Add button to uitableview cell programmatically

Question

I just want my code to produce a button in every table view cell that has text. When the button is press just have it say hi. Each cell should have a button in it. I want this to be done all and code and do not use the storyboard at all. The class should remain a uiview controller and not be changed.

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {

    private let myArray: NSArray = ["First","Second","Third"]
     var myTableView =  UITableView()

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        myTableView.register(UITableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: "MyCell")
        myTableView.dataSource = self
        myTableView.delegate = self
        
        
        
        self.view.addSubview(myTableView)
        myTableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        
        
        
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([

            myTableView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.heightAnchor, multiplier: 0.90),
            myTableView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.widthAnchor, multiplier: 1),
            myTableView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor),
            myTableView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor),



        ])
    }

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, didSelectRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        print("Num: \(indexPath.row)")
        print("Value: \(myArray[indexPath.row])")
    }

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return myArray.count
    }

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "MyCell", for: indexPath as IndexPath)
        cell.textLabel!.text = "\(myArray[indexPath.row])"
        return cell
    }
}

Answer 1

Create a subclass of UITableViewcell -

class MyCell: UITableViewCell {
    
    var buttonTapCallback: () -> ()  = { }
    
    let button: UIButton = {
        let btn = UIButton()
        btn.setTitle("Button", for: .normal)
        btn.backgroundColor = .systemPink
        btn.titleLabel?.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 14)
        return btn
    }()
    
    let label: UILabel = {
       let lbl = UILabel()
        lbl.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 16)
        lbl.textColor = .systemPink
       return lbl
    }()
    
    @objc func didTapButton() {
        buttonTapCallback()
    }
    
    override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
        //Add button
        contentView.addSubview(button)
        button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(didTapButton), for: .touchUpInside)
        
        //Set constraints as per your requirements
        button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        button.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.leadingAnchor, constant: 20).isActive = true
        button.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.topAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
        button.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 100).isActive = true
        button.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.bottomAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
        
        //Add label
        contentView.addSubview(label)
        //Set constraints as per your requirements
        label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        label.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: button.trailingAnchor, constant: 20).isActive = true
        label.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.topAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
        label.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
        label.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.bottomAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
    }
    
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
    
}

Now in your view controller register this cell -

myTableView.register(MyCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: "MyCell")

Now load this cell using cellForRowAt method -

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "MyCell", for: indexPath) as! MyCell
        cell.label.text = ""
        cell.buttonTapCallback = {
            cell.label.text = "Hi"
        }
        return cell
    }

Answer 2

You could add a UIButton to UITableViewCell by just adding it in the cellForRow method, like this:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "MyCell", for: indexPath)
    let button = UIButton()
    button.setTitle("\(myArray[indexPath.row])", for: .normal)
    button.center = cell.center
    cell.addSubview(button)
    return cell
}

Although the above method works, it is not recommended. You should probably create a custom class for UITableViewCell and use it as your cell, like this:

class MyCustomCell: UITableViewCell {
    let button = UIButton()
    override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
        super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
        addSubview(button)
        // do layout setup here
    }
    required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
        fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
    }
}

Usage:

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    myTableView.register(MyCustomCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: "MyCell")
    //...
}
//...
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "MyCell", for: indexPath) as! MyCustomCell
    cell.button.setTitle("\(myArray[indexPath.row])", for: .normal)
    return cell
}