific case,
>
> let calendar2 =  (currentLocale as NSLocale).object(forKey:
> NSLocale.Key(rawValue:propertyName))
>
> is just almost the same as `let calendar2 = calendar1`.
>
> If you insist on using `NSLocale.Key`, you should use `NSLocale` instead
> of `Locale`.
>
>
> Zhaoxin
>
> On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 10:35 AM, Michael Sheaver via swift-users <
> swift-users at swift.org> wrote:
>
>> I am trying to build a table of current locale properties in code, and
>> have encountered issues with trying to pass the value of a variable to a
>> function:
>>
>> let currentLocale = Locale(identifier: "en_US")
>> let calendar1 = currentLocale.calendar      // "gregorian (fixed)"
>> let propertyName = "calendar"let calendar2 = currentLocale.propertyName // Error: Value of type 'Locale' has no member 'porpertyName'
>>
>> In the last line of code above, the instance of Locale thinks I am
>> passing it "propertyName" rather than the contents of the variable
>> "calendar".
>>
>> Is there any way to pass the value of propertyName ("calendar") to the
>> instance of Locale? I know that in other languages, you can prepend the
>> variable name like '$propertyName', and that tells it to read the value of
>> the variable.
>>
>> I want to keep this pure Swift if possible.
>> I posted this question on StackOverflow, and got the following that does
>> work:
>>
>> let calendar2 =
>>     (currentLocale as NSLocale).object(forKey:NSLocale.Key(rawValue:propertyName))
>>
>> It does seem odd to me that we must do some crazy Objective-C gymnastics
>> to make it work. It  would seem logical to have a computed property on the
>> Any type named, let's say, contentsOf that would return or pass the
>> contents of the variable to the called function. For example, to use the
>> original code sample above, we could use:
>>
>>     let calendar2 = currentLocale.propertyName.contentsOf
>>
>> or something similar. Thus currentLocale.propertyName would pass the
>> literal "propertyName", whereas currentLocale.propertyName.contentsOf
>> would pass the contents "calendar".
>>
>> Does anyone else agree that we need this functionality, or am I way out
>> in left field on this? Or is this already possible and I haven't yet
>> figured it out?
>>
>> Sincerest Regards,
>> Michael
>>
>> Michael Sheaver
>> msheaver at me.com
>>
>>
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>> https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-users
>>
>>
>
>
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