Missing return in a function expected to return 'UICollectionViewCell - Swift

Question

I am having some trouble with my cellForItem because I don't know how to load 3 collection views simultaneously. This is what I tried but I get the error "Missing return in a function expected to return 'UICollectionViewCell".

func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {

if collectionView == self.lostCollectionView {

        let lostcell: LostCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Lostcell", for: indexPath) as! LostCollectionViewCell

        lostcell.set(post: posts[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        lostcell.phoneLostTextView.isEditable = false;
        lostcell.phoneLostTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return lostcell
    }

    if collectionView == self.foundCollectionView {

        let foundcell: FoundCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Foundcell", for: indexPath) as! FoundCollectionViewCell

        foundcell.set(postfound: postsfound[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        foundcell.phoneFoundTextView.isEditable = false;
        foundcell.phoneFoundTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return foundcell
    }

    if collectionView == self.adoptionCollectionView {

        let adoptioncell: AdoptionCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Adopotioncell", for: indexPath) as! AdoptionCollectionViewCell

        adoptioncell.set(postadoption: postsadoption[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        adoptioncell.phoneAdoptionTextView.isEditable = false;
        adoptioncell.phoneAdoptionTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return adoptioncell
    }
}

Compare [Missing return UITableViewCell](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/30189505/missing-return-uitableviewcell) for a similar problem. — Martin R, Oct 19 '18 at 18:44
just remove the last if condition `if collectionView == self.adoptionCollectionView {`. If your code get there is because It is a adoptionCollectionView. — Leo Dabus, Oct 19 '18 at 19:31

meaning-matters · Answer 1 · 2018-10-19T18:57:31.350

2

Your function has 3 ifs. If they all fail, the function does not return anything. That's the reason the Swift compiler is complaining.

You could add return UICollectionViewCell() at the bottom of the function.

Also, a switch statement is more appropriate for this situation.

edited Oct 19 '18 at 18:57

answered Oct 19 '18 at 18:40

meaning-matters

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score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 19 '18 at 20:56

Basically you will need to include your code inside a switch statement like this:

func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {

    switch collectionView {
    case self.lostCollectionView:
        let lostcell: LostCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Lostcell", for: indexPath) as! LostCollectionViewCell

        lostcell.set(post: posts[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        lostcell.phoneLostTextView.isEditable = false;
        lostcell.phoneLostTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return lostcell

    case self.foundCollectionView:
        let foundcell: FoundCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Foundcell", for: indexPath) as! FoundCollectionViewCell

        foundcell.set(postfound: postsfound[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        foundcell.phoneFoundTextView.isEditable = false;
        foundcell.phoneFoundTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return foundcell

    case self.adoptionCollectionView:
        let adoptioncell: AdoptionCollectionViewCell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "Adopotioncell", for: indexPath) as! AdoptionCollectionViewCell

        adoptioncell.set(postadoption: postsadoption[indexPath.row])

        //Make TextView Clickable
        adoptioncell.phoneAdoptionTextView.isEditable = false;
        adoptioncell.phoneAdoptionTextView.dataDetectorTypes = UIDataDetectorTypes.phoneNumber

        return adoptioncell

    default:
        return UICollectionViewCell()
    }
}

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 19 '18 at 18:50

As mentioned by meaning-matters, this is due to the missing cell, in case none of the 3 ifs are satisfied.

You could add a final fallback cell at the bottom of the function as meaning-matters suggested.

Or, you can go with another similar approach which I would personally prefer:

// Inside your **cellForItemAt** function.

switch collectionView {
    case lostCollectionView:
        // Replace this with your corresponding code.
        return LostCollectionViewCell()

    case foundCollectionView:
        // Replace this with your corresponding code.
        return FoundCollectionViewCell()

    case adoptionCollectionView:
        // Replace this with your corresponding code.
        return AdoptionCollectionViewCell()

    default:
        return UICollectionViewCell()
}

I personally find switch-case to be a neater solution for these kind of cases.

Hi! Thank you for your reply. I used your switch code and placed the ifs code within but when I placed both the return lostcell and then return LostCollectionViewCell() I get that "Code after 'return' will never be executed". So how do i run the cell? — Ximena Flores de la Tijera, Oct 19 '18 at 19:10
@AvaEamer Actually, you should remove the **return LostCollectionViewCell()** and the other 2 valid cases that you will replace your code with, after including your code there. That was just a placeholder code for your reference. — D V, Oct 19 '18 at 19:20

Missing return in a function expected to return 'UICollectionViewCell - Swift

3 Answers3