Loading UINavigationController from another nib automatically by UITabBarController - iphone

I think I've found the cause: Document Info window in IB has a warning: "'Selected Navigation Controller (Second)' has nib name property set to 'SecondView.nib', but this view controller is not intended to have its view set in this manner."
Bummer.
I've built nib in Interface Builder that has UITabBarController at top level and switches between UINavigationControllers.
It works fine when everything is in a single nib file, but I'd like to use separate nib files for UINavigationControllers.
Starting with Apple's TabBar template, if I just change class of SecondView to UINavigationController, it all breaks:
and all I get is this:
// imgur has lost the image, sorry //
Is it possible to have separate file for UINavigationController without programmatically setting everything?
I would like TabBarController to handle loading and unloading of nibs.

Simply swap the UINavigationController with the FirstViewController.
So the hierarchy should be like this:
Tab bar controller
-----Tab bar
-----Navigation Controller
----------First View Controller
---------------Navigation Item
----------Tab bar item (First)
-----Navigation Controller
----------Second View Controller
---------------Navigation Item
----------Tab bar item (Second)
You set the nib of First View Controller in the inspector to the nib file containing the actual view objects (Since you are trying to split them into separate files, which is a good thing).
You have one tab, that tab has a navigation controller which loads First View Controller as its root view.
Done.

I haven't tried setting up UINavigationController via IB. I have multiple screens, each is stored in separate xib and there's a corresponding class that extends UIViewController. In applicationDidFinishLaunching I initialize UIViewControllers using xib's but then manually create UINavigationController, add navigation controller's view to window and push first view to navigation controller.
Not sure if that helps.
- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication *)application {
navigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] init];
FirstViewController * viewController = [[FirstViewController alloc]
initWithNibName:#"FirstView"
bundle:nil];
[navigationController pushViewController:viewController animated:NO];
[viewController release];
[window addSubview:navigationController.view];
[window makeKeyAndVisible];
}
Above FirstViewController extends UIViewController, in IB you create your view then set File's owner class to your class (e.g. here FirstViewController) and connect the File's owner view to the UIView's view.

I believe you are looking for something like this. You would replace "whatever" with the name of you second nib file.
newNavController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithNibName:#"whatever" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];

First, it looks like you have your UITabBarItems under the navigation controllers instead of directly under the UITabBarController. That may be part of your problem.
Second, when you add a UITabBarController in IB and and click on its icon in your list of top-level objects (your first screenshot), the attributes inspector will allow you to change the type of view controller for each of the tabs. Using this, you can change them all to navigation controllers, if you wish. Also, since you wanted to load custom views and view controllers from other nibs, if you look at the "View Controller" section at the bottom of the attributes inspector, you can select a nib from your project to load the view from. Assuming that nib's "File's Owner" is set to your UINavigationController subclass, it should all work fine.
All of this without a large amount of coding work, either. Let me know if you'd like screenshots for what I'm talking about in case you can't find these panels.

I found the same warning.I have kept all view controller in separate xib files. I got rid off it by removing .nib name and keeping it empty.

Related

How to add a TableView with NavigationBar (Navigation Controller) to a View

I got a tabbed application like this:
and already set up everything like it should look, but it won't function yet. I already googled my problem and they said you first need to set up a NavigationController with the table view as rootView and then the NavigationBar but I really couldn't figure it out. Hope someone of you can help me.
Based on your response to my comment on your question here is what you should be doing:
First off, in order to make it look like the settings app table, you will need to change the style of your UITableView to UITableViewStyleGrouped.
Your hierarchy will consist of the following:
The viewcontroller that is actually added into your UITabBarController viewControllers array(since I see you have a tabbar as your lowest level of navigation) should be an UINavigationController. The root viewcontroller of the navigation controller should be the uiviewcontroller subclass you made that contains your table view. (let's say it's called SettingsViewController)
SettingsViewController *settingsViewController = [[SettingsViewController alloc] init];
UINavigationController *settingsNavController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:settingsViewController];
You will probably need to create a different UIViewController subclass for each type of detail pane you're going to want (if they have different functionality).
In the didSelectRowAtIndexPath UITableViewDelegate function, you will create the appropriate detail viewcontroller and push it onto your navigation stack.
Let's say you have a volume settings view controller as an example. The following is the code you would have in the function I just mentioned. Keep in mind you also need to actually check the index and/or section of the selected row to figure out which detail view should be shown.
VolumeSettingsViewController *volumeSettings = [[VolumeSettingsViewController alloc] init];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:volumeSettings animated:YES];
By default, this will function pretty much like the Apple Settings app navigation. The navigation bar will automatically have a "back" button to take you back to the settings view.
If you are using a Storyboard, select your view controller, go to the "Edit" menu and choose, "Embed in Navigation Controller."
If not using story boards, assuming this will be done in code, you need to create things in a reverse order of their hierarchy - something like this:
Create an instance of the Einstellungen tab's TableViewController using initWithNibName:
Create a UINavigationController using initWithRootViewController: and setting the Einstellungen as the root
Create a UITabBarController and set your navigation controller as one of the view controllers of this tab bar controller
Add the tab bar controller as a subview to the main window in your application delegate
This will create this hierarchy:
Tab bar controller
->view controller: Navigation Controller -> root view controller: Einstellungen

