Replace BookmarkButton with Activityindicator in UISearchBar - iphone

Question

I use a UISearchBar for entering an address to establish a network connection. While the connection is made I want to show the activity indicator instead of the tiny BookmarkButton on the right side of the searchbar. As far as I can see there is no public declared property that would give me access to the correct subview of the searchbar. I have seen this been done, any thoughts?

Answer 1

How about replacing the search icon on the left side with an activity indicator while searches or connections are in progress?
SearchBarWithActivity.h:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface SearchBarWithActivity : UISearchBar
- (void)startActivity; // increments startCount and shows activity indicator
- (void)finishActivity; // decrements startCount and hides activity indicator if 0
#end
SearchBarWithActivity.m:
#import "SearchBarWithActivity.h"
#interface SearchBarWithActivity()
#property(nonatomic) UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicatorView;
#property(nonatomic) int startCount;
#end
#implementation SearchBarWithActivity
- (void)layoutSubviews {
UITextField *searchField = nil;
for(UIView* view in self.subviews){
if([view isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField= (UITextField *)view;
break;
}
}
if(searchField) {
if (!self.activityIndicatorView) {
UIActivityIndicatorView *taiv = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
taiv.center = CGPointMake(searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.x + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.width/2,
searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.y + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.height/2);
taiv.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
taiv.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
self.activityIndicatorView = taiv;
[taiv release];
_startCount = 0;
[searchField.leftView addSubview:self.activityIndicatorView];
}
}
[super layoutSubviews];
}
- (void)startActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount + 1;
}
- (void)finishActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount - 1;
}
- (void)setStartCount:(int)startCount {
_startCount = startCount;
if (_startCount > 0)
[self.activityIndicatorView startAnimating];
else {
[self.activityIndicatorView stopAnimating];
}
}
#end

Answer 2

I updated the answer from #JohnLemberger to work with iOS 7 (note: I've only tested this on iOS 7), as well as a summary of my changes:
NOTE: this is not very robust code to begin with, since Apple can change the view hierarchy of UISearchBar in any release (as they did between iOS 6 and 7).
SearchBarWithActivity.h (nothing changed):
#interface SearchBarWithActivity : UISearchBar
- (void)startActivity; // increments startCount and shows activity indicator
- (void)finishActivity; // decrements startCount and hides activity indicator if 0
#end
#interface XXTreatmentHeaderViewController : XXViewController
#property (nonatomic, strong, readonly) SearchBarWithActivity *searchBar;
#end
SearchBarWithActivity.m:
1) Show/hide the "magnifying glass" icon when the activity indicator appears
2) Add depth in the view hierarchy search for the UITextField
#interface SearchBarWithActivity()
#property(nonatomic) UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicatorView;
#property(nonatomic) int startCount;
#end
#implementation SearchBarWithActivity
- (void)layoutSubviews {
UITextField *searchField = nil;
for(UIView* view in self.subviews){
// on iOS 6, the UITextField is one-level deep
if ([view isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField= (UITextField *)view;
break;
}
// on iOS 7, the UITextField is two-levels deep
for (UIView *secondLevelSubview in view.subviews) {
if([secondLevelSubview isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField= (UITextField *)secondLevelSubview;
break;
}
}
}
if(searchField) {
if (!self.activityIndicatorView) {
UIActivityIndicatorView *taiv = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
taiv.center = CGPointMake(searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.x + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.width/2,
searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.y + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.height/2);
taiv.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
self.activityIndicatorView = taiv;
_startCount = 0;
[searchField.leftView addSubview:self.activityIndicatorView];
}
}
[super layoutSubviews];
}
- (void)startActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount + 1;
}
- (void)finishActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount - 1;
}
- (void)setStartCount:(int)startCount {
_startCount = startCount;
if (_startCount > 0) {
[self.activityIndicatorView startAnimating];
// Remove the "magnifying glass icon"
[self setImage:[UIImage new] forSearchBarIcon:UISearchBarIconSearch state:UIControlStateNormal];
} else {
[self.activityIndicatorView stopAnimating];
// Restore the "magnifying glass icon"
[self setImage:nil forSearchBarIcon:UISearchBarIconSearch state:UIControlStateNormal];
}
}
#end

Answer 3

I have implemented a category for UISearchBar that shows a UIActivityIndicatorView, depending on state of a AFNetworking's request operation or session task https://gist.github.com/nguyenhuy/a11d15c11200477b05a6.

