Set value on ViewController from UrlScheme - ios

I'm struggling to prefill a textfield when I launch the app with my url scheme. When the app is launched without already being in memory, the value is not being set (or I think overruled by viewDidLoad or similar).
The boiled down path I'm taking looks like this:
// AppDelegate.m
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
UINavigationController *nav = (UINavigationController *)[[application keyWindow] rootViewController];
MainViewController *main = (MainViewController *)[nav topViewController];
[main setLabelText:#"this should be shown on screen"];
return YES;
}
With a ViewController sitting in a UINavigationController
// MainViewController.m
#interface MainViewController ()
#property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *someLabel;
#end
#implementation MainViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.someLabel.text = #"this is actually shown on screen";
}
- (void)setLabelText:(NSString *)text
{
self.someLabel.text = text;
}
#end
So the label shows "this is actually shown on screen", not the text I set in AppDelegate. When setting breakpoints its fairly obvious why, I think, because viewDidLoad is called after setLabelText.
Is there a more robust path to prefilling text fields from a custom url scheme I'm missing?

Try this:
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
UINavigationController *nav = (UINavigationController *)[[application keyWindow] rootViewController];
MainViewController *main = (MainViewController *)[nav topViewController];
main.view;
[main setLabelText:#"this should be shown on screen"];
return YES;
}
The view is lazy loaded so it will load the first time it is needed.

The reason for this is that setLabelText: is called from the app delegate prior to the view controller's viewDidLoad method being called. What you'll need to do is keep a copy of the string in a property on the view controller then set that on the the label in viewDidLoad:
Header:
#interface MainViewController
#property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *stringToSet;
#end
Implementation:
#implementation MainViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
if (self.stringToSet) {
self.someLabel.text = self.stringToSet;
} else {
self.someLabel.text = #"Some default string";
}
}
#end
App Delegate:
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application openURL:(NSURL *)url sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication annotation:(id)annotation
{
UINavigationController *nav = (UINavigationController *)[[application keyWindow] rootViewController];
MainViewController *main = (MainViewController *)[nav topViewController];
[main setStringToSet:#"this should be shown on screen"];
return YES;
}

