Swift: using member constant as default value for function parameter

Question

I have a swift class, in which I am trying to pass a default value for a function parameter:

class SuperDuperCoolClass : UIViewController {
   // declared a constant
   let primaryColor : UIColor = UIColor(red: 72.0/255.0, green: 86.0/255.0, blue: 114.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)

   // compilation error at below line: SuperDuperCoolClass.Type does not have a member named 'primaryColor'
   func configureCheckmarkedBullet(bullet: UIButton, color: UIColor = primaryColor){
       // some cool stuff with bullet and primaryColor
   }
}

As stated above, if I try to use constant as default value for function parameter, compiler complains with below error:

SuperDuperCoolClass.Type does not have a member named 'primaryColor'

but if I assign the RHS value directly like this, it does not complain :-/ :

func configureCheckmarkedBullet(bullet: UIButton, color: UIColor = UIColor(red: 72.0/255.0, green: 86.0/255.0, blue: 114.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)) {
        // now I can do some cool stuff
    }

Any ideas on how can I silence the above compilation error?

Answer 1

You have to define the default value as a static property:

class SuperDuperCoolClass : UIViewController {

    static let primaryColor : UIColor = UIColor(red: 72.0/255.0, green: 86.0/255.0, blue: 114.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)

    func configureCheckmarkedBullet(bullet: UIButton, color: UIColor = primaryColor){
    }
}

The above code compiles with Swift 1.2 (Xcode 6.3) which added support for static computed properties. In earlier versions, you can define a nested struct containing the property as a workaround (compare Class variables not yet supported):

class SuperDuperCoolClass : UIViewController {

    struct Constants {
        static let primaryColor : UIColor = UIColor(red: 72.0/255.0, green: 86.0/255.0, blue: 114.0/255.0, alpha: 1.0)
    }

    func configureCheckmarkedBullet(bullet: UIButton, color: UIColor = Constants.primaryColor){
    }
}