Can not validate if textfield is empty - ios

Question

I am posting this after having tried all the .isEmpty solutions i found.
I am unable to detect a value in textField. I have cells which are set to cell.selectionStyle = .none. These cells have a label and textFields.
I have given the cells identifiers:
let cell = addRestaurant.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: String(describing: RestaurantAddViewCells.self), for: indexPath) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
My goal is to have a button which checks if any field is empty onclick.
let saveButton = UIBarButtonItem(image: UIImage(named: "save"), style: .plain, target: self, action: #selector(saveRestaurant))
Here is how i try to check if the textFields are empty or not:
#objc func saveRestaurant() {
if let indexPath = addRestaurant.indexPathForSelectedRow {
let cell = addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: indexPath) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
if (cell.nameTextField.text == "" || cell.typeTextField.text == "" || cell.locationTextField.text == "" || cell.hotelPhoneText.text == "") {
let saveAlertController = UIAlertController(title: "Fields Empty", message: "fill all fields", preferredStyle: .alert)
let saveAction = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .cancel, handler: nil)
saveAlertController.addAction(saveAction)
self.present(saveAlertController, animated: false, completion: nil)
}
else { }
}
}
However nothing happens
I have tried and comment cell.selectionStyle = .none, still no effect
Here addRestaurant is tableView in same file while RestaurantAddViewCells is a class containing properties for labels , textFields
UPDATE - here is what i do in my cellForRowAt, sample for first two cells
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
switch indexPath.row {
case 0:
let cell = addRestaurant.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: String(describing: RestaurantAddViewCells.self), for: indexPath) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
view.addSubview(cell.contentView)
view.addSubview(cell.hotelImage)
view.addSubview(cell.imageButton)
view.addSubview(cell)
cell.imageButton.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
cell.hotelImage.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
//set the cell height
cell.heightAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualToConstant: 200).isActive = true
//set the hotelImage
cell.hotelImage.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: UIScreen.main.bounds.width).isActive = true
cell.hotelImage.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200).isActive = true
cell.hotelImage.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
cell.hotelImage.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.topAnchor).isActive = true
// pin it
//No need to pin it as width is already pinned to to lead and trail of screen
cell.imageButton.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 30).isActive = true
cell.imageButton.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 30).isActive = true
cell.imageButton.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
cell.imageButton.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
cell.imageButton.image = UIImage(named: "photo")
return cell
case 1:
let cell = addRestaurant.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: String(describing: RestaurantAddViewCells.self), for: indexPath) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
cell.nameTextFiled.tag = 1
cell.nameTextFiled.delegate = self
cell.nameTextFiled.becomeFirstResponder()
cell.selectionStyle = .none
cell.heightAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualToConstant: 100).isActive = true
view.addSubview(cell.nameLabel)
view.addSubview(cell.nameTextFiled)
view.addSubview(cell)
view.addSubview(cell.contentView)
cell.nameLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
cell.nameTextFiled.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
cell.nameTextFiled.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 50).isActive = true
cell.nameLabel.text = "Name:"
//Define custom fonts
let font = UIFont(name: "Rubik-Medium", size: 18)
let dynamicFonts = UIFontMetrics(forTextStyle: .body)
cell.nameLabel.font = dynamicFonts.scaledFont(for: font!)
cell.nameTextFiled.font = dynamicFonts.scaledFont(for: font!)
cell.nameTextFiled.borderStyle = .roundedRect
cell.nameTextFiled.placeholder = "Enter Your Name"
let stackName = UIStackView()
view.addSubview(stackName)
stackName.alignment = .top
stackName.axis = .vertical
stackName.spacing = 5.0
stackName.distribution = .fill
stackName.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
stackName.addArrangedSubview(cell.nameLabel)
stackName.addArrangedSubview(cell.nameTextFiled)
stackName.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.topAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
stackName.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.leadingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
stackName.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: cell.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
cell.nameTextFiled.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: stackName.trailingAnchor).isActive = true
return cell
This is what my updated RestaurantAddViewCells lookslike with input from one member here