Related

iOS: circular dependency to call method in each other class

I'm trying to implement circular dependency between my AppDelegate and my ViewController to call methods from my AppDelegate to my ViewController but it's not working.
See my code as follow:
AppDelegate.h:
#class ViewController;
#interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate>
#property (strong,nonatomic) ViewController *mainView;
#end;
AppDelegate.m:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)app
openURL:(NSURL *)url
options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options
{
[self.mainView doSomething];
return YES;
}
ViewController.h:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#class AppDelegate;
#interface ViewController : UIViewController
#property (strong,nonatomic) AppDelegate *delegate;
-(void)doSomething;
#end;
ViewController.m:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.delegate = (AppDelegate*)[[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate];
}
- (void)doSomething
{
NSLog(#"doing something");
}
I don't have any errors or warnings but the method doSomething has never been call. Any of you knows why or what I'm doing wrong?
I'll really appreciate your help.
This has nothing to do with circular dependencies.
As you've been told, the method doSomething is never called because you are saying
[self.mainView doSomething];
...at a time when self.mainView has never been given a value. Merely declaring a property
#property (strong,nonatomic) ViewController *mainView;
...does not point the variable mainView at your actual ViewController instance; it is nil, and a message to nil generates no error and causes nothing at all to happen.
You could fix this by having the ViewController set a reference to itself by adding one line to your code:
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
self.delegate = (AppDelegate*)[[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate];
self.delegate.mainView = self; // <--
}
But don't! The simple truth is that your entire approach here is wrong. There should be no need whatever to keep a reference to your ViewController inside your app delegate. Your app has, at every moment, a view controller hierarchy. The app delegate should know where the ViewController is within that hierarchy.
Here we are in your app delegate when a link message comes in:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)app
openURL:(NSURL *)url
options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options {
At that moment, it is the app delegate's job to know where the ViewController is in the view controller hierarchy, and even to arrange the view controller hierarchy so that the ViewController's scene is showing if it wasn't already, in response to the link message.
How you do that depends on the structure of your view controller hierarchy. You start at the top of the hierarchy, which, for the app delegate, is [[self window] rootViewController], and work your way down to the existing view controller you want to talk to.
You have not told us your view controller hierarchy structure, so it's impossible to help in detail. But let's say, for example, that your app revolves around a navigation controller interface. Then, for the app delegate, [[self window] rootViewController] is the navigation controller, and so you can cast to that class: (UINavigationController*)[[self window] rootViewController]. Then, if the ViewController is the navigation controller's root view controller, you take its viewControllers[0] to reach it, and again you cast as needed:
UINavigationController* nav = (UINavigationController*)[[self window] rootViewController];
ViewController* vc = (ViewController*)nav.viewControllers[0];
Now you can send the doSomething message to vc. But that's just an illustration; the precise details will depend on where the ViewController really is, within the view controller hierarchy. And of course you might also want to pop view controllers so that the ViewController's scene is actually showing, since you likely cannot guarantee that it is showing at the time the link message comes in.
Another completely different way of handling this situation is to use the NSNotificationCenter to post a notification for which the ViewController instance has registered. That is often a solution when you do not know exactly where in the view controller hierarchy your view controller is. But in this situation, you should know that.
Try the below code :
AppDelegate.m :
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
// Override point for customization after application launch.
[[ViewController sharedInstance] doSomething];
return YES;
}
ViewController.h
+ (ViewController *)sharedInstance;
- (void)doSomething;
ViewController.m
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
+ (ViewController *)sharedInstance {
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:nil];
return [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"ViewController"];
}
- (void)doSomething {
NSLog(#"ViewController is doing something");
}
Output :
ViewController is doing something
I don't have any errors or warnings but the method doSomething has never been call. Any of you knows why or what I'm doing wrong?
It happens because you haven't initialised an instance of ViewController. So, you have a nil at mainView. When you try to send a message "doSomething" to mainView you send message to nil. At Objective-C when you send a message to nil nothing is happens.
You should initialise an instance before you try to invoke the method. For example, at didFinishLaunchingWithOptions with such code:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
self.mainView = [ViewController new];
return YES;
}
It will works if you create views programatically. If you use a storyboards or xib you should use another methods.
Now you should see "doing something" at console when openURL is invoked.
BTW, you have a retain cycle between app delegate and view controller. So, your mainView will never release even if you make it explicitly nil. To avoid a retain cycle you should use attribute weak at ViewController.h:
#property (nonatomic, weak) AppDelegate *delegate;
You can do that by the below code but excuse me for doing it with Swift:
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {
var window: UIWindow?
var mainVC: ViewController?
func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
// Override point for customization after application launch.
mainVC = ViewController()
mainVC?.doSomething()
setupMainViewController()
return true
}
func application(_ application: UIApplication, open url: URL, sourceApplication: String?, annotation: Any) -> Bool {
mainVC?.doSomething()
return true
}
func setupMainViewController(){
guard window != nil else{
window = UIWindow(frame: UIScreen.main.bounds)
window?.rootViewController = mainVC
window?.makeKeyAndVisible()
return
}
window?.rootViewController = mainVC
}
and the MainViewController will be:
class ViewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
doSomething()
}
func doSomething(){
print("do something with \(self)")
}
I appreciate all the other answers, I come here with a different approach. Generally, I used in my projects.
NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter Please check the code below.
Viewcontroller.m
#interface ViewController ()
#end
#implementation ViewController
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
//self.delegate = (AppDelegate*)[[UIApplication sharedApplication]delegate];
}
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated{
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
// HERE REGISTER NOTIFICATION WHEN SCREEN IS APPEAR
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self
selector:#selector(doSomething:)
name:#"TestNotification"
object:nil];
}
// HERE ADDS NOTIFICAIOTN AS PARAMETERS
- (void)doSomething :(NSNotification *) notification
{
NSLog(#"doing something");
// IF YOU PASSED VALUE WITH THE NOTIFICAIONT THEN IT WILL SHOW HERE
NSDictionary *userInfo = notification.userInfo;
id myObject = [userInfo objectForKey:#"someKey"];
}
- (void)viewDidDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewDidDisappear:animated];
// HERE REMOVE NOTIFICATION OBSERVER
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self];
}
AppDelegate.m :
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)app
openURL:(NSURL *)url
options:(NSDictionary<UIApplicationOpenURLOptionsKey,id> *)options
{
//WITHOUT SENDING ANY DATA
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter]
postNotificationName:#"TestNotification"
object:self];
// IF YOU WANT TO SEND ANY INFROMATION THEN PLEASE USE THIS METHODS
NSDictionary *userInfo =
[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:myObject forKey:#"someKey"];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:
#"TestNotification" object:nil userInfo:userInfo];
return YES;
}
Here you do not need to check the visible view controller and no allocation required. if your screen is in the top then your methods are called otherwise not.
Good luck! :-)

