Type 'Any' has no subscript members (firebase)

Question

I am getting this error: "Type 'Any' has no subscript members" when trying to run this block of code:

init(snapshot: FIRDataSnapshot) {
    key = snapshot.key
    itemRef = snapshot.ref

    if let postContent = snapshot.value!["content"] as? String {   // error
        content = postContent
    } else {
        content = ""
    }
}

I have been searching for an answer and couldn't find one that solved this problem with FireBase. How would I solve this error?

Answer 1

snapshot.value has the type Any?, so you need to cast it to the underlying type before you can subscript it. Since snapshot.value!.dynamicType is NSDictionary, use an optional cast as? NSDictionary to establish the type, and then you can access the value in the dictionary:

if let dict = snapshot.value as? NSDictionary, postContent = dict["content"] as? String {
    content = postContent
} else {
    content = ""
}

Or, you can do it as a one-liner:

content = (snapshot.value as? NSDictionary)?["content"] as? String ?? ""

Answer 2

I have also a codepiece which allows you to access to the values of the child nodes. I hope this helps you:

if let snapDict = snapShot.value as? [String:AnyObject] {

            for child in snapDict{

                let shotKey = snapShot.children.nextObject() as! FIRDataSnapshot

                if let name = child.value as? [String:AnyObject]{

                    var _name = name["locationName"]
                    print(_name)
                }

            }

        }

Best regards, Nazar Medeiros