Update subviews of UIView from ViewController - ios

I have a UIViewController that implements a custom UIView, so;
override func loadView() {
view = CustomView()
}
The custom view has a few lables and buttons and all the normal stuff, problem is in my viewController I have a request, and when that request is done, I'd like to update some of those lables/buttons.
Right now, in my CustomView, I have functions, such as;
func updateView() {
labelOne.isHidden = true
LabelTwo.isHidden = false
}
So I call the appropriate function from my viewController when the request is done.
This works, but it feels wrong, is there a neater way to update the subviews of my custom UIView, from my viewController? Should I maybe be using protocols or delegates?

One thing I've found quite neat in the past is passing the model directly to the custom view, then using didSet to trigger updates.
class CustomView: UIView {
let labelOne = UILabel()
let labelTwo = UILabel()
var object:CustomObject! {
didSet {
self.labelOne.text = object.name
self.labelTwo.text = object.description
}
}
...
}
This means in your UIViewController you can do the request and then pass the model straight to the custom view.
RequestHelper.getObject() { object in
self.customView.object = object
}
Obviously here I'm guessing at your request and object names but hopefully you get the idea.

Related

Access TextField from another class or method without storyboard

Okay, this might be one of the most basic questions ever, but all answers I find use storyboard to declare an outlet for a label, textfield or whatever element that needs to be changed. I, however, don't use storyboards and write everything in code. Now I have a function setupViews, where I define a textfield:
let usernameInput = UITextField()
Now, I can perfectly set the text or placeholder or whatever inside this setupViews() class, but how can I access it outside? For example, if I have a function logIn(), I want to call usernameInput.text and use it in this function.
Someone who can point me in the right direction? Do I need to declare this textfield globally, in another file, or something else?
When I create my views in code I always associate a property with the view that has all those various display values.
I have not tested this code to see but hopefully the following will give you an idea.
import UIKit
struct {
var name: String
}
class CustomViewController : UIViewController {
// some struct which contains data for view
var customViewData : ViewDataInfo? {
didSet {
labelOnScreen.text = customViewData.name
}
}
var labelOnScreen: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.text = "Placeholder information..."
// stuff auto layout
label.translateAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
return label
}()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
setupView()
}
private func setupView() {
view.addSubview(label)
// set your constraints here
}
}

Strong references and UIView memory issues

I'm dealing with some deallocation issue and perhaps strong or circular referencing that can't figure out. I have three UIViews instantiating like below:
There is one main ViewController which I have added a UIView inside it in storyboard and the UIView has a weak outlet inside the class like:
class ViewController : UIViewController {
//MARK: - outlets
#IBOutlet weak var firstView: FirstUiview!
}
second UIView is added as a subview to the first view programmatically like:
class FirstUiview : UIView {
//creating an instance of secondUiView
lazy var mySecondView: SecondViewClass = {
let dv = SecondViewClass()
dv.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
return dv
}()
//sometime later by clicking on a button
self.addSubview(mySecondView)
//a button will be tapped to remove mySecondView;
//later will be called at some point upon tapping:
func removingSecondViewByTapping() {
if mySecondView.isDescendant(of: self) {
mySecondView.removeFromSuperview()
}
}
}
Now the SecondViewClass is :
class SecondViewClass : UIView {
//in this class I create bunch of uiview objects like below:
lazy var aView : UIView = {
let hl = UIView()
hl.tag = 0
hl.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGray
return hl
}()
self.addSubview(aView) //... this goes on and I add other similar views the same way.
//creating an instance of thirdView
var let thirdView = UIView()
self.addSubview(thirdView)
}
Now if user taps the button to remove mySecondView and then add it again at some other time (still in the same ViewController) I expect all the subviews of mySecondView to have been released and gone but they are all there. I would appreciate it a lot if someone can point it to me where am I keeping a strong reference or if there is a circular referencing issue? or perhaps something else?
You have two strong references to your views, your custom property and the view hierarchy reference established when you call addSubview. When you remove the view from the view hierarchy, your class, itself, still has its strong reference to it.
You could solve this by making your reference optional, and when you call removeFromSuperview, also manually set your reference to nil. Or, perhaps easier, you might resolve this by using weak references, letting the view hierarchy maintain the strong references for you. And because your custom property is weak, when you remove it from the view hierarchy (thus eliminating the only strong reference to it), your weak reference will automatically become nil:
class FirstView: UIView {
weak var secondView: SecondView? // note the `weak` reference, which is obviously an optional
//sometime later by clicking on a button
func doSomething() {
let subview = SecondView()
subview.backgroundColor = .red
self.addSubview(subview)
secondView = subview
}
// a button will be tapped to remove secondView;
// later will be called at some point upon tapping ...
func removingSecondViewByTapping() {
secondView?.removeFromSuperview()
}
}

Create instance of UIView subclass programmatically

I've create a subclass of UIView which just has drawRect overridden. For simplicity's sake I am not creating a UIView in Interface Builder to represent what will be my subclass, but am rather wanting to just create an instance of it in my UIViewController code.
I've tried the following:
canvasView = CanvasView(frame: view.bounds)
canvasView.dataSource = self
As well as:
canvasView = UIView(frame: view.bounds) as! CanvasView
canvasView.dataSource = self
But for both of them I receive the error..
Value of type 'UIView' has no member 'dataSource'
What is the proper way of going about this? Do I need to create a UIView in IB? It is embedded within a UIScrollView, which I am also creating programmatically and is working well, so I would really prefer to not have to, if possible.
What you are doing is fine except for the fact that a UIView does not have a datasource.
More information about what you want to achieve would be helpful here.
Since I don't have a definition of your CanvasView it's hard to know what is going wrong. Below is something I put together in a playground that shows you one way you can set up a dataSource for your class.
import UIKit
protocol DataSourceProtocol {
var data: Any { get set }
}
class DataSource: DataSourceProtocol {
var data: Any
init(data: Any) {
self.data = data
}
}
class ViewWithDataSource: UIView {
var dataSource: DataSourceProtocol?
}
let dataSource = DataSource(data: "Some Data")
let myView = ViewWithDataSource(frame: CGRectZero)
myView.dataSource = dataSource
Edit: Edited out some incorrect statements/assumptions

