How to change data in cell in dynamic UITableView xcode project? - ios

Question

I have a Dynamic Prototypes Table view that has different cells, I'm adding the cells to the table view and I want to change their content. All the tutorials I find is for a tableview with only one type of cell, but I have 8 different types. How would I change their content (ie, textfields etc) and how would I get actions from them back to the main tableview controller to do some business logic? (ie button pressed etc)
What I did is:
I created a costume class for each cell type and connected them under customClass, class field.
I attached the textfields etc, actions and references to these classes.
this is my cellAtRow function I assume I would change it in this function somehow?
or reference the classes from here?
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
print ("indexPath: ", indexPath)
print ("indexPath: ", indexPath[0])
print ("-------")
if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "header") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "headerCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "description") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "headerInfoCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "diagnoses") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "diagnosisCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "perscription") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "perscriptionCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "notes") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "notesCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "addFaxHeadline") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "addFaxCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "addFax") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "emailNameCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "addEmailHeadline") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "addEmailCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "addEmails") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "emailNameCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "givePermissionHeadline") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "permissionCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
} else if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "select answer") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "selectAnswerCell", for: indexPath)
return cell
}

Answer 1

You need to use
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "headerCell", for: indexPath) as! HeaderTableViewCell
to call cell.yourTextField.text for example

Answer 2

You have to cast your cells to the class they belong. On the second line of the code block you can see an example of this.
if (sectionsData[indexPath[0]] == "header") {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "headerCell", for: indexPath) as! HeaderTableViewCell
cell.titleLbl.text = "Title"
cell.delegate = self // To receive actions back
return cell
}
. . . // More of the same
// default return
To send calls back to your main view controller you can add protocols to your cells like so:
protocol HeadTableViewCellProcol{
func bttnPressed()
}
class HeadTableViewCell: UITableViewCell{
var delegate: HeadTableViewCellProcol?
#IBAction func bttnPressedInCell(){
delegate?.bttnPressed()
}
}
The this of this protocols like the protocols you had to implement for your UITableView. You will also have to implement these protocols in your main VC.

Answer 3

You need to cast UITableViewCell into your dynamic cell class. You can try the following:
guard let cell = tableView. dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "perscription", for: indexPath) as? PerscriptionTableViewCell else { return UITableViewCell() }
cell.setupCell() //You have access to cell's public funcs and vars now
return cell
Using optional unwrapping, you can be sure that your app is likely to be safe from type casting crashes.

Answer 4

As the Apple documentation says, the return type of the dequeueReusableCell is a UITableViewCell.
Apple Documentation
Return Value: A UITableViewCell object with the associated identifier or nil if no such object exists in the reusable-cell queue.
Your custom cells classes should inherit from UITableViewCell and to be able to use an instance of your custom cell you need to cast the returning UITableViewCell of the dequeReusableCell into your desire custom cell type.
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "customCellIdentifierCell", for: indexPath) as! YourCutsomTableViewCell
For customizing, every cell is responsible for his own configuration. You should have a function (you can use protocols or inherit from a superclass) and inside the cellForRowAtIndexPath, after casting it, call the setup function.
customCell.setup() //you can add some parameters if its needed