(i have the below code for decoding JSON data, but i am not getting th response. Instead, I get "Unknown error", which means the URL is correct, but i am not able to define where the problem is.)

import SwiftUI

struct Response: Decodable {
    var users : [User]
}

struct User: Decodable {
    let id: String
    let isActive: Bool
    let name: String
    let age: Int
    let company: String
    let email: String
    let address: String
    let about: String
    let registered: String
    let tags: [String]

    let friends : Friends

    struct Friends: Decodable {
        let id: String
        let name: String
    }
}

struct ContentView: View {
    @State var users = [User]()
    var body: some View {
        List{
            ForEach(users, id: \.id) { item in
                VStack(alignment: .leading){
                    Text(item.name)
                        .font(.headline)
                    Text(item.company)
                }
            }
        }
        .onAppear(perform: loadData)
    }

    func loadData() {
        guard let url = URL(string: "https://www.hackingwithswift.com/samples/friendface.json") else {
            print("Invalid URL")
            return
        }
        let request = URLRequest(url: url)

        URLSession.shared.dataTask(with: request) {data, response, error in
            if let data = data {
                if let decodedResponse = try? JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data) {
                    DispatchQueue.main.async {
                        self.users = decodedResponse.users
                    }
                    return
                }
            }
            print("Fetch failed: \(error?.localizedDescription ?? "Unknown error")")

        }.resume()
    }
}

struct ContentView_Previews: PreviewProvider {
    static var previews: some View {
        ContentView()
    }
}

hi,

URLSession is not one of my strong suits, but i have two ideas.

(1) the first debugging step is to catch any error thrown in the JSON decoding, perhaps something like this

if let data = data {
  do {
    let decodedResponse = try JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data)
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
      self.users = decodedResponse.users
     }
  } catch let jsonError as NSError {
    print("JSON decode failed: \(jsonError.localizedDescription)")
  }
  return
}

(2) i see that you have defined let friends: Friends, but Friends is a struct containing a single id and name. did you mean to write let friends: [Friend], where Friend is a struct containing a single id and name?

hope that helps,

DMG

As DMG say let friends: Friends should read let friends: [Friends] as you get an array back from the URL json which is causing the error.

Hello delawaremathguy & NigelGee ,

your reply is highly appreciated. I revised the code to be let friends: [Friends] instead of let friends: Friends and still the same. However, also applied the below code as per delawaremathguy suggestion, now i get this message: JSON decode failed: The data couldn’t be read because it isn’t in the correct format. So, what does that mean? (keep in mind i am still learning ..)

if let data = data {
  do {
    let decodedResponse = try JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data)
    DispatchQueue.main.async {
      self.users = decodedResponse.users
     }
  } catch let jsonError as NSError {
    print("JSON decode failed: \(jsonError.localizedDescription)")
  }
  return
}

hi,

well, unfortunately, the error "The data couldn’t be read because it isn’t in the correct format" means that the data couldn’t be read because it isn’t in the correct format. (AAARRGGHH!)

(1) it would help to see what the data is that you are reading and whether it matches up against your definition.

(2) you could use a more informative catch handler. replace the generic catch handler

  } catch let jsonError as NSError {
    print("JSON decode failed: \(jsonError.localizedDescription)")
  }

with this extended one that i have used in the past:

} catch DecodingError.keyNotFound(let key, let context) {
    Swift.print("could not find key \(key) in JSON: \(context.debugDescription)")
} catch DecodingError.valueNotFound(let type, let context) {
    Swift.print("could not find type \(type) in JSON: \(context.debugDescription)")
} catch DecodingError.typeMismatch(let type, let context) {
    Swift.print("type mismatch for type \(type) in JSON: \(context.debugDescription)")
} catch DecodingError.dataCorrupted(let context) {
    Swift.print("data found to be corrupted in JSON: \(context.debugDescription)")
} catch let error as NSError {
    NSLog("Error in read(from:ofType:) domain= \(error.domain), description= \(error.localizedDescription)")
}

see if that tells you anything more.

hope that helps,

DMG

Great... sure that told me more, by applying your code, I got this error : type mismatch for type Dictionary<String, Any> in JSON: Expected to decode Dictionary<String, Any> but found an array instead.

then i changed this part of code: let decodedResponse = try JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data) to: let decodedResponse = try JSONDecoder().decode(Array<User>.self, from: data) and it worked perfectly.

MANY MANY THANKS

How we can access friend properties?

I had the same exact problem and this was a very helpful thread for solving the problem and learning how to debug using error handling in the catch block. Thanks!