How to add a UIImage with UIGesture to most views in an application. - iphone

Question

I want to make an Advertising banner in my app. A bit like iAd's.
I was going to make it by having a UIImage on the view then assigning the banner image. I would then add a touch gesture so the user could click it and go to another view in my app. I Know That I can do this on one view quite easily but I want this to be on most views in the app. Whats the best way for adding the banner to more than one view with out writing the same code more that once?
The below design shows the sort of banner im after.
Thanks

Answer 1

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#class custom;
#protocol adDelegate
- (void)viewAd:(NSString *)adRate;
#end
#interface custom : UIView
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIImage *viewImage;
#property (assign) id <adDelegate> delegate;
#end
// Main class
#import "custom.h"
#implementation custom
#synthesize viewImage;
#synthesize delegate;
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self) {
UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:frame];
imageView.image = viewImage;
[self addSubview:imageView];
}
return self;
}
- (id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder
{
if ((self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder]))
{
}
return self;
}
- (void)touchesBegan:(NSSet *)touches withEvent:(UIEvent *)event
{
[self.delegate viewAd:#"view"];
}

Answer 2

You can Create a UIView Class and call it BannerView for instance.
// in the bannerView.h
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface BannerView : UIView{
UIImageView* bannerImage;
}
#property(nonatomic,retain) UIImageView* bannerImage;
#end
//in the bannerView.m
#import "BannerView.h"
#implementation BannerView
#synthesize bannerImage;
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self) {
// Initialization code
}
return self;
}
// Only override drawRect: if you perform custom drawing.
// An empty implementation adversely affects performance during animation.
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect
{
// Drawing code
bannerImage=[[UIImageView alloc]initWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"banner-image.png"]];
bannerImage.frame=CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 100);
[self addSubview:bannerImage];
// add a uibutton on top of the uiimageview and assign an action for it
// better than creating an action recogniser
UIButton* actionButton=[UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
actionButton.frame=CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 100);
[actionButton addTarget:self action:#selector(yourAction) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
[self addSubview:actionButton];
}
-(void) yourAction{
// do what ever here like going to an other uiviewController as you mentionned
}
#end
Now you can call this view from any View Controller this way
BannerView* banner=[[BannerView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 300, 320, 100)];
[self.view addSubview:banner];

Answer 3

Try creating a parent class from UIView where you do all the display and handling of the banner using your UIImageView and gesture recognizers. Then whichever views need this functionality, derive them from this parent class, and override default handling in method so that you can customize the behavior in your child class.

Answer 4

A few suggestions:
First, why not just use a UIButton instead of a UIImage with a Gesture? All you're really doing is replicating button functionality after all...
Second, I'd probably tackle the overall problem by creating a class that includes the UIButton, like so:
#interface YourSuperViewController : UIViewController
#property (nonatomic, strong) IBOutlet UIButton *adButton;
- (IBAction)adTouched:(id)sender;
#end
In the viewDidLoad for this class, create the button, and add it to the view, and add your ad-specific logic to the adTouched action.
Then create the rest of the views in your app as an instance of YourSuperViewController. Like so:
#interface SomeOtherViewController : YourSuperViewController
Now the SomeOtherViewController will auto-magically have the ad button and respond to a touch on it properly. Done!

Answer 5

What everyone else has said is the best way. If you need custom functionality, subclassing is probably the way to go.
I just wanted to add one pedantic thing. Its important to remember that a UIImage is not a view. There has never been a UIImage on the screen, ever. A UIImage is a model object. It is just a collection of data. A UIImageView is a view object and as such, a UIImageView can display itself on the screen.
This might seem overly pedantic and nitpicky, but its important to have these things sorted out in our heads in order to effectively use MVC (model, view, controller)