How to programmatically create and populate nested UITableViewControllers? - ios

Question

I have an application that starts with a list of tasks and drills down through one or two list views to a final UIViewController. Due to the project requirements, these view controllers need to be created and navigated programmatically, not via segues in Interface Builder. I have accomplished this with single lists and regular view controllers, but one case has me stumped.
I currently have several UITableViewControllers in Interface Builder that point to other UITableViewControllers, basically a drill-down list. I'm unsure how to create a list item in my UITableViewController that creates another UITableViewController populated with list items I send it, and then navigates to it.
I need the UITableViewController to be generic, so I can create multiple drill-down lists using the same UITableViewController code.
Does this make sense? I feel like it should be a simple thing, but my brain just hasn't made the connection on how yet.
EDIT: Let me try to better illustrate my problem. My UITableViewController contains list items that are passed to it, and an array of objects associated with those items. The UITableViewController uses these objects to create the final UIViewController screen in most cases.
TableVC.h
#interface TableVC : UITableViewController <UITableViewDataSource, UITableViewDelegate>
//Menu items
#property NSMutableArray *itemList;
//Objects to pass to the detail ViewController
#property NSMutableArray *itemObjectList;
- (void)initWithList:(NSMutableArray *)items :(NSMutableArray *)objects :(NSString *)title;
#end
TableVC.m
NSMutableArray *items = [NSMutableArray arrayWithObjects:
NSLocalizedString(#"List Item 1",nil),
NSLocalizedString(#"List Item 2",nil), nil];
NSMutableArray *objects = [[NSMutableArray alloc]init];
MenuListObject *obj1 = [[MenuListObject alloc]init];
obj1.name =NSLocalizedString(#"Name",nil);
obj1.department=NSLocalizedString(#"Department",nil);
obj1.address=#"Address";
obj1.imgName=#"XXXYY.jpg";
obj1.menuIndex=0;
obj1.typeFlag=#"F";
...
[objects addObject:obj1];
[objects addObject:obj2];
TableVC *vc = [[TableVC alloc]init];
[vc initWithList:items :objects :NSLocalizedString(#"My Title",nil)];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:vc animated:YES];
However in some cases the list items don't go to a UIViewController. Instead they lead to another list, which then ends up at the UIViewController. I know how to create list items, but not a list item that leads to another UITableViewcontroller.
If there's a better way to handle all of this, I'm open to suggestions.

Answer 1

You can do this with segues aswell. Just make a "dummy segue" from a bar button item back to the view controller itself.
See this screenshot:
Then you can trigger this segue programmatically - i.e. when tapping a cell in a table view - to make an "infinite" stack of the same view controller.
And if you don't want segues. Just create the view controller programmatically, and push it manually. The same "reuse"-concept applies here.

Answer 2

Declare a class of type UITableViewController.
In it's .h file, declare an NSArray to hold the data.
In the .m file, implement the tableview delegate and data source methods, using the array as the data source.
In your calling tableViewController, in tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath:,
create a new instance of the tableviewController class,
then set it's array to the list of items you want to pass it,
and push it:
[self.navigationController pushViewController:_the_new_instance_ animated:YES];

Answer 3

I ended up using a third type flag in my TableViewController to denote when a list item should fire off a new list view rather than go to my destination UIViewController.
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
MenuListObject *obj = nil;
for (int i=0; i<self.itemObjectList.count; i++){
obj = [self.itemObjectList objectAtIndex:i];
if (obj.menuIndex == indexPath.row){
break;
}
}
if (obj!=nil)
{
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
if ([obj.typeFlag isEqualToString:#"F"])
{
if (obj.url ==nil)
{
FacilityDetailVC *vc = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"FacilityDetail"];
vc.name=obj.name;
vc.department=obj.department;
...
[self.navigationController pushViewController:vc animated:YES];
}
else if ([obj.typeFlag isEqualToString:#"T"])
{
TextDetailVC *vc = [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"TextDetail"];
vc.titleText=obj.titleText;
vc.descriptionText=obj.descriptionText;
vc.URL=obj.url;
[self.navigationController pushViewController:vc animated:YES];
}
//This is the part I added, to redirect to the UITableViewController
else if ([obj.typeFlag isEqualToString:#"L"])
{
TableVC *vc = [[TableVC alloc]init];
[vc initWithList:obj.listItems :obj.listObjects :obj.titleText];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:vc animated:YES];
}
}