remove images from image array swift

Question

I have an image array var images: NSArray! = [] The maximum number of images in my array is 5 images. I want to be able to work with any number of images, so I extracted them

guard let imageOne = images[0] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageTwo = images[1] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageThree = images[2] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageFour = images[3] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageFive = images[4] as? UIImage else { return }

I want each index to be optional, So I can either use imageOne or imageOne and imageTwo but when I try to use less than 5 images, I get an index error. How do I make each index optional so that it is no longer grouped with the array and each index becomes its own image.

I initially have an array because I have a custom UIImagePicker that only takes arrays, but I want to upload the images to Firebase and Firebase does not take arrays, so I have to extract the images from the array.

Using a suggested answer below, I did this to my code:

        for (counter, img) in images.enumerated(){
                if counter == 0 {

                    func uploadImage(image: UIImage){
                        var randomName = randomStringWithLength(length: 5)
                        let imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation(imageOne!, 1.0)


                        let uploadRef = FIRStorage.storage().reference().child("images/\(randomName).jpg")
                        uploadRef.put(img as! UIImage, metadata: nil) { metadata,
                            error in
                            if error == nil {
                                print("successfully uploaded Image")

                                self.imageFileName = "\(randomName as String).jpg"

                                randomName = randomStringWithLength(length: 5)

                                let postObject: Dictionary<String, Any> = [
                                    "image" : self.imageFileName,

                                ]

                                FIRDatabase.database().reference().child("posts").child(self.loggedInUser!.uid).child(key).setValue(postObject)

                                print("Posted to Firebase. ")

                            } else{
                                print("Error uploading image")

                            }}

                    }
 if let pickedImage = img as?
                            UIImage{
                            uploadImage(image: pickedImage)

                                    }

                }
    }

Now, how do I check to see how many images are selected and call the function within every if counter == num

Answer 1

Although I don't agree with the way you're going about this, this will answer your question:

First change var images: NSArray! = [] to var images: NSMutableArray! = []

while images.count < 5{
    images.addObject(UIImage())
}
guard let imageOne = images[0] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageTwo = images[1] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageThree = images[2] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageFour = images[3] as? UIImage else { return }
guard let imageFive = images[4] as? UIImage else { return }