I have a VC controlling a screen of content that has 2 modes; a normal mode and an edit mode.
Can I create a single VC with 2 views, each from separate nibs?
In many situations on the iphone, you have a VC which controls an associated view. Then on
a button press or other event, a new VC is loaded and its view becomes the top level view etc.
But in this situation, I have 2 modes that I want to use the same
VC for, because they are closely related. So I want a VC which can swap in/out 2 views.
As per here:
How to load a UIView using a nib file created with Interface Builder
I have found that I can load a VC with an associated view from a nib and then later on load
a different view from another nib and make that new view the active view.
NSArray *nibObjects = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"EditMode" owner:self options:nil];
UIView *theEditView = [nibObjects objectAtIndex:0];
self.editView = theEditView;
[self.view addSubview:theEditView];
The secondary nib has outlets wired up to the VC like the primary nib. When the new nib is loaded,
the outlets are all connected up fine and everything works nicely. Unfortunately when this edit
view is then removed, there doesn't seem to be any elegant way of getting the outlets hooked up
again to the (normal mode) view from the original nib. Nib loading and outlet setting seems a
once only thing.
So, if you want to have a VC that swaps in/out 2 views without creating a new VC, what are the options?
1) You can do everything in code, but I want to use nibs because it makes creating the UI simpler.
2) You have 1 nib for your VC and just hide/show elements using the hidden property of UIView and its subclasses.
3) You load a new nib as described above. This is fine for the new nib, but how do you sort the outlets when you go back to the original nib.
4) Give up and accept having a 1:1 between VCs and nibs. There is a nib for normal mode, a nib for edit mode and each mode has a VC that subclasses a common superclass.
In the end, I went with 4) and it works, but requires a fair amount of extra work, because I have a model class that I instantiate in normal mode and then have to pass to the edit mode VC because both modes need access to the model. I'm also using NSTimer and have to start and stop the timer in each mode. It is because of all this shared functionality that I wanted a single VC with 2 nibs in the first place.
I would just add another view to your original nib, and wire it up to another IBOutlet called 'editView'.
#interface TestViewController : UIViewController {
IBOutlet UIView *editView;
}
#end
Then you can can do a [self.view addSubview:theEditView]; whenever you need to show it.
Related
I have a "container" viewController, that hold a few container views using storyboard.
each of that container view has a link to an embedded viewcontroller's view.
Since im working on a big project, it turns out that the storyboard file is massive and contains a lot of "child" viecontrollers view layout. it will be a problem working on that file when a few people needs to be working simultaneously on it. and thats not good for me.
i would like to know if theres a way to load into each container view a viewcontroller's xib file, and still be using storyboard.
Meaning, creating .xib files for each viewcontroller instead of holding them in the storyboard itself, and link them to the container views in the storyboard.
thanks,
You can move your view controller layout into a separate xib. As you say, this is a very convenient way to share layouts across storyboards.
When setting up a container view in your storyboard, make sure you delete the provided view in the embedded ViewController. Set the custom class for the ViewController to your class name. Name the xib to match the class (e.g. FooViewController.xib so it can be found when FooViewController.m is loaded.)
If you don't delete the View in the storyboard view controller layout, you'll see that empty view instead. Your viewDidLoad method in your view controller won't be called, because the View is the default Storyboard View.
I'm using Xcode 6.1 for iOS 8 on a pre-iOS 7 project.
Yes, you can. A few observations:
All you need to do is to put in the sort of code that we used to use when using NIBs. In the case of containers, that means the typical container methods. If you've not done containment via code, see Creating Custom Container View Controllers in the View Controller Programming Guide. Bottom line, as you transition to a non-storyboard scene (or add a non-storyboard child view controller), just code it like you always used to in the NIB-based environment. You cannot represent this NIB-based scene in the storyboard. But you just get the controller like you always do with NIBs:
SecondViewController *controller = [[SecondViewController alloc] initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
You obviously lose many of the benefits of using storyboards (e.g. sizing the child scene on the basis of the container view in the parent scene), but you're no worse off than you were in a NIB environment. But in answer to your question as to whether you can "link them to the container views in the storyboard", you cannot represent this relationship in the storyboard itself, but rather you link them up programmatically.
If your separate teams are working in single-scene environments, you can use this NIB approach. You should also contemplate, though, just having multiple storyboards, one for each logical team. You'll still have to resort to code as you transition between storyboards, just like you do in this NIB approach, but if one of your teams has multiple scenes to deal with, they can enjoy storyboard benefits within their portion of the project. When you want to get to the first scene in the next storyboard, you can:
UIStoryboard *secondaryStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"SecondStoryboard" bundle:nil];
SecondViewController *controller = [secondaryStoryboard instantiateInitialViewController];
If your child needs to transition to a new scene on your storyboard, I find it useful to add my own parentStoryboard property to my child controller, which it can then useful if you need to do something like instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier. Obviously, if you're not transitioning to new controllers, you may not need to do that, but if you are, having a UIStoryboard property can be useful.