class RestaurantAddViewCells: UITableViewCell, UITextFieldDelegate, UITextViewDelegate {
var nameLabel: UILabel = UILabel()
var nameTextFiled: RoundedTextFields = RoundedTextFields()
var typeLabel: UILabel = UILabel()
var typeTextField: RoundedTextFields = RoundedTextFields()
var locationLabel: UILabel = UILabel()
var locationTextField: RoundedTextFields = RoundedTextFields()
var imageButton: UIImageView = UIImageView()
var hotelImage: UIImageView = UIImageView()
var hotelDescriptionLabel: UILabel = UILabel()
var hotelTextDescription: UITextView = UITextView()
var hotelPhonelabel: UILabel = UILabel()
var hotelPhoneText: RoundedTextFields = RoundedTextFields()
var isEmptyTextFields: Bool {
return nameTextFiled.text!.isEmpty || typeTextField.text!.isEmpty || locationTextField.text!.isEmpty || hotelTextDescription.text!.isEmpty || hotelPhoneText.text!.isEmpty
}
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
// Initialization code
}
override func setSelected(_ selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
// Configure the view for the selected state
}
}
UPDATE 2 - so here is my update while trying to ask the question again, i have a tableview where each cell has some textfields, when i press a button before i do any thing with the data, i want to check if the fields are filled or not, how can i do this, now as per my design i use a class to define the view properties and call them and give then values where i use the tableView, i use cellForRowAt to define constraints and provide values to labels etc, but how can i successfully access them outside of cellForRowAt to check current state , with out totally changing the design of project
UPDATE 3 - it seems if i were to do the same thing in story board and add the outlets to same function it is capable of detecting a change in state of textbox, if it is empty or not, in case of trying to do it programatically, its not able to detect a change in state of textbox from empty to not empty, but i still have no way to check like in javascript if the textboxes are empty or not on button click
Update 4 - I am now using below code on button tap, but for some strange reason , i am not able to detect the text entered, it always keeps returning empty even if there is text there
#objc func saveRestaurant(sender: AnyObject) {
let cell = addRestaurant.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: String(describing: RestaurantAddViewCells.self)) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
if cell.nameTextFiled.text == "" || cell.typeTextField.text == "" || cell.locationTextField.text == "" || cell.hotelPhoneText.text == "" || cell.hotelTextDescription.text == "" {
let alertController = UIAlertController(title: "Oops", message: "We can't proceed because one of the fields is blank. Please note that all fields are required.", preferredStyle: .alert)
let alertAction = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .default, handler: nil)
alertController.addAction(alertAction)
present(alertController, animated: true, completion: nil)
// addRestaurant.reloadData()
return
}
else {
print("Name: \(cell.nameTextFiled.text ?? "")")
print("Type: \(cell.typeTextField.text ?? "")")
print("Location: \(cell.locationTextField.text ?? "")")
print("Phone: \(cell.hotelPhoneText.text ?? "")")
print("Description: \(cell.hotelTextDescription.text ?? "")")
dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}
}
Update 5 - this is what has finally worked , but is very long and not so good, can any one suggest a loop for going through all the indexPath
#objc func saveRestaurant(sender: AnyObject) {
let index = IndexPath(row: 1, section: 0)
let cell: RestaurantAddViewCells = self.addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: index) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
let nameVal = cell.nameTextFiled.text!
let index1 = IndexPath(row: 2, section: 0)
let cell2: RestaurantAddViewCells = self.addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: index1) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
let typeVal = cell2.typeTextField.text!
let index2 = IndexPath(row: 3, section: 0)
let cell3: RestaurantAddViewCells = self.addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: index2) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
let locationVal = cell3.locationTextField.text!
let index3 = IndexPath(row: 4, section: 0)
let cell4: RestaurantAddViewCells = self.addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: index3) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
let phoneVal = cell4.hotelPhoneText.text!
let index4 = IndexPath(row: 5, section: 0)
let cell5: RestaurantAddViewCells = self.addRestaurant.cellForRow(at: index4) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
let descVal = cell5.hotelTextDescription.text!
if(nameVal == "" || typeVal == "" || locationVal == "" || phoneVal == "" || descVal == "") {
let saveAlertController = UIAlertController(title: "Fields Empty", message: "fill all fields", preferredStyle: .alert)
let saveAction = UIAlertAction(title: "OK", style: .cancel, handler: nil)
saveAlertController.addAction(saveAction)
self.present(saveAlertController, animated: false, completion: nil)
// return
}
else {
print("Name: \(nameVal)")
print("Type: \(typeVal)")
print("Location: \(locationVal)")
print("Phone: \(phoneVal)")
print("Description: \(descVal)")
self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: false)
}
}

