(Swift, OSX)
I currently have a view controller (named ViewController) that manages the view of my application with storyboards, consisting of a couple of text boxes for user input. If the user enters something incorrect, it calls a function that alerts the user to their error (with a NSAlert modal), and offers them an option: reset their input, reset their input and previous output, or just dismiss the window.
Problem is, that alert code alone is about 60 lines of code (with functions to display appropriate messages), and I want to move it into another class -- a subclass of ViewController, entitled ErrorResponse, so it can still access the user interface to appropriately reset their input (i.e., clear an input string field), and do the other tasks mentioned above while avoiding a massive wall of functions in the ViewController
I've tried creating a subclass of ViewController so the user interface properties are inherited and I can simply access them, however Xcode wants the subclass to implement an init method with NSCoder. (To my knowledge, this is how Xcode sets up a storyboard or .xib to communicate with the controller, as part of the NSViewController class, but this is unrelated to my implmenetation). When I attempt to pass nil or a default initialized NSCoder() object, I get obscure crashes.
So, is there any way to organize these functions? Or should I just keep them all in the ViewController?
Edit: I also have an existing class called ErrorCheck that performs the check to see if there are any errors. Within the ViewContoller, when the input is entered, there is a guard statement with a method from ErrorCheck, and if the input is invalid in some way, the corresponding methods in ErrorResponse are called.
Code snippet:
class ViewController: NSViewController {
// Input and output text fields
#IBOutlet weak var inputStr: NSTextField!
#IBOutlet weak var outputStr: NSTextField!
// Input and output conversion selection
#IBOutlet weak var inputSegments: NSSegmentedControl!
#IBOutlet weak var outputSegments: NSSegmentedControl!
#IBAction func outputIsSelected(sender: NSSegmentedControl) {
// Passing all UI elements in (not shown)
// Not ideal, want to be global obj (see below code)
guard ErrorCheck().stringIsNotEmpty(inputStr.stringValue) else {
ErrorResponse().invalidEmptyInput()
return
}
// 0 = DNA, 1 = mRNA, 2 = English
if (inputSegments.selectedSegment == 0) {
checkPossibleConversionAndConvertDNA()
} else if (inputSegments.selectedSegment == 1) {
checkPossibleConversionAndConvertmRNA()
} else if (inputSegments.selectedSegment == 2) {
checkPossibleConversionAndConvertEnglish()
}
}
}
If I don't subclass ViewController, there is another issue: I can't globally define an object for ErrorResponse, as I can't pass the UI values within the same scope as they are being initialized, so currently I have initialized an ErrorCheck object in each corresponding function... and its messy.
I ended up just moving the methods into ViewController. Not the prettiest, but it's functional.
Related
I am trying to become a better developer and just started to study and use software patterns in small test projects.
In my current project I focused on the builder pattern.
Basically all I have is an App with two Views (Storyboards), A single ViewController-Class (used by all of the views) and one Builder-Class that creates an object with two properties.
The Builder-Class is implemented in the ViewController.
class ViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet var startTimePicker: UIDatePicker!
#IBOutlet var workingHoursPicker: UIDatePicker!
#IBAction func setStartTimeButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
setStartTime()
}
#IBAction func setWorkingHoursButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
setWorkingHours()
}
var workdayBuilder: WorkdayBuilder = ConcreteWorkdayBuilder()
....
My current problem is that every time I navigate to the next View (using a Segue) the ViewController will be instantiated again and loses the value I set in the previous view.
I know that I could technically just pass the value to the next ViewController and then set it there or that I could set the value and then pass the instance of my builder to the next view. But that would kind of destroy the purpose of the builder in this project IMO.
I then thought that I could wrap my Builder into a Singleton and use it like a shared instance across the views:
final class WorkdayBuilderSingleton {
static let sharedInstance: WorkdayBuilder = ConcreteWorkdayBuilder()
init() {}
}
But this lead to another error in my VC when I tried to set a property. "Cannot assign to property: 'sharedInstance' is a 'let' constant".
So I am left with some questions and hope you can help me.
Is it a good or OK practice in general to make a builder a singleton or did I make a bad mistake here?
If it is OK, can I change mit static let into a static var or would that kill the singleton?
I have a separate class which when called upon updates the ToolTip (a text property) for an NSButton in a pistonViewController via its IBOutlet.
However, whenever I try to perform the action, I get the error
"Unexpectedly found nil while implicitly unwrapping an Optional value"
since pistonViewController.piston.tooltip didn't work, I created an instance above the class:
let pistonView = pistonViewController();
and then from within the separate class called pistonView.set_piston();
func set_piston(index: Int) {
piston1.toolTip = "yay it worked!";
}
I get the same error: found nil.
How to get the correct instance of the pistonViewController (the one that appears on viewDidLoad) so that piston1 will not be nil?
There is this solution, but it looks needlessly complex. This one appears to only work on iOS, using a storyboard.InstantiateViewController command that does not work on MacOS. This MacOS solution is poorly explained and does not appear to work.
"[How do I] Modify IBOutlet property from outside of viewDidLoad"
(But what you're really asking is how you modify a view controller's views from outside of the view controller.)