How to display a specific UIViewController when a push notification is received and tapped

I want to display a specific UIViewController when a push notification is received and the user tap on that notification. I made some research and tried a few things without success.
I tried the following code, it works on UIAlertController but it didn't display the specific UIViewController I wanted. Please help me out. I am using Xcode 6.3.
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
NSDictionary *userInfo = [launchOptions valueForKey:#"UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey"];
NSDictionary *apsInfo = [userInfo objectForKey:#"aps"];
if(apsInfo) {
UIStoryboard *myStoryBoard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
notificationViewController *nvc = [myStoryBoard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"notificationViewController"];
[self.window.rootViewController presentViewController:nvc animated:YES completion:nil];
}
return YES;
}
Thanks in advance
You could create a 'Router' object that handle the notification payload, and pass that object from ViewController to ViewController, building the navigation stack step by step.
Here is a link to a sample project I made to illustrate that concept. For the sake of the demo, the 'Router' is built following a call to buildNavigationStack in application:application handleOpenURL:, but you could easily change that to use the userInfo dictionary received in application:didReceiveRemoteNotification:fetchCompletionHandler:.
For this need, I create a UIViewController variable called currentViewController in my AppDelegate class or my Singleton class if it exists in the project.
For every VC created, I add the following line inside the viewWillAppear and viewDidAppear:
[(myAppDelegate *)[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate] setCurrentViewController:self];
This way the VC being shown on the screen is always kept in an ivar.
So in - (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo or where ever you are presenting the alertViewController you can present or push your new VC easily.
[self.currentViewController presentViewController:vc animated:YES completion:nil];
Full Detail Solution:
In this approach the critical and tricky part is setting the currentViewController in a singleton class. Rest will be very straight forward.
Create Singleton Class:
//CapsHelper.h
#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface CAPSHelper : NSObject
{
}
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIViewController * currentViewController;
+ (instancetype)sharedHelpers;
//CapsHelper.m
#import "CAPSHelper.h"
#interface CAPSHelper ()
#end
#implementation CAPSHelper
#synthesize currentViewController;
#pragma mark Singleton Methods
+ (instancetype) sharedHelpers
{
static CAPSHelper *sharedMyManager = nil;
static dispatch_once_t onceToken;
dispatch_once(&onceToken, ^{
sharedMyManager = [[self alloc] init];
});
return sharedMyManager;
}
Lets say you have around 10 viewcontrollers in your app called VC1, VC2, .., VC10 etc. In each VC's viewWillAppear:animated:
- (void)viewWillAppear:(BOOL)animated
{
[super viewWillAppear:animated];
[[CAPSHelper sharedHelpers] setCurrentViewController:self]
}
Or if this seems like lots of repetition, you can create a new class and override viewWillAppear:animated: and you wont have trouble trying to remember adding above to new VC's you will create in the future.
At this moment we are all set, every time a VC is being presented to the screen, we are holding it in a variable called currentViewController, and it is accessible from everywhere by importing #import "CAPSHelper.h"
//AppDelegate.m
#import "AppDelegate.h"
#import "CAPSHelper.h"
#interface AppDelegate ()
#end
#implementation AppDelegate
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
NSDictionary *userInfo = [launchOptions valueForKey:#"UIApplicationLaunchOptionsRemoteNotificationKey"];
NSDictionary *apsInfo = [userInfo objectForKey:#"aps"];
if(apsInfo)
{
if([[CAPSHelper sharedHelpers] currentViewController])
{
//UIViewController * pushNotificationViewController = [[UIViewController alloc] ..... This is your specific VC which you want to present when a PN is recieved..
[[[CAPSHelper sharedHelpers] currentViewController] presentViewController:pushNotificationViewController animated:YES completion:nil];
}
}
}
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didReceiveRemoteNotification:(NSDictionary *)userInfo
{
NSDictionary *apsInfo = [userInfo objectForKey:#"aps"];
if(apsInfo)
{
if([[CAPSHelper sharedHelpers] currentViewController])
{
//UIViewController * pushNotificationViewController = [[UIViewController alloc] ..... This is your specific VC which you want to present when a PN is recieved..
[[[CAPSHelper sharedHelpers] currentViewController] presentViewController:pushNotificationViewController animated:YES completion:nil];
}
}
}

