How to call data within a custom class function from Firebase

Question

I have a post class that I use to fill a collection view with post data from Firebase.
I was having trouble getting some user data so I tried putting the observer in the post class.
This seems to work fine, however there is a slight delay in getting the data from Firebase so it seems to finish the init() function before the firebase call is complete.

This is the post class :

class Post {



    var _comment1Text: String?

    var _comment1User: String?

    var _comment1Name: String?



    init(comment1Text: String, comment1User: String, comment1Name: String) {



        self._comment1Text = comment1Text

        self._comment1User = comment1User

        self._comment1Name = comment1Name



        if self._comment1User != "" {

            DataService.ds.REF_USERS.child(self._comment1User!).observeSingleEventOfType(.Value, withBlock: { userDictionary in

                let userDict = userDictionary.value as! NSDictionary

                self._comment1Name = userDict.objectForKey("username") as? String

            })

        }

        print(self._comment1Text)

        print(self._comment1Name)

    }

}

If I print within the firebase call, it works.
However, if I print after it, for some reason, comment1name is not yet filled.

Is there a way to get self._comment1Name to contain the data from Firebase in time to fill the collectionView?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

DataService.ds.REF_USERS.child(self._comment1User!).observeSingleEventOfType(.Value

is an Asynchronous call, So access your print functions inside the completionBlock and you have to update your collectionView inside the completionBlock.

 DataService.ds.REF_USERS.child(self._comment1User!).observeSingleEventOfType(.Value, withBlock: { userDictionary in
            let userDict = userDictionary.value as! NSDictionary
            self._comment1Name = userDict.objectForKey("username") as? String

                print(self._comment1Text)
                print(self._comment1Name) 
                // Update your collectionView      
        })

Asynchronous call's are loaded in a different network thread, so it takes some time to retrieve the DB from the server.

If you are looking for communicating between a custom class and you viewController look at my this answer :- http://stackoverflow.com/a/40160637/6297658

How to call data within a custom class function from Firebase

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