Any "non TabBar-template" based tutorial on how to add a UITabBar?

I would like to add a TabBar to an existing view-based application I already started just to allow the user to switch to other parts of the app like the "About" section and another section entitled "Saved Searches" to display a navigational content (saved searches list > specific search result > product details).
Any idea on how to do this ? All tutorials I found point me directly to a TabBar template.
Thx for helping,
Stephane
You could start off with the UITabBar Application Template and you'll realize it's very easy to do:
In your UIApplicationDelegate class, in the method
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
Instantiate a UITabBarController like this:
UITabBarController *tabBar = [[UITabBarController alloc] init];
Then you set the view Controllers that will appear on the tab bar:
tabBar.viewControllers = viewControllers;
Which is a NSArray you can previously create with your UIViewController subclasses:
NSArray *viewControllers = [[[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:vc1, vc2, vc3, nil] autorelease];
After this, you only have to set it as the root view controller of the window, or add it as a subview (it has the same effect, but the first approach doesnt work prior to iOS 4)
self.window.rootViewController = tabBar;
or
[self.window addSubView:tabBar.view];
And then
[tabBar release];
To achieve the kind of navigation that you say in your question, the view controllers you set to the tabBar should be instances of UINavigationController, which are very easy to create like this:
UINavigationController *vc1 = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:firstViewControllerPage];
And inside them, you can push (navigate to) other view controllers doing:
[self.navigationController pushNavigationController:anotherViewController animated:YES];
Hope this brief review of it makes it a bit clear :)
You can create a new UITabBarController, and add it's view as a subview of your applications window. Then, add your other view controllers (for your "About" and "Saved Searches" sections) to that tab bar controller.
This can be done most easily in Interface Builder. In your MainWindow.xib, drag a Tab Bar Controller object onto the canvas. This will automatically create a tab bar with two items (one for each of the view controllers added). For each view controller under the tab bar controller, go to the identity inspector and change its class to your custom view controller subclass. Then, show the attributes inspector and there is a field "NIB Name" - again, set this to the appropriate nib name. Your custom controller views will then be loaded from their corresponding nib files. All that's left to do is name each tab in Interface Builder, and give it a graphic.
You can also do this programmatically if you don't like IB, by assigning the custom view controllers to the tab controller's viewControllers property, and assign a selectedViewController.
Hope this helps.
EDIT
Thought it might be helpful to show a little hierarchy! Your MainWindox.xib structure might look something like this:
AppDelegate
UIWindow
UITabBarController
UITabBar
AboutViewController (view loaded from "AboutViewController.xib")
Tab Bar Item - About
UINavigationController
Navigation Bar
SavedSearchesViewController - Root View Controller (view loaded from "SavedSearchesViewController.xib"
Tab Bar Item
And push appropriate view controllers from SavedSearchesViewController as normal to provide navigation content.

UINavigationController from scratch?

