CODEWITHSUNDEEP
iphonecocoacocoa-touchiphone-sdk-3.0
Stuart
Stuart

Reputation: 11

My developer didn't use Interface Builder, is that a bad thing?

My iPhone developer didn't use Interface Builder, so when I asked whether he could create curved buttons for horizontal nav in IB he said he couldn't because he didn't use IB. Should I follow this up and ask him to use IB just create these curved buttons as graphics myself?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 366

Answers (6)

pradeepa
pradeepa

Reputation: 4164

You can make the curved button programmatically as

[[btn layer] setCornerRadius:15.0f];

Upvotes: 1

WrightsCS
WrightsCS

Reputation: 50727

Anything you can do in Interface Builder, you can do in code. So depending on how confident the developer is in his code, theres no need to use Interface Builder.

Now, if you have the project and you decide to learn the SDK and you are not so confident in writing code, and would rather stick to using XIB's, then you can ask the developer update your project with actual interface documents.

It is really up to you (the one paying for the app) what you want and how you want it.

Upvotes: 0

AlvinfromDiaspar
AlvinfromDiaspar

Reputation: 6834

If i were you, going forward i'd probably request that developers use IB. it's arguably more maintainable as it would less time for other developers to understand/adopt/assist....etc. Ultimately, it'd be cheaper for you, arguably.

Upvotes: 1

par
par

Reputation: 17744

You can do everything and much more programatically than you can with Interface Builder. IB just simplifies many tasks that you would ordinarily have to write code for (such as creating navigation bars and adding buttons). Most (but not all) of the time this makes creating user interfaces faster and easier. Tell your developer to research creating custom UIBarButtonItems. There are lots of posts on SO about this, see for example:

Adding left button to UINavigationBar (iPhone)

Alternatively, he/she could look into creating UIButtons with custom graphics.

The thing I find strange though is that your developer didn't use IB and now tells you he needs IB to do something. This is extremely weird, frankly. Using code to build everything generally implies that a developer has a pretty good knowledge of the toolbox. I would more suspect your developer is recalcitrant (i.e. unwilling to make the change rather than unable).

Upvotes: 5

raid5ive
raid5ive

Reputation: 6642

This is mostly just what the developer is comfortable with. I've used both IB and straight code to build interfaces in the past. IB makes it a lot easier to quickly prototype an app interface, but sometimes you have to actually jump down into the code to get the desired effect you want. In any case, it shouldn't matter how your developer created the ui/buttons, he still should be able to create your curved buttons you are requesting (unless I'm missing some details).

Upvotes: 0

Lily Ballard
Lily Ballard

Reputation: 185871

IB doesn't create graphics. You can't create arbitrarily-shaped buttons with it. If you want buttons like this, you need to create the graphics yourself regardless of whether the button layout is done in IB or in code.

Upvotes: 1

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