CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iosobjective-c
Rogare
Rogare

Reputation: 3274

Where to add UI objects when programmatically creating UI (instead of .xib/storyboard)

In the UIViewControllers where I don't use .xib files, I've been creating my UI elements in the viewDidLoad methods. E.g., 

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    // Setup table
    self.tableView=[[UITableView alloc] initWithFrame:self.view.frame];
    [self.tableView setDataSource:self];
    [self.tableView setDelegate:self];
    [self.view addSubview:self.tableView];

    // Setup custom cells
    UINib *lessonNib=[UINib nibWithNibName:@"CustomCell" bundle:nil];
    [[self tableView] registerNib:lessonNib forCellReuseIdentifier:@"CustomCellID"];
}

For the most part, this is working fine. But, in the process of investigating a bug associated with dynamic cell heights, I'm curious: is this the appropriate spot to add my UI elements?

Thanks for reading.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 198

Answers (1)

luk2302
luk2302

Reputation: 57124

I would say it is the right place, yes. Since this method is only called once for sure and is called before anything of your view is shown on screen. And therefore you don´t risk creating them twice or even more often or too late.

But your layout should be done at a different place - in viewWillLayoutSubviews:

When a view's bounds change, the view adjusts the position of its subviews. Your view controller can override this method to make changes before the view lays out its subviews. The default implementation of this method does nothing.

You could also overwrite the corresponding viewDidLayoutSubviews

Regarding your comment: yes, layout information is not yet present in viewDidLoad, self.view.frame for example is not guaranteed to be the actual frame that your view will be displayed in later on. Further more a frame change by some part of your code would cause your UI to not respond if you set their size and position only on load.

Note: Setting up your subviews via code is far more tedious than just designing them in a storyboard - I would heavily recommend that if you don´t have serious concerns against using them.

Upvotes: 2

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