In my iPhone app, I made a custom UIView that I use in several different view controllers to display some information.
I'm familiar with making customer table cells for use in a table but I've never made a custom view again.
My question is what is the best way to load this view? I've tried simply placing the view in the view controllers I want it to appear in using IB, but that doesn't seem to be enough. It seems to me that it would make sense that if you set the Class Identity for the view that it should load up that view when the view controller is created. Or maybe it doesn't because it doesn't know what nib to get it from (it's in its own nib, of course).
Since it's not a view controller, I can't just use initWithNibName. I've tried using NSBundle loadNibNamed like I do with table cells but it seems like an awfully large amount of work. The code looks like this:
NSArray *topLevelObjects = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"MyCustomView" owner:nil options:nil];
for (id currentObject in topLevelObjects) {
if ([currentObject isKindOfClass:[MyCustomView class]]) {
self.customView = currentObject;
break;
}
}
[self.view addSubview:self.customView];
There must be an easier way which doesn't involve the loop. Also, creating the view this way makes me lose all the info from IB on where I actually placed the view. It's created at 0,0 which is not where I want it. Yes, I know I can set a new frame, but again, there must be an easier way. Is there a way I can do this all through IB? Or at least with less work programmatically?
I also make it that way. I ran into the problem that I want to subclass UIView and using nib at the same time. I don't think there's better way to do so, because nib file can contains many objects and you have to specify which one to use. However, do it this way you can put IBOutlet in your MyCustomView and bind it in IB so the view can manage itself e.g. overriding layoutSubviews.
Try this: create a new UIViewController subclass (called ParentViewController for the sake of answer) that each of your controllers that need to display this information will then also subclass. This controller should not have a nib associated with it.
In ParentViewController, create an IBOutlet for a UIView that will hold a reference to a view containing your custom nib. (Called customView, again just because)
Now, open your nib (for the commonly used customView) in Interface Builder and select the File's Owner. Now in the Identity tab, choose the ParentViewController created above for the class. Now here comes the trick. In Connections, remove any connection to "view" (if there is any) and create a connection from the customView outlet to the topmost UIView of the nib that defines your customView.
Now, when you do a loadNibNamed in the code for a subclass of ParentViewController, it should automagically load the UIView from your nib and put a reference to it in the outlet for you to use. No loop required.
You could also add outlets for any other interface components in your nib and do the same thing.
Good luck!
I was trying to use IB in a slightly different way that I am use to and I can't get it working extending the normal approach I use, when dealing with IB.
Instead of making a new UIViewController and have the view XIB generated for me and everything linked together by Xcode, I would like to just build a small (320x40px) View XIB and link it to my already existing ViewController.
I start out by making a new file in Xcode, select "view XIB".
I then open IB and add some labels etc. to the view and I set "Files Owner" to be my existing ViewController.
In my existing ViewController I set the IBOutlets for the labels etc. I put in my view.
I go back to IB and hook up the UILabels to my outlets in "Files Owner".
I would now think that I have a reference to the labels inside the XIB, in my viewController.
This is not really the approach I would like, I see no need for my viewController to have a reference to labels inside my view.
How I usually do in code:
My ViewController controls a bunch of UIViews made entirely in code and who instantiate them by:
UIView *customView = [[CustomView alloc] initWithFrame:aFrame];
[customView setTag:MY_CUSTOM_VIEW];
[customView setDelegate:self];
[self.view addSubView:customView];
[customView release];
After this I would access the labels, buttons etc. from my controller by using the [(UILabel*)[[self.view viewWithTag:MY_CUSTOM_VIEW] myLabel] setText#"Hello, World"];
have my UIViewController implement what ever methods the customView protocol required.
How to get that functionality with IB
Should I first build a MyCustomView class extending the UIView class, have it hold all my IBOutlets, set MyCustomClass as files owner and then instantiate that as shown above?
Is it OK to have a view act as viewController for the IB view and how would I relay actions to my "real" viewController?
What I would like to achieve is to deal with instantiating and laying out several UIViews in my UIViewControllers code, but have the freedom of designing some of these UIViews in IB.
All the info I can find is regarding the standard "build a UIViewController with a XIB for the view" or "How to build libraries of IB components".
I hope it makes sense and thanks for any help given:)
You can create whatever view structure you want in Interface Builder and then instantiate it using the UINib class. Once you create an UINib object it loads the contents from the nib and keeps them. Then, whenever you send it the instantiateWithOwner:options: message, it will instantiate the objects contained in the xib and return an array with the top level views. You can then add these views to your view hierarchy and handle them just like any other view you created programmatically.
If you keep the UINib object (as a property for example), you can instantiate the contents again and again, which allows your xib to be used like a template.
update: For a pre-iOS 4 workaround see my recent question and answer.
