How to access an instance of UIStackView inside a cell in swift? - swift

Question

I have a stackView(called 'btnStack') which holds four buttons in a cell(class 'PresentationCell') which I am trying to hide with the following code:
func hideBtnStack() {
let cell = collectionView.visibleCells.first as! PresentationCell
cell.btnStack.isHidden = true
}
However, when I run the code I get the following error:
'Thread 1: Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while unwrapping an Optional value'
Is there an easier/better way to access the btnStack in the cell?
The relevant code in cellForRowAt is:
func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "cell", for: indexPath) as! PresentationCell
}
I also have the btnStack declared in the PresentationCell class as follows:
class PresentationCell: UICollectionViewCell {
#IBOutlet weak var textView: UITextView!
#IBOutlet weak var btnStack: UIStackView!
}
And I first call the hideBtnStack method in the ViewDidLoad as follows:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
collectionView.dataSource = self
collectionView.delegate = self
setUpCollectionView()
hideNavBar()
hideBtnStack()
}
Thanks in advance for any help that you can provide.

Answer 1

CjCoax gave me the clue on how to resolve this. It looks like if the hideBtnStack is declared in the viewDidLoad along with the methods for collectionView it executes before the collectionView can be populated. I resolved this by putting a delay around the hideBtnStack method and now it works.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
collectionView.dataSource = self
collectionView.delegate = self
setUpCollectionView()
hideNavBar()
DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 2.0) {
self.hideBtnStack()
}
}

Answer 2

I think this solution may help you! try this one.
func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
guard let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "cell", for: indexPath) as? PresentationCell else { return UICollectionViewCell() }
if indexPath.item == 0 {
// hide your view
cell.btnStack.isHidden = true
}
}
NOTE: try to avoid from force unwrapping.
I hope this solution works for you.