Customizing search bar in iPhone application Development - iphone

Question

In my application I have to add a search bar at the head of the tableview. I am able to add the searchbar but problem is without adding default search bar of ios can i add my customize search bar?? I am giving an image to see what types of search bar will be there...

Answer 1

you can subclass the UISearchBar and override the layoutSubviews method :
- (void)layoutSubviews {
UITextField *searchField;
NSUInteger numViews = [self.subviews count];
for(int i = 0; i < numViews; i++) {
if([[self.subviews objectAtIndex:i] isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]) { //conform?
searchField = [self.subviews objectAtIndex:i];
}
}
if(!(searchField == nil)) {
searchField.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
[searchField setBackground: [UIImage imageNamed:#"yourImage.png"] ];
[searchField setBorderStyle:UITextBorderStyleNone];
}
[super layoutSubviews];
}
Also you can :
//to clear searchbar backgraound
- (void) clearSearchBarBg
{
for (UIView *subview in theSearchBar.subviews)
{
if ([subview isKindOfClass:NSClassFromString(#"UISearchBarBackground")])
{
[subview removeFromSuperview];
break;
}
}
}
//display showSearchButtonInitially in a keyboard
- (void)showSearchButtonInitially
{
UIView * subview;
NSArray * subviews = [theSearchBar subviews];
for(subview in subviews)
{
if( [subview isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]] )
{
NSLog(#"setEnablesReturnKeyAutomatically");
[((UITextField*)subview) setEnablesReturnKeyAutomatically:NO];
((UITextField*)subview).delegate=self;
[((UITextField*)subview) setEnabled:TRUE];
((UITextField*)subview).borderStyle = UITextBorderStyleNone;
break;
}
}
}

Answer 2

Look for Apple DOC for UISearchBar
You have bunch of methods there to get whatever you want
You can get UITextView Inside the search bar by
UITextField *textField = [searchBar.subviews objectAtIndex:2];
if ([textField isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]) {
//Do your customization
}
Again look for AppleDoc for UITextField. You have bunch of methods for that also.

Answer 3

Yeah definitely. You can make your custom search bar (which is a sub-class of UIView) and add it as subview to the tableHeaderView.

Answer 4

[[searchBarDesign.subviews objectAtIndex:0] removeFromSuperview];
here searchBarDesign is my searchBar name.

Answer 5

I think it's better just set all properties of UISearchBar when it is loaded.
#interface MySearchBar : UISearchBar
#end
#implementation MySearchBar
- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
if (self) {
[self myInitialize];
}
return self;
}
-(void)awakeFromNib
{
[super awakeFromNib];
[self myInitialize];
}
-(void)myInitialize
{
self.backgroundImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"image.png"];
for (UIView* subview in self.subviews) {
if ([subview isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]) {
//customize text field
UITextField* textfield = (UITextField*) subview;
}
}
}
#end