I have been using UIViewControllers and initWithNibName with much success, basically using them as a convenient way to design the view with Interface Builder. Unfortunately I have built a hierarchy of views before noticing this line in the UIViewController documentation:
Note: You should not use view
controllers to manage views that fill
only a part of their window
My question is this: Having a very simple NIB that only has a UIView in addition to the default First Responder and Owning Object, what is the simplest way to load the UIView into my code?
I have not been able to get loadNibNamed:owner:options: to work at this point, but suspect the answer will involve it somehow.
Yes, just call
[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"viewNib" owner:self options:nil];
You normally do this from the view controller you have set as File's Owner in the NIB. That way, you can declare an outlet for the view in the view controller which will automatically get connected when you load the NIB file. You don't even have to work with the return value of the method in this case.
I'm having a problem setting a View Controller nib's default View Outlet in Interface Builder. Here's my setup:
I have a TabBar based application where I load a Navigation Controller as a modal view...
MyNavCtrlrSubClass *menu = [[MyNavCtrlrSubClass alloc]initWithNibName:#"MenuController" bundle:nil];
[tabBarController presentModalViewController:menu animated:anim];
MenuController itself is structured as follows:
MenuController.xib
File's Owner (MyNavCtrlrSubClass : UIViewController)
Navigation Controller (UINavigationController)
Navigation Bar (UINavigationBar)
Root View Controller (Nib Name is set to load AnotherViewController.nib)
Navigation Item -> (UINavigationItem)
This all works fine, except that when MyNavCtrlrSubClass is loaded, I get the following error:
Loaded the "MenuController" nib but the view outlet was not set
It's clear why this is happening - File's Owner doesn't have an outlet connection for its view. The question is what should I set as its view, and does something have to be set in the first place? The Navigation Bar is the only candidate in MenuController.xib, but doing this will just size the UINavigationBar itself to the fullscreen mode, so to speak.
I'm obviously missing something in IB, but what? MyNavCtrlrSubClass.m has no code itself, except an IBOutlet for the UINavigationController. Am I making a mistake trying to set this up entirely in IB? The idea is to keep the modal Navigation Controller in one nib, and all the views it loads in separate nibs, but since MenuController is just a container for the navigation and contains no views itself, I'm obviously designing it wrong. :)
If you're wondering why I'm not designing it some other way, it's because I'm trying to obey my (possibly mistaken) perception of how IB asks you to build an ideal hierarchy.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I think you might not be understanding how the File's Owner is meant to be used in a NIB file. I've written up a response describing the file's owner under another question.
When you invoke this line:
[[MyNavCtrlrSubClass alloc] initWithNibName:#"MenuController" bundle:nil]
You create an instance of MyNavCtrlrSubClass, and tell it to load #"MenuController". Then in the MenuController.xib file, there is a second unrelated UINavigationController with things inside of it. When MenuController.nib is loaded at runtime, that second navigation controller will be created.
A second problem is that telling a UINavigationController to load a NIB file isn't really sensible because navigation controllers create and manage their own views. You really want to create the root view controller, and tell that view controller to load a NIB file.
Try this:
MyRootViewController *rootController = [[[MyRootViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"AnotherViewController" bundle:nil] autorelease];
MyNavCtrlrSubClass *menu = [[MyNavCtrlrSubClass alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootController];
Where your XIB File looks like this:
File's Owner (Class set to MyRootViewController, view outlet connected to subsequent UIView)
UIView
Subview A
Subview B
After you're confortable with how all of this is working, you might also consider instantiating the navigation controller and root view controller in one XIB file like you were starting to do in the code you posted.
The crux of this question is stated by Travis himself: "How would you load Navigation Controller nib, designing as much as possible in Interface Builder?" And also from the example, it looks like this means the UINavigationController and associated UIViewControllers.
With this interpretation, the answer is you cannot fully configure a UINavigationController and it's UIViewControllers in a single XIB. Yes it is intuitive to want to do this so you are not crazy.
When I say you cannot do this, I mean the most commonly used framework methods do not have a way to handle this. There is no [UINavigationController alloc] initWithMegaNibName. Yes you could stuff almost anything in a single XIB and write code to hydrate objects in special ways, but I don't think that's what you're looking for.
You could use two or more XIBs as Jon suggested, but then things are less self contained and so you have many folks who find it simpler to do part, or all, of the controllers in code.
Unfortunately there is not a 1:1 correspondance between Interface Builder capability and code like there is on other dev platforms. I generally prefer to be able let designers participate as much as possible in creating assets, but most of them I know do not code objective-c.
In IB, in the MenuController nib add a UIView and set that view as the outlet. You will need to set that view for a UIViewController. Here is a quick link to an Apple page showing a basic setup. Not sure if it will help you at your current stage though.