Building a To-Do App with Realm and SwiftUI: A Step-by-Step Guide
Why Realm?
When it comes to building a seamless user experience, data persistence is crucial. Realm offers a lightweight, object-oriented data model that simplifies the process of managing local data in your iOS app. With its ease of use, comprehensive documentation, and wide community support, Realm is an ideal choice for synchronizing database structures across platforms.
Setting Up Your SwiftUI Project
To get started, open Xcode and create a new SwiftUI project. Next, install the Realm SDK by adding the Realm repository URL in the Xcode menu. Make sure to check both the Realm and RealmSwift packages.
Creating a To-Do Model
Create a to-do model called Task with the Identifiable protocol. This will enable you to manage tasks efficiently.
Designing the Main List View
Create a list view and a reusable item view called TaskRowView. This will display each task with a button to mark its completion status and a text for the task title.
Adding New Tasks with AddTaskView
Create a new view file called AddTaskView, which will enable users to add new tasks dynamically. This view includes a text field to input new task titles and a button to submit the task.
Creating a Realm Model
A Realm model is a regular Swift class that subclasses the Realm Object protocol and conforms to the Realm database schema. Create a Realm model called TaskObject, which will communicate with the Realm object protocol and the database.
Creating the Task View Model
The task view model enables communication between the views and the Realm database. It includes functions to insert new tasks, get the list of all tasks, and update task completion status.
Updating the Main List and Adding a Form
Update the TaskListView and AddTaskView to integrate with the Realm database. The TaskListView will display tasks fetched from the Realm database, while the AddTaskView will enable users to add new tasks.
The Task Detail View
Add a new view called TaskView to display task details. This view includes edit and delete functions, enabling users to update task titles and delete tasks from the Realm database.
Schema Migration
When modifying the database schema, schema migration is crucial. Update the TaskObject and Task models to add a new field called Due Date. Then, update the view model to store the due date value.
Setting Up the Migration
To set up the migration, update the AppDelegate file to specify the schema version as 2. This will enable the migration to work properly.
Congratulations!
You have successfully built a to-do app using Realm and SwiftUI. The entire source code is available for download from the GitHub repository. Try implementing Realm into your future Swift projects for a seamless user experience.