Answer 4

Just for the record:
for(UIView* view in self.subviews){
if([view isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField=view;
break;
}
}
if(searchField !=)) {
searchField.leftView = myCustomView;
}
You can subclass UISearchBar and call this code in the layoutSubview method. calling this code in layoutSubview makes sure that resize animations work properly.

Answer 5

I update jonsibley's answer by adding support for the cases where a UISearchBar is embedded in a UINavigationBar using the displaysSearchBarInNavigationBar flag.
SearchBarWithActivity.h (added a new property):
#interface SearchBarWithActivity : UISearchBar
- (void)startActivity; // increments startCount and shows activity indicator
- (void)finishActivity; // decrements startCount and hides activity indicator if 0
#property (nonatomic,assign) UINavigationItem *navigationItem;
#end
SearchBarWithActivity.m (get the searchField from the navigationItem if not nil):
#import "SearchBarWithActivity.h"
#interface SearchBarWithActivity()
#property(nonatomic) UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicatorView;
#property(nonatomic) int startCount;
#end
#implementation SearchBarWithActivity
#synthesize navigationItem;
- (void)layoutSubviews {
UITextField *searchField = nil;
if(self.navigationItem) {
searchField = (UITextField *)[self.navigationItem titleView];
} else {
for(UIView* view in self.subviews){
// on iOS 6, the UITextField is one-level deep
if ([view isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField= (UITextField *)view;
break;
}
// on iOS 7, the UITextField is two-levels deep
for (UIView *secondLevelSubview in view.subviews) {
if([secondLevelSubview isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField= (UITextField *)secondLevelSubview;
break;
}
}
}
}
if(searchField) {
if (!self.activityIndicatorView) {
UIActivityIndicatorView *taiv = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleWhite];
taiv.center = CGPointMake(searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.x + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.width/2,
searchField.leftView.bounds.origin.y + searchField.leftView.bounds.size.height/2);
taiv.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
self.activityIndicatorView = taiv;
_startCount = 0;
[searchField.leftView addSubview:self.activityIndicatorView];
}
}
[super layoutSubviews];
}
- (void)startActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount + 1;
}
- (void)finishActivity {
self.startCount = self.startCount - 1;
}
- (void)setStartCount:(int)startCount {
_startCount = startCount;
if (_startCount > 0) {
[self.activityIndicatorView startAnimating];
// Remove the "magnifying glass icon"
[self setImage:[UIImage new] forSearchBarIcon:UISearchBarIconSearch state:UIControlStateNormal];
} else {
[self.activityIndicatorView stopAnimating];
// Restore the "magnifying glass icon"
[self setImage:nil forSearchBarIcon:UISearchBarIconSearch state:UIControlStateNormal];
}
}
#end
In your ViewController:
#import "SearchBarWithActivity.h"
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// Embed the search bar into NavigationBar and setup the navigation item in order to show the spinner
[self.searchDisplayController setDisplaysSearchBarInNavigationBar:YES];
[(SearchBarWithActivity *)self.searchDisplayController.searchBar setNavigationItem:self.navigationItem];
}
I hope this saves somebody's time.

Answer 6

Since it seems like the depth of the UITextField keeps changing I figured I would add a recursive solution.
-(NSArray * ) findAllSubviewsForView:(UIView * ) view{
NSMutableArray * views = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for(UIView * subview in view.subviews){
[views addObjectsFromArray:[self findAllSubviewsForView:subview]];
}
[views addObject:view];
return views;
}
You can use this array to find the UITextField,
UITextField * searchField = nil;
for(UIView * view in [self findAllSubviewsForView:self]){
if([view isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]]){
searchField = (UITextField *) view;
}
}