I have a view based app that works well. (In other words, I'm not going to start over with a Navigation-Based App template.)
It's an immersive app of sorts and I'm trying to add a Table View that loads in a new view when a button is pressed.
The loading the nib part works, but I can't seem to be able to add a navigation controller to the new view. I want to see a navigation bar on top with a done button and an edit button. Also, I want to the Table View entries to be empty.
I added a new file like so:
File-> New File -> UINavigationController subclass. I checked the UITableViewController Subclass and With XIB for user interface.
All I see when the view is pulled up is a blank Table View. I am able to customize things in the view controller.
What can I do to make the table show a navigation bar and be editable? I need some direction here please.
EDIT: I'm working with the latest Public SDK. (XCode 3.2.2)
The navigation bar usually comes with a navigation controller, not with the table view controller.
You can add the navigation bar manually, but that will require altering the table view, to change it to just a regular view with a table view inside of it, and changing your table view controller to be a regular view controller that manually handles the table view stuff.
The simpler alternative is to wrap your table view controller inside of a navigation controller before you display it. Something like:
MyTableViewController *myViewController = [[MyTableViewController alloc] init];
UINavigationController *navigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:myViewController];
[myViewController release];
//Now display navigationController instead of myViewController, using something like:
[self presentModalViewController:navigationController animated:YES];

iPhone SDK: Can't specify view to Navigation Controller

I am working on my first iPhone app and making good progress. But there is one thing I just don't understand.
When my app starts it displays a UIView with some functionality on it. This works fine. One of the buttons on that screen is supposed to load a new view (HistoryViewController) which contains a navigation controller.
The problem is… whenever HistoryViewController is loaded the app crashes because there is no view. It's true because in the xib-File I can't connect the File's Owner's view to anything:
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/image.php?1a3caa8b8d.png
I definitely have a lack of knowledge somewhere but after hours of research I have not been able to solve this problem.
Any hints?
Thank you!
Normally you would either:
click on that bottom line (History Table View Controller, "HTVC") and in the inspector window specify a NIB Name - which means you would first have to make a new NIB.
or
doubleclick that bottom line (HTVC), so the 320x480 preview window pops up, and then drag in a UIView from the library.
Using the first method, you tell the view controller to dynamically load the NIB as the view to connect, and using the second method you do this for the view controller using IB. The view you drag in will then show up as a child of that bottom line (HTVC).
edit to actually load the nib file you created, do this to push the view controller:
UIViewController *controller = [[UIViewController alloc] autorelease];
[controller initWithNibName:#"nibfilename" bundle:nil];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:controller animated:YES];
substituting UIViewController for your own view controller class (if needed) and nibfilename with the filename of the nib (minus the extension!)
It's hard to tell what your problem is exactly, but I'll offer some advice.
When creating a navigation controller (or tab controller for that matter) in interface builder, its easy to not understand what is really happening, so my suggestion drop interface builder for a second and lets build it in code.
In general I really dislike building either UI Navigation Controller or tab view controller in interface builder, I really just rather build the views themselves and create the UINavigationController in code.
You have a view which shows the HistoryTableViewController which you want to be contained in a UINavigationController so the code to do this is:
- (void) showHistory
{
HistoryViewController *historyVC = [[HistoryViewController alloc] init];
// If you create historyviewcontroller in nib
// HistoryViewController *histroyVC [[HistoryViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"myNib" bundle:nil];
UINavigationController *navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootController:histroyViewController];
[self presentModalViewContoller:navController animated:YES];
}
This will create a nav controller showing your history view controller as the root view controller. Can't be easier.

What is the best way to change my UIViewController to a UINavigationController

I just realised that my 'root' viewController should have been a UINavigationController. Now I want to change this to be a UINavigationController instead and just curious what my best option would be. I built this view and all other views using IB if that makes a different.
I'm mostly worried that I would have to do a lot of copy/pasting and recoding to get everything right or will be it be as easy as manually editing my controller and change the extension to UINavigationController.
Thanks
You do not convert an existing view controller into a navigation controller.
Even though UINavigationController is a subclass of UIViewController, it's task is the management of other view controllers, not the management of views themselves. You don't swap them out one for the other. Instead, you set UIViewControllers to be controlled by the nav.
To add a nav to a project in IB, open the xib and drag over a UINavigationController. Then set the navigation controller's rootControlller property to the existing UIViewController.
And you're done.
You can also "Embed" the Navigation Controller by selecting the View Controller in IB then select Editor->Embed In->Navigation Controller
You can instantiate a trivial not-subclassed UINavigationController and give it your original UIViewController as its root controller, like:
YourRootViewController *rootViewController = [[YourRootViewController] initHoweverYouInitIt];
UINavigationController *navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootViewController];
and maybe an [rootViewController release];, depending on how you are going to manage memory.
UINavigationController has an 'is-a' relationship with UIViewController, so you should be able to change its class type in Interface Builder with no additional changes.