UIViewControllers sharing 'generic' IBAction - swift

Question

I have an app with 6 UIViewControllers.
ANY viewcontroller features a function like this one:
#IBAction func onHelp(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
DispatchQueue.main.async(execute: { () -> Void in
let helpVC = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "Help") as! HelpViewController
helpVC.starter = "MapHelp"
helpVC.helpSubtitle = "Map"
self.present(helpVC, animated: true, completion: nil)
})
}
Any IBAction in any viewcontroller presents the same HelpViewController but passing different parameters (starter and helpSubtitle).
Since I don't like to repeat code, first of all I thought this function should be converted to something more generic.
But: is there any way to create a generic IBAction, working for every viewcontroller?

Answer 1

Create a BaseViewController and add the generic method there.
class BaseViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
func genericMethod(starter: String, helpSubtitle: String){
let helpVC = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "Help") as! HelpViewController
helpVC.starter = starter
helpVC.helpSubtitle = helpSubtitle
self.present(helpVC, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
#IBAction func onHelp(_ sender: UIButton?) {
//You can use this method as generic IBaction if you want. It can be connected to buttons of all child View Controllers. But doing so will limit your param sending ability. On the plus side though, you won't have to define an IBAction everywhere and you can simply connect your child VC's button to Parent Class' IBAction.
}
}
Now inherit your ViewControllers from this class like:
import UIKit
class ViewController: BaseViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
}
#IBAction func btnTapped(_ sender: Any) {
genericMethod(starter: "View Controller", helpSubtitle: "I was triggered from VC1")
}
}
and
import UIKit
class SecondViewController: BaseViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
#IBAction func btnTapped(_ sender: Any) {
genericMethod(starter: "View Controller 2", helpSubtitle: "I was triggered from VC2")
}
}
That's it. Both your ViewControllers can call the parent method. If you still want to use the generic IBAction, you can do that too but I'd not recommend that course given that you want to pass params that can vary. If you wanted to do it though, it would look like this:
Bear in mind, the ViewController here has been inherited from the base ViewController which is why it can access the IBActions defined in the parent class. All you have to do is drag and connect.