FirestoreSwift DocumentReference codable

Question

I have the following model:

struct Organization: Codable, Identifiable {
  @DocumentID var id: String? <- Identifiable 
  let ref: DocumentReference <- Reference to the document
  let name: String
  

  enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
    case name = "Name"
  }
}

I need to use the documentRef in my model for references between different databases and different sub collections.

How can I map the ref and make it codable as it isn't a field.

Furthermore do I get the error Unknown attribute 'DocumentID'

Using Firebase SDK: 10.20.0

Answer 1

It goes a little different

struct Organization: Codable, Identifiable {
  @DocumentID var ref: DocumentReference? //This will be auto-populated when you fetch/Decode.
  var id: String? {
      ref?. documentID
  }
  let name: String
  

  enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {

    case name = "Name"
    case ref

  }
}

In theory you cannot get rid of the ? since DocumentID says Value should be Value? but you can "pre-populate" the field to minimize the chances that it could be nil.

struct Organization: Codable, Identifiable {
    @DocumentID var ref: DocumentReference? 
    var id: String? {
        ref?.documentID
    }
    let name: String
    
    init(name: String) throws {
        self.name = name
        ref = try Firestore.firestore().collection("Organizations").addDocument(from: self)
    }
    
    enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case name = "Name"
        case ref
    }
}

One; what I consider a very dangerous; workaround would be to use !. This would eliminate the optional but I don't know if Firebase guarantees that it will never be nil on their end. This could introduce a serious bug.

struct Organization: Codable, Identifiable {
    @DocumentID var ref: DocumentReference!
    var id: String {
        ref.documentID
    }
    let name: String
    
    init(name: String) throws {
        self.name = name
        ref = try Firestore.firestore().collection("Organizations").addDocument(from: self)
    }
    
    enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case name = "Name"
        case ref
    }
}