The short answer is "Don't do that." It violates the principle of encapsulation. You should treat a view controller's view properties as private, and only modify them inside the view controller's code.
(To misquote Groucho Marx: "Doc, it crashes when I do this". "Then don't do that!")
Instead, add a public property (pistonToolTip) in your PistonViewController (Class names should begin with upper-case letters).
class PistonViewController: UIViewController {
var pistonToolTip: String {
didSet {
piston?.tooltip = pistonToolTip
}
}
}
And in case you set pistonToolTip before your PistonViewController has loaded its views, add this line to viewDidLoad:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
piston?.tooltip = pistonToolTip
// The rest of your viewDidLoad code
}
Ultimately I just set it up in viewDidLoad, with a timer waiting for the other program to get the variables that will then be assigned to the pistons.
The lack of effective pointers to instances of View Controllers makes anything else not possible or perhaps just arcane and difficult.
I’m trying to make Xcode print "Nice!" when you type in "Hi". I've used a IBOutlet, but I don’t know how to use the user input in my code. Also BTW I'm using Storyboard and not SwiftUI. It also gives me an error when I try to compare the datatype UIViewController and a String. Here is my view controller code(with the default App Delegate and Scene Delegate code):
import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet var yeet: [UITextField]!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
func fuel(_ yeet:UIViewController) -> Int {
if yeet == ("hi") {
print("Nice!")
}
}
}
your textfield show be setup as
#IBOutlet weak var textFeildName: UITextField!
you will need to change a couple things inside of your file to prevent a crash. I'd delete the textfield and drag it into the assistant view and give it a new name.
but before you press "connect" press the "outlet" tab and change it to "Action" and then a new selector should come up select "Editing Did End" and go to the top and press "Did End On Exit"
after that is done would want to reference the variable of the text field:
example:
#IBAction func TextFieldName(_ sender: Any) {
if(self.TextFeildName.text!.contains("hi")){
print("Nice!")
}
}
On top of all this, you do not compare strings with == that's only if you compare 2 separate strings for example stringOne == stringTwo if you are comparing or asking if a string contains anything you'd want to use the developing language specific string container IE: .contains
Also, please do not include "Xcode" as a tag with your question, as that should be reserved for Xcode related problems. not Swift or objective-c coding issues.
I have a UICollectionView in my class declared as
#IBOutlet weak var artworkCollectionView: UICollectionView!
Inside this class there is one delegate method called by two other View Controllers, one of these VC is a pop up, the other one is a normal VC.
The delegate method gets some data from the database and then updates the collection view calling inside a closure:
self.artworkCollectionView.reloadData()
When the delegate method is called by the pop up VC, then all works great. BUT when the delegate method is called by the normal VC when it gets to self.artworkCollectionView.reloadData() it gets the infamous Fatal error: Unexpectedly found nil while implicitly unwrapping an Optional value.
I have checked all the references to the cell reuseIdentifier and all is correct. I suspect that since the UICollectionView is declared as weak var, when I go from the current class to the pop up and then the pop up calls the delegate methods, the reference is not lost, but when I go from the current class to the normal VC and then the normal VC calls the delegate method the reference to my weak var is lost and so it is "seen" as nil.
#IBOutlet weak var artworkCollectionView: UICollectionView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Set up
artworkCollectionView.dataSource = self
artworkCollectionView.delegate = self
artworkCollectionView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
artworkCollectionView.allowsSelection = true
artworkCollectionView.register(UINib(nibName:
"MyCollectionViewCell", bundle: nil),
forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "cell")
}
// delegate method
func reloadCollections() {
retrieveAlbumRatings { (isAlbum) in
if isAlbum {
self.retrieveAlbumData(completion: { (isFinished) in
if isFinished {
// Reload collection views
self.artworkCollectionView.reloadData()
}
})
}
}
}
If I am right, my question is: how can I give weak var artworkCollectionView: UICollectionView! a STRONG reference so that it does not get lost in the flow from the current class to the normal VC and back?
EDIT: here is what I tried so far:
Remove “weak” from the outlet declaration so making it: #IBOutlet var artworkCollectionView: UICollectionView!
But I got the same error
I passed artworkCollectionView to the normal VC via override performSegue and then passed it back as an argument of the delegate method. This does not give me the fatal error but also it does not reload the UICollectionView because I think that anyway the weak reference to the UICollectionView outlet is lost.
Thanks for your help (disclaimer: I am pretty new to Swift..)
Inside this class there is one delegate method called by two other
View Controllers, one of these VC is a pop up, the other one is a
normal VC.
The delegate method gets some data from the database and then updates
the collection view calling inside a closure:
self.artworkCollectionView.reloadData()
The flow appears to be that you have a VC containing the code above, the VC can either open a pop-up or just do a standard push segue to the "normal VC".
You want some operation to occur in either the pop-up VC or normal VC, load some data and then when the user is directed back to the originating VC, the UICollectionView is updated with that data.
Your problems are the following:
I passed artworkCollectionView to the normal VC via override
performSegue and then passed it back as an argument of the delegate
method. This does not give me the fatal error but also it does not
reload the UICollectionView because I think that anyway the weak
reference to the UICollectionView outlet is lost.
