SwiftUI publishing an environment change from within view update - swiftui

Question

The app has a model that stores the user's current preference for light/dark mode, which the user can change by clicking on a button:
class DataModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var mode: ColorScheme = .light
The ContentView's body tracks the model, and adjusts the colorScheme when the model changes:
struct ContentView: View {
#StateObject private var dataModel = DataModel()
var body: some View {
NavigationStack(path: $path) { ...
}
.environmentObject(dataModel)
.environment(\.colorScheme, dataModel.mode)
As of Xcode Version 14.0 beta 5, this is producing a purple warning: Publishing changes from within view updates is not allowed, this will cause undefined behavior. Is there another way to do this? Or is it a hiccup in the beta release? Thanks!

Answer 1

Update: 2022-09-28
Xcode 14.1 Beta 3 (finally) fixed the "Publishing changes from within view updates is not allowed, this will cause undefined behavior"
See: https://www.donnywals.com/xcode-14-publishing-changes-from-within-view-updates-is-not-allowed-this-will-cause-undefined-behavior/
Full disclosure - I'm not entirely sure why this is happening but these have been the two solutions I have found that seem to work.
Example Code
// -- main view
#main
struct MyApp: App {
#StateObject private var vm = ViewModel()
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ViewOne()
.environmentObject(vm)
}
}
}
// -- initial view
struct ViewOne: View {
#EnvironmentObject private var vm: ViewModel
var body: some View {
Button {
vm.isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Open sheet")
}
.sheet(isPresented: $vm.isPresented) {
SheetView()
}
}
}
// -- sheet view
struct SheetView: View {
#EnvironmentObject private var vm: ViewModel
var body: some View {
Button {
vm.isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Close sheet")
}
}
}
// -- view model
class ViewModel: ObservableObject {
#Published var isPresented: Bool = false
}
Solution 1
Note: from my testing and the example below I still get the error to appear. But if I have a more complex/nested app then the error disappears..
Adding a .buttonStyle() to the button that does the initial toggling.
So within the ContentView on the Button() {} add in a .buttonStyle(.plain) and it will remove the purple error:
struct ViewOne: View {
#EnvironmentObject private var vm: ViewModel
var body: some View {
Button {
vm.isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Open sheet")
}
.buttonStyle(.plain) // <-- here
.sheet(isPresented: $vm.isPresented) {
SheetView()
}
}
}
^ This is probably more of a hack than solution since it'll output a new view from the modifier and that is probably what is causing it to not output the error on larger views.
Solution 2
This one is credit to Alex Nagy (aka. Rebeloper)
As Alex explains:
.. with SwiftUI 3 and SwiftUI 4 the data handling kind of changed. How SwiftUI handles, more specifically the #Published variable ..
So the solution is to have the boolean trigger to be a #State variable within the view and not as a #Published one inside the ViewModel. But as Alex points out it can make your views messy and if you have a lot of states in it, or not be able to deep link, etc.
However, since this is the way that SwiftUI 4 wants these to operate, we run the code as such:
// -- main view
#main
struct MyApp: App {
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ViewOne()
}
}
}
// -- initial view
struct ViewOne: View {
#State private var isPresented = false
var body: some View {
Button {
isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Open sheet")
}
.sheet(isPresented: $isPresented) {
SheetView(isPresented: $isPresented)
// SheetView() <-- if using dismiss() in >= iOS 15
}
}
}
// -- sheet view
struct SheetView: View {
// I'm showing a #Binding here for < iOS 15
// but you can use the dismiss() option if you
// target higher
// #Environment(\.dismiss) private var dismiss
#Binding var isPresented: Bool
var body: some View {
Button {
isPresented.toggle()
// dismiss()
} label: {
Text("Close sheet")
}
}
}
Using the #Published and the #State
Continuing from the video, if you need to still use the #Published variable as it might tie into other areas of your app you can do so with a .onChange and a .onReceive to link the two variables:
struct ViewOne: View {
#EnvironmentObject private var vm: ViewModel
#State private var isPresented = false
var body: some View {
Button {
vm.isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Open sheet")
}
.sheet(isPresented: $isPresented) {
SheetView(isPresented: $isPresented)
}
.onReceive(vm.$isPresented) { newValue in
isPresented = newValue
}
.onChange(of: isPresented) { newValue in
vm.isPresented = newValue
}
}
}
However, this can become really messy in your code if you have to trigger it for every sheet or fullScreenCover.
Creating a ViewModifier
So to make it easier for you to implement it you can create a ViewModifier which Alex has shown works too:
extension View {
func sync(_ published: Binding<Bool>, with binding: Binding<Bool>) -> some View {
self
.onChange(of: published.wrappedValue) { newValue in
binding.wrappedValue = newValue
}
.onChange(of: binding.wrappedValue) { newValue in
published.wrappedValue = newValue
}
}
}
And in use on the View:
struct ViewOne: View {
#EnvironmentObject private var vm: ViewModel
#State private var isPresented = false
var body: some View {
Button {
vm.isPresented.toggle()
} label: {
Text("Open sheet")
}
.sheet(isPresented: $isPresented) {
SheetView(isPresented: $isPresented)
}
.sync($vm.isPresented, with: $isPresented)
// .onReceive(vm.$isPresented) { newValue in
// isPresented = newValue
// }
// .onChange(of: isPresented) { newValue in
// vm.isPresented = newValue
// }
}
}
^ Anything denoted with this is my assumptions and not real technical understanding - I am not a technical knowledgeable :/

Answer 2

Try running the code that's throwing the purple error asynchronously, for example, by using DispatchQueue.main.async or Task.
DispatchQueue.main.async {
// environment changing code comes here
}
Task {
// environment changing code comes here
}

Answer 3

Improved Solution of Rebel Developer
as a generic function.
Rebeloper solution
It helped me a lot.
1- Create extension for it:
extension View{
func sync<T:Equatable>(_ published:Binding<T>, with binding:Binding<T>)-> some View{
self
.onChange(of: published.wrappedValue) { published in
binding.wrappedValue = published
}
.onChange(of: binding.wrappedValue) { binding in
published.wrappedValue = binding
}
}
}
2- sync() ViewModel #Published var to local #State var
struct ContentView: View {
#EnvironmentObject var viewModel:ViewModel
#State var fullScreenType:FullScreenType?
var body: some View {
//..
}
.sync($viewModel.fullScreenType, with: $fullScreenType)