Toggle edit mode in another ViewController - ios

Question

I have a ViewController (with a container view) embedded in a Navigation controller. The container contains a pageViewController with one of the 'pages' being a TableViewController (with UITableView outlet: 'aTableView'). I want to trigger the edit mode in the tableViewController when tapping a custom editButton in the navigation bar. When I create a custom editutton in the tableViewController the edit mode works as expected, but when I use the custom editButton in the navigation bar the setEditing bool value remains zero even when I setEditing to YES in the editButton selector. Here's the code:
ViewController.m
-(void)viewDidLoad {
self.editBtn = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
[self.editBtn setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 40, 22)];
[self.editBtn addTarget:self action:#selector(goToToggleEdit:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
UIBarButtonItem *editButton=[[UIBarButtonItem alloc]initWithCustomView:self.editBtn];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = editButton;
}
-(void)goToToggleEdit:(id)sender
{
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:nil];
TableViewController *tvc = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"aTableViewController"];
if(something==foo){
[tvc toggleEdit];
}
}
aTableViewController.h
#interface aTableViewController : UITableViewController <UITextFieldDelegate> {
IBOutlet UITableView *aTableView;
}
-(void) toggleEdit ;
#end
aTableViewController.m
-(void)toggleEdit {
[aTableView setEditing:YES animated:YES];
NSLog(aTableView.editing ? #"Yes" : #"No"); // --> logss 'No'.
if (aTableView.editing){
//do something
}
else {
//do something else
}
}
How can I efficiently trigger the edit mode in the tableViewController this way?
Edit
#Bagrat Kirakosian pointed out to me that my view hierarchy (Navigation Controller > View Controller (with containter) > Page View Controller (in container) > Table View Controller) might be the problem. I just want to create a Navigation Bar (with an edit button) that is fixed, therefore I can't embed the Table View Controller directly in a Navigation Controller.
Thanks.
UPDATE: Solution
I have accepted #sebastien's solution although both #sebastien's and #Bagrat's solution work great. #Bagrat's answer includes direct access to the Table View Controllers, while #sebastien's solution calls edit mode in the pageViewController. I think, considering the tricky hierarchy, the latter is a bit more secure.

Answer 1

Here is the code for my View Controller that totally work fine. be sure you configure your bar button in the right method of View Controller lifecycle. Also be sure that your #selector is properly implemented in your code.
In the same View Controller put these two blocks of code
-(void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
UIBarButtonItem *rightBarButton = [[UIBarButtonItem alloc] initWithImage:[[UIImage imageNamed:#"edit_icon.png" ] imageWithRenderingMode:UIImageRenderingModeAlwaysTemplate] style:UIBarButtonItemStylePlain target:self action:#selector(edit:)];
[rightBarButton setTintColor:[UIColor whiteColor]];
self.navigationItem.rightBarButtonItem = rightBarButton;
}
Afterwards you need also to put your edit selector
-(void)edit:(UIButton *)sender {
// Toggle edit by inverting current edit state
// Also in this block change your right bar button text or image
[self.tableView setEditing:!self.tableView.editing animated:YES];
}
UPDATE 1
After your comment we got to whole another question. You problem is not in the part where you try to call toggle edit. Your problem is the wrong hierarchy of controllers (Navigation Controller > View Controller > Page View Controller > Table View Controller). This might cause a problem. Try to change your controllers like this;
UINavigationController > UIPageViewController > UIViewController(s)
Also it's a good practice to have a UITableView in UIViewController rather than using really dead UITableViewController. Don't forget to connect your tableView IBOutlet (by the way you didn't need it in UITableViewController), also connect datasource and delegate to Files owner. In your MyTableViewVC.h file add this line
#interface MyTableViewVC : UIViewController <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate>
After that all your calls will work fine.
UPDATE 2
After analyzing your entire structure I found a mistake that you do every time on the button click.
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:nil];
tvc = [[TodolistTableViewController alloc] init];
When you call storyboard every time it's ok but when you do [[TodolistTableViewController alloc] init] you are RE-MAKING the same table view controller every time but not even adding it to your main view. As I told you, your tricky hierarchy might cause difficulties but it has a solution.
In your PageViewController.m make tv1 and tv2 properties in .h file, like so.
#property (strong, nonatomic) UITableViewController *tv1;
#property (strong, nonatomic) UITableViewController *tv2;
Then in the view controller file do this
-(void)toggleEdit:(id)sender
{
PageViewController *current = (PageViewController *)[[self childViewControllers] firstObject];
if ([current isKindOfClass:[PageViewController class]])
{
[((TodolistTableViewController *)[current tv1]) toggleEdit];
}
}
Answer includes all security checks and direct access to your table view controllers, because you might need to change other properties/call functions later.
Now in -(void)toggleEdit:(id)sender you don't re-create your views every time but you catch the ones you already have in your current View Controller.
Good Luck!

Answer 2

Ok, your issue here is that you are trying to access an embedded controller in a wrong way.
You are actually managing 2 differents PageViewController:
The one you generated through your storyboard
The other one you are initiating in your code further
That's why you can't reach the expected result.
First of all, add a new method to your PageViewController:
PageViewController.h:
- (void)editTableAtIndex:(int)index;
PageViewController.m:
- (void)editTableAtIndex:(int)index {
[[self viewControllerAtIndex:index] setEditing:YES];
}
Now, in your main ViewController, access the PageViewController by using childViewControllers:
-(void)toggleEdit:(id)sender
{
PageViewController *pvc = self.childViewControllers[0];
[pvc editTableAtIndex:0];
}
It should be editing your TodoListTableView:
(Please notice that I used [pvc editTableAtIndex:0];, instead you should be calling something like [pvc editTableAtIndex:_PageViewController_current_index_];)