CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosobjective-cuitableviewxib
clocksmith
clocksmith

Reputation: 6266

Can't hook up UITableViewController to a UITableView created in a xib

Yes another UITableView question. I have a MainPageController that subclasses UIViewController and I have dragged a UITableView into my xib in interface builder. I have created a separate controller (with no xib) specifically to handle the UITableView and other UITableViews like it. Let's say it is named CustomTableViewController. It subclasses UITableViewController and conforms to UITableViewDataSource.

Now, in my MainPageController, I would like to create an instance of CustomTableViewController and have it "control" the instance of UITableView that I have in my MainPageController's xib. How can this be done? I am mostly confused on what the tableView property is on my CustomTableViewController and how to get myTableView and myCustomTableViewController to connect to each other.

I have tried things like myTableView.dataSource = myCustomTableViewController; but nothing seems to happen. My dataSource methods are not even being called.

I am following this design because I want to reuse the custom controller for other table views that will I be using on other pages.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 839

Answers (2)

Avi
Avi

Reputation: 2216

I tested this out and found it working. Here is what should be done -

1) In MainPageController, create a IBOutlet property tableView and hook it up with MainPageController xib.

2) In MainPageController, create instance of CustomTableViewController in viewDidLoad and set the datasource as CustomTableViewController instance -

self.myCustomTableTableViewController = [[CustomTableViewController alloc] init];
self.tableView.dataSource = self.myCustomTableTableViewController;

This should be enough to achieved what you have described.

MainPageController.h

    #import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

    @interface MainPageController : UIViewController

     @property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UITableView *tableView;

   @end

MainPageController.m

   #import "MainPageController.h"
   #import "CustomTableViewController.h"
   @interface ViewController ()
   @property (strong, nonatomic) CustomTableViewController *customTableViewController;

   @end

   @implementation MainPageController

   - (void)viewDidLoad
   {
       [super viewDidLoad];
       // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
       self.customTableViewController = [[CustomTableViewController alloc] init];
       self.tableView.dataSource = self.customTableViewController;
   }
   @end

Upvotes: 1

mitrenegade
mitrenegade

Reputation: 1844

UITableViewController's _tableView is inherent. Even if you create a new class with a xib you'll notice that the whole view is a tableview. When you drag a UITableView into a controller in your xib file or on storyboard, you are only creating a custom UITableView, and you're not going to be able to tell it to respond to another controller. The easiest pattern I can think of right now is this:

  1. CustomTableViewController should subclass UIViewController. Define all your datasource functions inside it. Don't use a xib.

  2. Because it is a UIViewController you can add an IBOutlet for a tableView. When you create the sublass of MainPageController, make it a subclass of CustomTableViewController, and set the tableView outlet.

  3. In IB, set the datasource and delegate of the UITableView inside your ViewController to the class. It should conform since it is a subclass of CustomTableViewController.

Upvotes: 0

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