UITableView sorting - ios

Question

I've been brought in on this project where the previous developers made custom table cells and headers by using xib files and then registering the nibs like so:
[self.accountTable registerNib:[UINib nibWithNibName:kNonATITableViewCellLandscapeNib bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]] forCellReuseIdentifier:kNonATITableViewCellLandscapeIdentifier];
[self.accountTable registerNib:[UINib nibWithNibName:kNonATITableHeaderLandscapeNib bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]] forCellReuseIdentifier:kNonATITableHeaderLandscapeId];
The header files have buttons in them and uiimageviews. The buttons are for sorting, the uiimageviews for an arrow icon to show you the direction of the sort (asc, desc). All the buttons and imageviews are IBOutlets. All the buttons are linked to an IBAction:
- (IBAction)sortButtonTouched:(id)sender;
The file also has two other properties:
#property (nonatomic, assign) SortType currentSortingOption;
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIButton* btnLastTouched;
Here is sortButtonTouched:
- (IBAction)sortButtonTouched: (UIButton*) buttonTouched {
if (!self.btnLastTouched) {
self.btnLastTouched = buttonTouched;
}
NSString* strFieldToSort;
UIImageView* ivSortImage;
NSArray* arrSortIcons = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:self.ivAccountSort,self.ivNameSort, self.ivAddressSort, self.ivCitySort, self.ivZipSort, self.ivLastCallSort, self.ivMileageSort, nil];
//get the image for the button selected
if (buttonTouched.tag == 0) {
strFieldToSort = #"customerNumber";
ivSortImage = self.ivAccountSort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 1) {
strFieldToSort = #"customerName";
ivSortImage = self.ivNameSort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 2) {
strFieldToSort = #"address";
ivSortImage = self.ivAddressSort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 3) {
strFieldToSort = #"city";
ivSortImage = self.ivCitySort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 4) {
strFieldToSort = #"zip";
ivSortImage = self.ivZipSort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 5) {
strFieldToSort = #"lastCallDate";
ivSortImage = self.ivLastCallSort;
} else if (buttonTouched.tag == 6) {
strFieldToSort = #"mileage";
ivSortImage = self.ivMileageSort;
}
//set the sort option and add icon
if (!self.currentSortingOption) {
self.currentSortingOption = SORT_ASC;
[ivSortImage setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:Ascending_Icon]];
} else {
if (![self.btnLastTouched isEqual:buttonTouched]) {
self.currentSortingOption = SORT_ASC;
[ivSortImage setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:Ascending_Icon]];
} else {
if (self.currentSortingOption == SORT_ASC) {
self.currentSortingOption = SORT_DESC;
[ivSortImage setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:Descending_Icon]];
} else {
self.currentSortingOption = SORT_ASC;
[ivSortImage setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:Ascending_Icon]];
}
}
}
//show and hide
for(int i=0; i<arrSortIcons.count; i++) {
UIImageView* ivThisImage = [arrSortIcons objectAtIndex:i];
if (buttonTouched.tag == i) {
[UIView animateWithDuration:.25 animations:^(void) {
ivThisImage.alpha = 1.0;
}];
} else {
[UIView animateWithDuration:.25 animations:^(void) {
ivThisImage.alpha = 0.0;
}];
}
}
//call back to routing view controller and sort results based on sort order and field selected
NSDictionary* dictUserData = [[NSDictionary alloc] initWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"Sort Non-ATI", #"Action",
strFieldToSort, #"Field To Sort",
[NSNumber numberWithLong:self.currentSortingOption], #"Sortng Option",
nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"rvc" object:self userInfo:dictUserData];
self.btnLastTouched = buttonTouched;
}
And the notification fires this method:
- (void) sortNonATIResults : (NSDictionary*) dictSortParams {
if (self.arrNonATIResults.count > 0) {
NSString* sortKey = [dictSortParams objectForKey:#"Field To Sort"];
//change the field to sort to match the customerInfo object properties...
NSNumber* numSortType = [dictSortParams objectForKey:#"Sortng Option"];
BOOL isAsc = YES;
if ([numSortType intValue] == 2) {
isAsc = NO;
}
NSSortDescriptor* sortDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:sortKey ascending:isAsc];
NSArray* arrSortDescriptors = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:sortDescriptor, nil];
NSArray* arrSortedNonATIResults = (NSArray*)[self.arrNonATIResults sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:arrSortDescriptors];
self.arrNonATIResults = [arrSortedNonATIResults mutableCopy];
self.arrDatasource = self.arrNonATIResults;
[self.accountTable reloadData];
}
}
There are two problems right now. The icons are not showing up if the notification is sent. Comment out the notification and they function as expected. The other problem is that the property currentSortingOption doesn't retain it's value. I think both issues are related but I am not 100% sure. When the tableview is reloaded, does the header get instantiated again? This would make sense to me since then the uiimageviews would be reset with no image and the property would lose it's value and reset to 0 (it is the value of a typedef).
So, I am correct, how can I resolve this and if not, what could be causing the problems?
Thanks

Answer 1

OK, sorry for posting and then solving my problem right away, I guess sometimes you just need to write out the problem to find the solution. All I needed to do was not reload the table but just reload the rows. Here's the updated method:
(void) sortNonATIResults : (NSDictionary*) dictSortParams {
if (self.arrNonATIResults.count > 0) {
NSString* sortKey = [dictSortParams objectForKey:#"Field To Sort"];
//change the field to sort to match the customerInfo object properties...
NSNumber* numSortType = [dictSortParams objectForKey:#"Sortng Option"];
BOOL isAsc = YES;
if ([numSortType intValue] == 2) {
isAsc = NO;
}
NSSortDescriptor* sortDescriptor = [[NSSortDescriptor alloc] initWithKey:sortKey ascending:isAsc];
NSArray* arrSortDescriptors = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:sortDescriptor, nil];
NSArray* arrSortedNonATIResults = (NSArray*)[self.arrNonATIResults sortedArrayUsingDescriptors:arrSortDescriptors];
self.arrNonATIResults = [arrSortedNonATIResults mutableCopy];
self.arrDatasource = self.arrNonATIResults;
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
NSMutableArray *indexPathArray = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
for (NSInteger section = 0; section < [self.accountTable numberOfSections]; ++section)
{
for (NSInteger row = 0; row < [self.accountTable numberOfRowsInSection:section]; ++row)
{
[indexPathArray addObject:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:row inSection:section]];
}
}
[self.accountTable reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:indexPathArray withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationNone];
[self.accountTable scrollsToTop];
});
}
}