Editing SwiftData model objects

Paul Hudson    @twostraws    November 23rd 2023

SwiftData's model objects are powered by the same observation system that makes @Observable classes work, which means changes to your model objects are automatically picked up by SwiftUI so that our data and our user interface stay in sync.

This support extends to the @Bindable property wrapper we looked at previously, which means we get delightfully straightforward object editing.

To demonstrate this, we could create a simple User class with a handful of properties. Create a new file called User.swift, add an import at the top for SwiftData, then give it this code:

@Model
class User {
    var name: String
    var city: String
    var joinDate: Date

    init(name: String, city: String, joinDate: Date) {
        self.name = name
        self.city = city
        self.joinDate = joinDate
    }
}

Now we can create a model container and model context for that by adding another import SwiftData in the App struct file then using modelContainer() like this:

WindowGroup {
    ContentView()
}
.modelContainer(for: User.self)

When it comes to editing User objects, we would create a new view called something like EditUserView, then use the @Bindable property wrapper to create bindings for it. So, something like this:

struct EditUserView: View {
    @Bindable var user: User

    var body: some View {
        Form {
            TextField("Name", text: $user.name)
            TextField("City", text: $user.city)
            DatePicker("Join Date", selection: $user.joinDate)
        }
        .navigationTitle("Edit User")
        .navigationBarTitleDisplayMode(.inline)
    }
}

That's identical to how we used a regular @Observable class, and yet SwiftData still takes care of automatically writing out all our changes to permanent storage – it's completely transparent to us.

Important: If you want to use Xcode's previews with this, you need to pass a sample object in, which in turn means creating a custom configuration and container. First add an import for SwiftData, then change your preview to this:

#Preview {
    do {
        let config = ModelConfiguration(isStoredInMemoryOnly: true)
        let container = try ModelContainer(for: User.self, configurations: config)
        let user = User(name: "Taylor Swift", city: "Nashville", joinDate: .now)
        return EditUserView(user: user)
            .modelContainer(container)
    } catch {
        return Text("Failed to create container: \(error.localizedDescription)")
    }
}

We could make a really simple user editing app out of this by adding a new user when a button is pressed, then using programmatic navigation to take the app straight to the new user for editing.

Let's build this step by step. First, open ContentView.swift and an import for SwiftData, then add properties to get access to the model context, load all our User objects, then store a path we can bind to a NavigationStack:

@Environment(\.modelContext) var modelContext
@Query(sort: \User.name) var users: [User]
@State private var path = [User]()

Replace the default body property with this:

NavigationStack(path: $path) {
    List(users) { user in
        NavigationLink(value: user) {
            Text(user.name)
        }
    }
    .navigationTitle("Users")
    .navigationDestination(for: User.self) { user in
        EditUserView(user: user)
    }
}

And now we just need a way to add users. If you think about it, adding and editing are very similar, so the easiest thing to do here is to create a new User object with empty properties, insert it into the model context, then immediately navigate to that by adjusting the path property.

Add this extra modifier below the two navigation modifiers:

.toolbar {
    Button("Add User", systemImage: "plus") {
        let user = User(name: "", city: "", joinDate: .now)
        modelContext.insert(user)
        path = [user]
    }
}

And that works! In fact, it's pretty much the same approach Apple's own Notes app takes, although they add the extra step of automatically deleting the note if you exit the editing view without actually adding any text.

As you can see, editing with SwiftData objects is no different from editing regular @Observable classes – just with the added bonus that all our data is loaded and saved neatly!

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