SplitViewController Woes - replacing detail view controller in portrait mode failure - iphone

Question

I've got a SVC setup which works well. The master and detail views of the SPC are both UINavigationControllers, with separate root view controllers each.
My application works perfectly. I can start it up in either portrait or landscape mode and everything works as it aught to. The 'master' popup button is visible in portrait mode but hidden in landscape mode. Both master and detail planes animate and rotate properly, there is no popping or weird animation artifacts present, and everything stretches properly. 100% satisfaction per spec.
Issues arise when I replace the detail view controller. Since we cannot replace the root node of a uinavi controller, what I do is create a brand new UINavigationController, assigning it the new view I want in the detail view. I do this because the views in the detail view can do 1-2-3 levels deep, but I need to be able to assign unique 'root' views (eg I need to be able to completely replace the root UINavigationController).
The code looks like this:
self.detailViewController = [[SomeNewController1of3 alloc] initWithNibName:#"SomeNewController1of3" bundle:nil];
self.splitViewController.delegate = self.detailViewController;
UINavigationController *newNC = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:self.detailViewController];
self.splitViewController.viewControllers = #[navigationController, newN];
First, I create the new viewcontroller, whatever it may be. I then set the splitviewcontroller's delegate to = the newly created viewcontroller (so that willHideViewController, etc fires). Then I create the a navicontroller to house the newly created viewcontroller, so that it can push and pop from it. And finally, I replace the second (detail) view of the split view controller with my new navi controller.
Again, this plan works flawlessly when I start in landscape.
When I start in portrait, these are the anomalies I've noticed:
All popups (alert boxes, the master view, etc) have weird rotations and flip out from an awkward spot when they are shown. It's almost as if it rotates these popups right as they're displayed, instead of having them simply 'slide' out of their correct locations.
When the master view is displayed, after doing the weird rotation describes above, it disappears completely for an instant (leaving a black, empty region) then reanimates to it's original location.
Until I complete a device rotation, the 'master' button on the detail view controller which displays the popup for the master view is not shown. After confirming with breakpoints, I've indeed concluded that willHideViewController is Not being called by my above method.
What I don't get is why everything behaves flawlessly when I start in landscape, but all of these errors arise in portrait? All of my views actually have a default orientation set to portrait in IB, and are scale to fit. Also it's not like they're crazy interfaces, they are all just stock tableviews.
Have any of you encountered this issue or found a method around it?

Answer 1

Firstly, the UISplitViewController delegate should be a top level object like your App Delegate, not a view controller the split controller is showing.
Secondly, to answer your question, to replace a showing detail view controller (i.e. pushed on the master nav) in portrait you can make use of a split controller delegate method:
AppDelegate.m
- (BOOL)splitViewController:(UISplitViewController *)splitViewController showDetailViewController:(UIViewController *)vc sender:(id)sender{
if(!splitViewController.isCollapsed){
return NO;
}
UINavigationController *masterNav = splitViewController.viewControllers.firstObject;
if(![masterNav.topViewController isKindOfClass:UINavigationController.class]){
return NO;
}
UINavigationController *existingDetailNav = (UINavigationController *)masterNav.topViewController;
UINavigationController *newDetailNav = (UINavigationController *)vc;
existingDetailNav.viewControllers = #[newDetailNav.viewControllers.firstObject];
return YES;
}
You might be wondering why we don't just replace the master nav stack. Well the problem is the split view controller preserves the detail view controller from the last time showDetail that went through its default behavior. So if we were in portrait, tapped on a cell to show detail, then replaced the detail, then navigate back then upon rotating to landscape the old detail will show on the right and not the new one. By replacing the detail nav stack with the new detail controller as above this solves this because although the split is showing the preserved detail nav it now contains the new detail.

Answer 2

I find it is easier to subclass the SplitViewController. From there, you can easily swap out the the detail adding a navController for those that need it.
Subclass UISplitViewController and set your root splitViewController to that class. Then add this method to your UISplitViewController subclass:
-(void)setDetailControllerTo:(UIViewController *)detailController withNavControllerTitle:(NSString *)title {
[detailController view]; // this line forces the viewDidLoad method to be called
if (title) {
UINavigationController *navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] init];
[navController pushViewController:detailController animated:YES];
detailController.title = title;
NSArray *viewControllers=#[self.mainController.viewControllers[0],navController];
self.mainController.viewControllers = viewControllers;
} else {
NSArray *viewControllers=#[self.mainController.viewControllers[0],detailController];
self.mainController.viewControllers = viewControllers;
}
}
To call this method do something like this from the master view controller in the tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: method
FixedSplitViewController *splitController = (FixedSplitViewController*) self.splitViewController;
CurrentEventViewController *controller = [self.storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"CurrentEventViewController"];
// add any setup code here
[splitController setDetailControllerTo:controller withNavControllerTitle:#"Current Event"];
If you wish to keep the master view visible in portrait rotation, add this method to the SplitViewController subclass:
-(BOOL)splitViewController:(UISplitViewController *)svc shouldHideViewController:(UIViewController *)vc inOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)orientation {
return NO;
}