Answer 1

First of all, add a computed property in RestaurantAddViewCells that'll return if any of the textFields in the cell is empty, i.e.
class RestaurantAddViewCells: UITableViewCell {
#IBOutlet weak var nameTextField: UITextField!
#IBOutlet weak var typeTextField: UITextField!
var isEmptyTextFields: Bool {
return nameTextField.text!.isEmpty || typeTextField.text!.isEmpty
}
}
Now, your saveRestaurant() method will loop through the numberOfCells. Get the cell for each row and check if isEmptyTextFields returns true. In that case you need to show the alert.
#objc func saveRestaurant() {
let numberOfCells = 6
var isAnyTextFieldEmpty = false
(0..<numberOfCells).forEach {
let cell = tableView.cellForRow(at: IndexPath(row: $0, section: 0)) as! RestaurantAddViewCells
isAnyTextFieldEmpty = isAnyTextFieldEmpty || cell.isEmptyTextFields
}
if isAnyTextFieldEmpty {
//Show alert...
} else {
//....
}
}

Answer 2

I'll try to give you an answer as easy as I can make possible.
Problem
You're using a table view and it's cell which contains a textfield where user may enter some input, also the cell may get reused when scrolled and its possible we may lose input from user.
Solution
We have a textfield in our cells, and we need all the inputs from user to be stored somewhere lets say a dictionary of IndexPath as key and String as value. Something like var inputs:[IndexPath: String] = [:]. Whenever user enters something and as soon as leaves the textfield we'll store that input in our dictionary against it's cell indexPath. when user clicks on button, we'll loop through and check which textfield is empty
A very simple example is here
import UIKit
class TextFieldTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
lazy var textField: UITextField = {
let textField = UITextField()
textField.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
textField.placeholder = "Enter your text here"
return textField
} ()
lazy var label: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
label.setContentHuggingPriority(.required, for: .horizontal)
return label
}()
override init(style: UITableViewCell.CellStyle, reuseIdentifier: String?) {
super.init(style: style, reuseIdentifier: reuseIdentifier)
self.setupView()
}
required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
}
}
extension TextFieldTableViewCell {
//MARK: Private
private func setupView() {
selectionStyle = .none
contentView.addSubview(label)
contentView.addSubview(textField)
label.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.leadingAnchor, constant: 8).isActive = true
label.topAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualTo: contentView.topAnchor, constant: 8).isActive = true
label.bottomAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualTo: contentView.bottomAnchor, constant: -8).isActive = true
label.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
textField.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: label.trailingAnchor, constant: 8).isActive = true
textField.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.trailingAnchor, constant: -8).isActive = true
textField.topAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualTo: contentView.topAnchor, constant: 8).isActive = true
textField.bottomAnchor.constraint(greaterThanOrEqualTo: contentView.bottomAnchor, constant: -8).isActive = true
textField.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
}
}
class ViewController: UIViewController {
private lazy var tableView: UITableView = {
let tableView = UITableView.init(frame: .zero, style: .grouped)
tableView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
return tableView
}()
private var inputs: [IndexPath: String] = [:]
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.addSubview(tableView)
tableView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
tableView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.trailingAnchor).isActive = true
tableView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor).isActive = true
tableView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
tableView.dataSource = self
tableView.register(TextFieldTableViewCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: "TextFieldTableViewCell")
title = "Some random title"
let barbutton = UIBarButtonItem.init(barButtonSystemItem: .done, target: self, action: #selector(saveAction(_:)))
navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = barbutton
}
#objc
func saveAction(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
view.endEditing(true)
for i in 0 ..< tableView.numberOfSections {
for j in 0 ..< tableView.numberOfRows(inSection: i) {
let indexPath = IndexPath.init(row: j, section: i)
print("Input at indexPath: Row: \(indexPath.row), Section: \(indexPath.section)")
if let input = inputs[indexPath], input.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).count > 0 {
print(input)
}
else {
print("user has not input any value or kept it empty")
}
print("__________")
}
}
}
}
extension ViewController: UITableViewDataSource {
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
30
}
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "TextFieldTableViewCell", for: indexPath) as? TextFieldTableViewCell ?? TextFieldTableViewCell.init(style: .default, reuseIdentifier: "TextFieldTableViewCell")
cell.label.text = "Row: \(indexPath.row)"
cell.textField.delegate = self
cell.textField.text = inputs[indexPath]
return cell
}
}
extension ViewController: UITextFieldDelegate {
func textFieldDidEndEditing(_ textField: UITextField) {
if let cell = textField.superview?.superview as? TextFieldTableViewCell, let indexPath = tableView.indexPath(for: cell) {
inputs[indexPath] = textField.text
}
}
}
EDIT
After OPs comments, here's the solution that will work for OP
Solution:
As OP has only 6 cells, we can cache then in a dictionary and return from the dictionary whenever needed. (We're doing this only because of small number of table cells and OP's structure. I do not recommend this solution)
Add a new dictionary to your viewcontroller
private var cachedCell: [IndexPath: TextFieldTableViewCell] = [:]
Change Cell for row to this (Note that you should not reuse tableview cell as we're caching them in our cachedCell dictionary otherwise it may result in unknown. It is never recommended to cache cells by me as well as other developers)
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
if let cell = cachedCell[indexPath] {
return cell
}
let cell = TextFieldTableViewCell.init(style: .default, reuseIdentifier: "TextFieldTableViewCell")
cell.label.text = "Row: \(indexPath.row)"
cell.textField.delegate = self
cell.textField.text = inputs[indexPath]
cachedCell[indexPath] = cell
return cell
}
Change Save Action to
#objc
func saveAction(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
view.endEditing(true)
for (indexPath, cell) in cachedCell {
print("Input at indexPath: Row: \(indexPath.row), Section: \(indexPath.section)")
if let input = cell.textField.text, input.trimmingCharacters(in: .whitespacesAndNewlines).count > 0 {
print(input)
}
else {
print("user has not input any value or kept it empty")
}
print("__________")
}
}
If you have any other questions, you can ask it in comment section.
Happy Coding