How to implement live word count for UITableViewCell TextView object? - swift

Question

On another view I have this function (below) that does a live word count on a TextView object based upon the given conditions then displays it on a label. I would like to do the same for my TableView Cells. However, this function clearly won't work since it requires the 'savedHashtagTextView' (textView) and 'hashtagCount'(label) fields from the cell its going to count from. I'm not sure exactly how to make this work. Please help - I've been stuck on this for hours!
func textViewDidChange(_ textView: UITextView) {
let components = savedHashtagTextView.text.components(separatedBy: "#")
hashtagCount.text = String(components.count)
if hashtagCount.text == "0" {
hashtagCount.text = ""
}
}

Answer 1

You will want to create a custom UITableViewCell object with the UITextViewDelegate protocol so you can get the word count for the specific UITableViewCell UITextView. Furthermore, you will want to somehow send the word count to the ViewController so you can update the word count UILabel. You can achieve this by creating your own CustomCellDelegate protocol which requires a updateWordCount() function and then use this protocol in your ViewController.
When the word count is updated you will now want to call the updateWordCount() function which will be located in your ViewController utilizing the CustomCellDelegate protocol.
As an example here is what you will want to do:
Create a CustomCell.swift file as follows:
// Create the protocol
protocol CustomCellDelegate {
func updateWordCount(count: Int)
}
class CustomCell: UITableViewCell, UITextViewDelegate {
// Your UITextView
#IBOutlet weak var textView: UITextView!
// The cells delegate -- which we will set to self when initiated
var delegate: CustomCellDelegate?
func textViewDidChange(_ textView: UITextView) {
// Get the word count here
let wordCount = 10
// Now we call the delegate to send the wordCount to the ViewController
delegate?.updateWordCount(count: wordCount)
}
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
// Initialization code
textView.delegate = self
}
}
Now create the Custom Cell in your storyboard and use the CustomCell class for it along with setting its identifier to "CustomCell". Also, make sure you link your UITextView to the outlet in the CustomCell class.
Now in the ViewController which contains the UITableView:
// Use the CustomCellDelegate protocol here
class YourViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, CustomCellDelegate {
#IBOutlet weak var wordCountLabel: UILabel!
// This is the function required by the CustomCellDelegate
func updateWordCount(count: Int) {
wordCountLabel.text = "Word Count: \(count)"
}
// Set up the custom Cell
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "CustomCell", for: indexPath) as! CustomCell
// Setup the delegate
cell.delegate = self
return cell
}
}
Warning: This code is untested and I wrote it all out on StackOverflow. There may be syntax errors but aside from a few potential syntax errors this will work.
Edit:
Based on your comment the word count label is in the cell. This means we no longer need the CustomCellDelegate protocol and can make some minor changes to make this work.
CustomCell.swift:
class CustomCell: UITableViewCell, UITextViewDelegate {
// Your UITextView
#IBOutlet weak var textView: UITextView!
// Your Label
#IBOutlet weak var yourLabel: UILabel!
func textViewDidChange(_ textView: UITextView) {
// Get the word count here
let wordCount = 10
// Change the wordCount labels text
yourLabel.text = "Word Count: \(wordCount)"
}
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
// Initialization code
textView.delegate = self
}
}
Make sure you utilize both the outlets in the CustomCell.
Your ViewController:
class YourViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
// Set up the custom Cell
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "CustomCell", for: indexPath) as! CustomCell
return cell
}
}