Making a new UITableView cell's textField the firstResponder - swift

Question

I currently have a table view with cells that contain a label and a textfield, I also have a + bar button item that adds new cells.
What I hope to accomplish is when the user presses the + button the new cell is created and the text field of this cell would automatically become first responder.
Below is my current code for creating the new entry:
func newNoteline() {
let entityDescription = NSEntityDescription.entity(forEntityName: "NotebookContentEntity", in: context)
let item = NotebookContentEntity(entity: entityDescription!, insertInto: context)
item.notebookEntry = ""
item.timeOfEntry = timeOutlet.text
do {
try context.save()
} catch {
print(error)
return
}
loadNotelines()
}
I have thought of several ways of trying to solve this but without much luck of making them work including using a .tag on the text field as soon as it's made - using the text field delegate or using the tableView delegate method - indexPathForPreferredFocusedView.
I just can't figure out how to force the focus to a specific textfield within a cell without the user tapping the text field. Any thoughts?

Answer 1

Calling textField.becomeFirstResponder() method should do what you are looking for.
When to call this function is up to you. for e.g. in below code at cellForRowAt I checked if the value is empty then make the current textfield first responder.
class Test: UIViewController{
var myView: TestView{return view as! TestView}
unowned var tableView: UITableView {return myView.tableView}
unowned var button: UIButton {return myView.button}
var list = [String]()
override func loadView() {
view = TestView()
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
for i in 1...10{
list.append("Test \(i)")
}
tableView.dataSource = self
button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didSelect(_:)), for: .touchUpInside)
}
#objc func didSelect(_ sender: UIButton){
let indexPath = IndexPath(row: list.count, section: 0)
list.append("")
tableView.insertRows(at: [indexPath], with: .automatic)
tableView.scrollToRow(at: indexPath, at: .bottom, animated: true)
}
}
extension Test: UITableViewDataSource{
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return list.count
}
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "TestViewCell", for: indexPath) as! TestViewCell
let value = list[indexPath.row]
cell.textField.text = value
if value.isEmpty{
cell.textField.becomeFirstResponder()
}
return cell
}
}