Add view over tableview (UITableViewController) - iphone

Question

Situation: I've got a UITableViewController loading some data asynchronously from a service. During this time I would like to place a full screen (except navigation bar) view over the table view showing my custom indicator and text.
Problem: The problem I'm facing is that when my custom view (it has a red background) is placed over the UITableView the lines of the table view are shown trough my custom view (see image below).
What I tried:
I tried to use insertBelow and above, didn't work. I also tried to do: tableview.Hidden = true, but this also hides the custom view for some reason as seen on image 2.
Image1: For some reason I can see the lines threw my view.
Image 2: Tableview + custom view gone when hidden = true used.
My code:
public override void ViewDidLoad ()
{
base.ViewDidLoad ();
UIView view = new UIView (new RectangleF (0, 0, this.TableView.Frame.Width, this.TableView.Frame.Height));
view.BackgroundColor = UIColor.Red;
this.TableView.AddSubview (view);
TableView.Source = new SessionTableViewSource ();
}

Answer 1

You can use self.navigationController.view as view for adding subview.

Answer 2

The issue is that the View of a UITableViewController is a UITableView, so you cannot add subviews to the controller on top of the table.
I'd recommend switching from a UITableViewController to a simple UIViewController that contains a UITableView. This way the controller main view is a plain UIView that contains a table, and you can add subviews to the main UIView and they will be placed on top of the table view.

Answer 3

You can try to add the view to the window instead of nesting it in the table view like this:
UIWindow* mainWindow = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] keyWindow];
[mainWindow addSubview: overlayview];

Answer 4

UIWindow* window = [[UIApplication sharedApplication].delegate.window;
[window addSubview: your-overlayview];

Answer 5

Swift / Storyboard Solution
Note: The code below assumes one has a custom view (ratingView in my case) that is to be presented over a UITableView.
I've read many answers to this and similar questions on SO. The other answers from these sources worked to varying degrees for me (e.g.,view loaded but not shown or not accessible,...). I am using Swift 2.0+ and I am sharing the complete solution for doing this using a UITableViewController.
Create an outlet to the Navigation Bar and the view, which you want to bring over the tableview.
//MARK:Outlets
#IBOutlet weak var navBar:UINavigationBar!
#IBOutlet var ratingView: MNGStarRating!
In my case I also wanted to animate the view over the tableview so I used a class variable to hold a reference to the inflection point and a point above the scene (off-screen).
var centerYInflection:NSLayoutConstraint!
var aPointAboveScene = -(max(UIScreen.mainScreen().bounds.width,UIScreen.mainScreen().bounds.height) * 2.0)
Then in viewDidLoad I called a function (configureRatingViewAutoLayout) which configures and adds the constraints for the new view to be animated over the tableview.
func configureRatingViewAutoLayout() {
//REQUIRED
self.navBar.superview?.addSubview(self.ratingView)
var newConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint] = []
newConstraints.append(self.ratingView.leadingAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.view.leadingAnchor,constant: 10))
newConstraints.append(self.ratingView.trailingAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.view.trailingAnchor,constant: 10))
newConstraints.append(self.ratingView.centerXAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.view.centerXAnchor))
//hides the rating view above the scene
self.centerYInflection = self.ratingView.centerYAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.view.centerYAnchor, constant: self.aPointAboveScene)
//the priority must be set below 1000 if you intend to change it after it has been added to a view
self.centerYInflection.priority = 750
newConstraints.append(self.centerYInflection)
//constraints must be added to the container view of the two items
self.ratingView.superview?.addConstraints(newConstraints)
}
Nota Bene - On a UITableViewController; the self.view is the
self.tableView. They point to the same thing so I guess one could also
use the self.tableView reference above.
Sometime later... In response to a UIControl event I call this method.
#IBAction func toggleRatingView (sender:AnyObject?){
//REQUIRED
self.ratingView.superview?.layoutIfNeeded()
UIView.animateWithDuration(1.0, delay: 0.0, usingSpringWithDamping: 0.37, initialSpringVelocity: 0.99, options: [.CurveEaseOut], animations: { () -> Void in
if CGRectContainsRect(self.view.frame, self.ratingView.frame) {
//in frame ~ animate away
//I play a sound to alert the user something is happening
self.centerYInflection.constant = self.aPointAboveScene
self.centerYInflection.priority = UILayoutPriority(950)
//I disable portions of the UI
self.disableUIElements(nil)
} else {
//out of frame ~ animate in
//I play a different sound here
self.centerYInflection.constant = 0
self.centerYInflection.priority = UILayoutPriority(950)
//I enable the UI fully
self.enableUIElements(nil)
}
//REQUIRED
self.ratingView.superview?.setNeedsLayout()
self.ratingView.superview?.layoutIfNeeded()
}) { (success) -> Void in
//do something else
}
}
These helper methods can be configured to control access to elements in your scene during the presentation of the view.
func disableUIElements(sender:AnyObject?) {
//UI
}
func enableUIElements(sender:AnyObject?) {
//UI
}
Caveats
My view is a custom view in the Storyboard (sitting outside of the
tableview but connected to the TableView Controller). The view has a
required user runtime attribute defined layer.zPosition with a Number value set to 2 (this ensures that it presents in front of the
UITableView).
One could also try playing around with bringSubviewToFront:
and sendSubviewToBack: methods if you don't want to set the zPosition
(I think zPosition is simpler to use)

Answer 6

Try this to hook a button at bottom of the UITableViewController
declare button as a variable:
var submitButton: UIButton!
and in viewDidLoad:
submitButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 5, y: UIScreen.main.bounds.size.height - 50, width: UIScreen.main.bounds.size.width - 10, height: 50))
submitButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.init(red: 180/255, green: 40/255, blue: 56/255, alpha: 1.0)
submitButton.setTitle("Submit", for: .normal)
submitButton.titleLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Arial", size: 15)
submitButton.titleLabel?.textColor = .white
submitButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(submit), for: .touchUpInside)
submitButton.layer.cornerRadius = 5
self.view.addSubview(submitButton)
and implement this method:
override func scrollViewDidScroll(_ scrollView: UIScrollView) {
submitButton.frame = CGRect.init(x: submitButton.frame.origin.x, y: UIScreen.main.bounds.size.height + scrollView.contentOffset.y - 50, width: submitButton.frame.width, height: submitButton.frame.height)
}

Answer 7

This works for me:
if let myTopView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("MyTopView", owner: self, options: nil)?.first as? MyTopView {
if let view = UIApplication.shared.keyWindow{
view.addSubview(myView);
myTopView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
myTopView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor ).isActive = true
myTopView.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leftAnchor).isActive = true
myTopView.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.rightAnchor).isActive = true
myTopView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
}
}