You shouldn't be passing anything around like this in most cases unless you have a really good reason to do so (I don't see one).
You want a separation of concerns here. You have to think carefully about what you wanjt to pass between VCs to avoid making weird dependencies between them. I wouldn't pass outlets for multiple reasons, the first being that you now have to keep track of the outlet in multiple VCs if you ever decide to change it. The second being that it requires too much mental gymnastics to keep track of the state of the outlet since it's being passed around everywhere. The outlets are also only guaranteed to be set at certain phases of the lifecycle. For example if you retrieve the destination VC from the segue in prepareForSegue:sender: and attempt to reference the outlets at that time, they will all be nil because they haven't been set yet.
These are all good reasons why the VC that contains the code above should be the one (and the only one) maintaining control over what gets displayed in artworkCollectionView and when. The problem here is how you're approaching this, rather than having the pop-up or normal VC call the delegate method or doing weird things like passing outlets from one VC to another, just pass the data around instead.
The simplest example is:
The pop-up VC and normal VC call some code to actually fetch the
data.
Then depending on how you actually segued to the pop-up VC or
normal VC from original VC, use either parentViewController or
presentingViewController to get the reference to the original VC.
Set the data into the original VC through that reference.
Dismiss the pop-up VC or normal VC if necessary (depends on your specific app, maybe you want the user to push a UIButton to dismiss instead of doing it for them).
When the original VC comes back into view, add some code to a lifecycle method like
viewWillAppear to have it load the contents of the data into the
UICollectionView at that time.
I see no reason why you should be passing any outlets outside of the original VC that should be the one managing it.
Short answer: Don't do that. You should treat a view controller's views as private. You should add a method to your view controller that other objects call to tell it to reload it's collection view.
The longer answer is that your view controller's collection view should stick around as long as the view controller is on-screen. It sounds like you don't have a very strong understanding of object lifecycle and how ARC works. You should read up on that and do some exercises until you understand it better.
Try something like this:
//Make artworkCollectionView a normal weak var, not implicitly unwrapped.
//You'll need to change your other code to unwrap it every time you use it.
#IBOutlet weak var artworkCollectionView: UICollectionView?
...
func reloadCollections() {
retrieveAlbumRatings { (isAlbum) in
if isAlbum {
//The construct `[weak self]` below is called a capture list
self.retrieveAlbumData(completion: { [weak self] (isFinished) in
guard let weakSelf = self else {
print("self is nil");
return
}
}
if isFinished {
// Reload collection views
guard let collectionView = weakSelf.artworkCollectionView else {
print("collectionView is nil!")
return
}
collectionView.reloadData()
})
}
}
}
I'm new to Swift/macOS dev, plenty of dev experience otherwise though. Just trying to make something rudimentary.
Here's my app storyboard:
I'm trying to get:
the Touch Bar slider to change when the slider on the main window changes
vice versa
update the Touch Bar Label button with the Int value of the slider.
Q) How do I achieve this?
Note: The main window slider control is wired up and working when I manipulate it e.g.
#IBOutlet weak var mySlider: NSSlider!
#IBAction func mySlider_Changed(_ sender: NSSlider) {
//... stuff happens here.
}
You'll want your view controller to have some explicit model/state of what the value of these sliders have. e.g.
class ViewController : NSViewController {
var value: Double
}
Then you can connect the sliders and textfield to update or display this value.
Approach 1: Target/Action/SetValue
This follows the use of explicit IBActions that you had started. In response to that action, we'll pull the doubleValue from the slider and update the ViewController's model from that:
#IBAction func sliderValueChanged(_ sender: NSSlider) {
value = sender.doubleValue
}
The second piece is updating everything to reflect that new value. With Swift, we can just use the didSet observer on the ViewController's value property to know when it changes and update all of the controls, e.g:
#IBOutlet weak var touchBarSlider: NSSlider!
#IBOutlet weak var windowSlider: NSSlider!
#IBOutlet weak var windowTextField: NSTextField!
var value: Double {
didSet {
touchBarSlider.doubleValue = value
windowSlider.doubleValue = value
windowTextField.doubleValue = value
}
}
And that's it. You can add a number formatter to the textfield so it nicely displays the value, which you can do in Interface Builder or programmatically. And any other time you change the value, all of the controls will still get updated since they are updated in the didSet observer instead of just the slider action methods.
Approach 2: Bindings
Bindings can eliminate a lot of this boiler plate code when it comes to connecting model data to your views.
With bindings you can get rid of the outlets and the action methods, and have the only thing left in the view controller be:
class ViewController: NSViewController {
#objc dynamic var value: Double
}
The #objc dynamic makes the property be KVO compliant, which is required when using bindings.
The other piece is establishing bindings from the controls to our ViewController's value property. For all of the controls this is done by through the bindings inspector pane, binding the 'Value' of the control to the View Controller's value key path:
And that's it. Again, you could add a number formatter to the textfield, and any other changes to the value property will still update your controls since it will trigger the bindings to it. (you can also still use the didSet observer for value to make other changes that you can't do with bindings)