Global constants file in Swift

Question

In my Objective-C projects I often use a global constants file to store things like notification names and keys for NSUserDefaults. It looks something like this:

@interface GlobalConstants : NSObject

extern NSString *someNotification;

@end

@implementation GlobalConstants

NSString *someNotification = @"aaaaNotification";

@end

How do I do exactly the same thing in Swift?

Answer 1

Structs as namespace

IMO the best way to deal with that type of constants is to create a Struct.

struct Constants {
    static let someNotification = "TEST"
}

Then, for example, call it like this in your code:

print(Constants.someNotification)

Nesting

If you want a better organization I advise you to use segmented sub structs

struct K {
    struct NotificationKey {
        static let Welcome = "kWelcomeNotif"
    }

    struct Path {
        static let Documents = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true)[0] as String
        static let Tmp = NSTemporaryDirectory()
    }
}

Then you can just use for instance K.Path.Tmp

Real world example

This is just a technical solution, the actual implementation in my code looks more like:

struct GraphicColors {

    static let grayDark = UIColor(0.2)
    static let grayUltraDark = UIColor(0.1)

    static let brown  = UIColor(rgb: 126, 99, 89)
    // etc.
}

and

enum Env: String {
    case debug
    case testFlight
    case appStore
}

struct App {
    struct Folders {
        static let documents: NSString = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true)[0] as NSString
        static let temporary: NSString = NSTemporaryDirectory() as NSString
    }
    static let version: String = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "CFBundleShortVersionString") as! String
    static let build: String = Bundle.main.object(forInfoDictionaryKey: "CFBundleVersion") as! String

    // This is private because the use of 'appConfiguration' is preferred.
    private static let isTestFlight = Bundle.main.appStoreReceiptURL?.lastPathComponent == "sandboxReceipt"

    // This can be used to add debug statements.
    static var isDebug: Bool {
        #if DEBUG
        return true
        #else
        return false
        #endif
    }

    static var env: Env {
        if isDebug {
            return .debug
        } else if isTestFlight {
            return .testFlight
        } else {
            return .appStore
        }
    }
}