iOS: access to firstviewcontroller by AppDelegate

I want to access to an IBOutlet of my first Viewcontroller by AppDelegate class. My project is based with a storyboard and there isn't the reference with the first Viewcontroller.
What's the to do it?
I know that I should set this IBOutlet as a property in first Viewcontroller, but in AppDelegate? How I can access to it?
Thanks
You can access your rootViewController from your app's delegate with :
self.window.rootViewController
Example :
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
MyVCClass *firstVC = (MyVCClass*)self.window.rootViewController;
[firstVC someMethod];
}
Careful, your ViewController may not have been yet loaded / initiated.
Because you don't set the rootViewController for your app's UIWindow, then doing
[[UIApplication sharedApplication].keyWindow rootViewController] will give you nil.
If you use storyboards for your navigation then simply you can do this to get the rootViewController
UIViewController *vc = [self.navigationController.viewControllers objectAtIndex:0];
First import your ViewController in AppDelegate.m like this :
#import "YourViewController"
Then in AppDelegate.m place the below code
#implementation AppDelegate
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: (NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
YourViewController * view = [[YourViewController alloc]init];
self.window.rootViewController = view;
}

How to detect if your ViewController was pushed from AppDelegate?

In my AppDelegate, I present a ViewController if the user types in my custom url scheme. It works as my ViewController is presented. However, I need to detect if my ViewController was pushed from App delegate. What is the best method or course of action to do this? I only want to detect if it comes from AppDelegate and no where else.
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
openURL:(NSURL *)url
sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication
annotation:(id)annotation {
// attempt to extract a token from the url
ViewController *controller = [[ViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"ViewController" bundle:nil];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:controller animated:YES];
EDIT:To clarify what I am trying to do better, when appdelegate presents my viewcontroller I need to be able to detect inside my viewcontroller that it appeared because of the method inside app delegate. So kind of like this
ViewController
-(void) ViewDidLoad{
if (this controller was presented from App delegate){
do this
}
else{
do nothing
}
Do it simply like this :
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
openURL:(NSURL *)url
sourceApplication:(NSString *)sourceApplication
annotation:(id)annotation {
ViewController *controller = [[ViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"ViewController" bundle:nil];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:controller animated:YES];
// here you know that your controller is pushed from the AppDelegate, then you can do other things just after the push
[controller callControllerPublicMethod];
}
And when you push it in an other controller, simply do not do anything.
Why not just write your own custom initializer method in the ViewController and when called from the app delegate set a parameter to true, and everywhere else set it to false.

UITabBarButton without switching to another view

Does anyone know of a way to have a UITabBarButton that, rather than segueing to another view controller, will perform another function, e.g. call a method?
My iPad app utilises a tab bar but the client wants the right-most button to perform a check for updates on a server; however I can't seem to to figure out how to have a button that won't switch views when pressed. I tried deleting the segue but that removes the button as well.
-EDIT-
screenshot and code snippet added for clarity. The tab labelled Sync is the one I want not to open a viewController:
AppDelegate.h:
#interface AppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate, UITabBarControllerDelegate>
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIWindow *window;
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIViewController *viewController;
#end
AppDelegate.m
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
UITabBarController *tabBarController = (UITabBarController *)self.window.rootViewController;
tabBarController.delegate = (id)self;
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(applicationDidTimeout:) name:kApplicationDidTimeoutNotification object:nil];
return YES;
}
and:
- (BOOL)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController shouldSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController {
NSLog(#"vc = %#", viewController);
return YES;
}
Look at the UITabBarControllerDelegate method :
– tabBarController:shouldSelectViewController:
If selectViewController == your last tab bar, return NO and perform others actions
EDIT :
Look at the example I've made :
AppDelegate.h
#interface ISAppDelegate : UIResponder <UIApplicationDelegate, UITabBarControllerDelegate>
#property (strong, nonatomic) UIWindow *window;
#end
AppDelegate.m
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
// Override point for customization after application launch.
UITabBarController *tabBarController = (UITabBarController *)self.window.rootViewController;
tabBarController.delegate = (id)self;
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)tabBarController:(UITabBarController *)tabBarController shouldSelectViewController:(UIViewController *)viewController {
// here check if "viewController" is your last tab controller, then return NO and perform some actions you need
if (viewController = self.lastTabController) {
// do some actions
return NO;
}
return YES;
}

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