How to create generic protocols in Swift?

Question

I'd like to create a protocol with a method that takes a generic input and returns a generic value.

This is what I've tried so far, but it produces the syntax error.

Use of undeclared identifier T.

What am I doing wrong?

protocol ApiMapperProtocol {
    func MapFromSource(T) -> U
}

class UserMapper: NSObject, ApiMapperProtocol {
    func MapFromSource(data: NSDictionary) -> UserModel {
        var user = UserModel() as UserModel
        var accountsData:NSArray = data["Accounts"] as NSArray     
        return user
    } 
}

Answer 1

It's a little different for protocols. Look at "Associated Types" in Apple's documentation.

This is how you use it in your example

protocol ApiMapperProtocol {
    associatedtype T
    associatedtype U
    func MapFromSource(_:T) -> U
}

class UserMapper: NSObject, ApiMapperProtocol {
    typealias T = NSDictionary
    typealias U = UserModel

    func MapFromSource(_ data:NSDictionary) -> UserModel {
        var user = UserModel()
        var accountsData:NSArray = data["Accounts"] as NSArray
        // For Swift 1.2, you need this line instead
        // var accountsData:NSArray = data["Accounts"] as! NSArray
        return user
    }
}