Passing data between views in ONE ViewController in Swift

All of the searches I've done focus on passing data between view controllers. That's not really what I'm trying to do. I have a ViewController that has multiple Views in it. The ViewController has a slider which works fine:
var throttleSetting = Float()
#IBAction func changeThrottleSetting(sender: UISlider)
{
throttleSetting = sender.value
}
Then, in one of the Views contained in that same ViewController, I have a basic line that (for now) sets an initial value which is used later in the DrawRect portion of the code:
var RPMPointerAngle: CGFloat {
var angle: CGFloat = 2.0
return angle
}
What I want to do is have the slider's value from the ViewController be passed to the View contained in the ViewController to allow the drawRect to be dynamic.
Thanks for your help!
EDIT: Sorry, when I created this answer I was having ViewControllers in mind. A much easier way would be to create a method in SomeView and talk directly to it.
Example:
class MainViewController: UIViewController {
var view1: SomeView!
var view2: SomeView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Create the views here
view1 = SomeView()
view2 = SomeView()
view.addSubview(view1)
view.addSubview(view2)
}
#IBAction func someAction(sender: UIButton) {
view1.changeString("blabla")
}
}
class SomeView: UIView {
var someString: String?
func changeString(someText: String) {
someString = someText
}
}
Delegate:
First you create a protocol:
protocol NameOfDelegate: class { // ": class" isn't mandatory, but it is when you want to set the delegate property to weak
func someFunction() // this function has to be implemented in your MainViewController so it can access the properties and other methods in there
}
In your Views you have to add:
class SomeView: UIView, NameOfDelegate {
// your code
func someFunction() {
// change your slider settings
}
}
And the last step, you'll have to add a property of the delegate, so you can "talk" to it. Personally I imagine this property to be a gate of some sort, between the two classes so they can talk to each other.
class MainViewController: UIViewController {
weak var delegate: NameOfDelegate?
#IBAction func button(sender: UIButton) {
if delegate != nil {
let someString = delegate.someFunction()
}
}
}
I used a button here just to show how you could use the delegate. Just replace it with your slider to change the properties of your Views
EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention is, you'll somehow need to assign SomeView as the delegate. But like I said, I don't know how you're creating the views etc so I can't help you with that.
In the MVC model views can't communicate directly with each other.
There is always a view controller who manages the views. The views are just like the controllers minions.
All communication goes via a view controller.
If you want to react to some view changing, you can setup an IBAction. In the method you can then change your other view to which you might have an IBOutlet.
So in your example you might have an IBAction for the slider changing it's value (as in your original question) from which you could set some public properties on the view you would like to change. If necessary you could also call setNeedsDisplay() on the target view to make it redraw itself.

Adding View Programmatically from ViewController super class doesn't show in front

I have a BaseViewController that my UIViewControllers extend so i can have explicit functions that i dont need to rewrite. Something i would like would be a functions such as self.showSpinner() and the viewController would show the spinner
My Code looks like this
class BaseViewController: UIViewController {
var actvIndicator : UIActivityIndicatorView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.actvIndicator = UIActivityIndicatorView(activityIndicatorStyle: .WhiteLarge)
self.actvIndicator.color = UIColor.blackColor()
self.actvIndicator.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
self.actvIndicator.frame = CGRectMake(self.view.frame.size.width / 2, self.view.frame.size.height / 2, 100, 100);
self.actvIndicator.center = self.view.center
self.actvIndicator .startAnimating()
self.view.addSubview(self.actvIndicator)
self.actvIndicator.bringSubviewToFront(self.view)
self.edgesForExtendedLayout = UIRectEdge.None
self.navigationController?.navigationBar.translucent = false
}
func showSpinner(){
self.actvIndicator.startAnimating()
}
func hideSpinner(){
self.actvIndicator.stopAnimating()
}
}
And my viewcontrollers looks like this
class MyProjectViewController: BaseViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.showSpinner()
}
}
MyProjectViewController have UITableView that fills the entire screen. When i set tblProjects.alpha = 0 i can see the spinner. But i want it in the front.
i also tried self.view.bringSubviewToFront(self.actvIndicator)
What am i missing?
A couple quick notes before I get into what I think your problem is:
When you add a subview it is automatically added to the top layer, no need for the bringSubviewToFront: in viewDidLoad: (which is being used wrong anyway).
You should not set view frames in viewDidLoad: (e.g. centering a view). Frames are not setup yet, so you should move that to viewWillAppear: or some other variant.
Now your issue is most likely a view hierarchy problem (further confirmed by your comment) and thus can probably be fixed by pushing the spinner to the front every time you want it to be shown, like:
func showSpinner() {
self.view.bringSubviewToFront(self.actvIndicator)
self.actvIndicator.startAnimating()
}
The problem here stands on the fact that table view is draw after you are calling self.view.bringSubviewToFront(self.actvIndicator). A possible workaround for this is to call bringSubviewToFront when showing the spinner
func showSpinner(){
self.view.bringSubviewToFront(self.actvIndicator)
self.actvIndicator.startAnimating()
}

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