How to open url from table cells in webview iOS - ios

Question

I have just figured out how to make a tabbed navigation controller open in two table views. I would like to be able to click on one of the table cells (6 on a page), and for this to open the url in a webview.
This is my code:
#import "FlashTopicsEViewController.h"
#import "ADVTheme.h"
#implementation FlashTopicsEViewController
#synthesize webView;
NSArray *flashtopicsEth;
NSArray *urlLinks;
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.;
self.view.backgroundColor = [ADVTheme viewBackgroundColor];
self.view.tintColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
flashtopicsEth = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"Topic1",#"Topic2", nil];
urlLinks = [[NSArray alloc] initwithObjects:#"http://url1.com", #"http://url2.com",nil];
webView.delegate = self;
NSURL *URL = [NSURL URLWithString: urlLinks[indexPath.row]];
NSURLRequest *requestObj = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];
[webView loadRequest:requestObj];
}
and this is the code below it:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView
cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
static NSString *simpleTableIdentifier = #"FlashTopicECell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView
dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];
if (cell == nil) {
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc]
initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault
reuseIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];
}
UIImage *image1 = [UIImage imageNamed:#"flashImage.png"];
cell.imageView.image = image1;
cell.textLabel.text = [flashtopicsEth objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
return cell;
}
and this is what I have in my .h file
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface FlashTopicsEViewController : UIViewController
#property NSArray *urlLinks;
#property NSArray *flashtopicsEth;
#property (nonatomic,strong) IBOutlet UIWebView *webView;
#end

Answer 1

#matt is right, this is beyond trivial to do lol :) But anyway, what you need to do is to make use of one of UITableView's delegate methods called "didSelectRowAtIndexPath". This will detect when a cell is tapped:
Your question is very basic and not detailed, so for the purposes of this basic answer, I am going to declare a UIWebView in the header file and then use that. You will need to add it to your ViewController and link it up. I also do NOT know how you are storing your URLs, I presume you are using an array? Well for the purposes of this answer, I will too.
IBOutlet UIWebView *websiteView;
NSArray *urlLinks;
Now on to the implementation code:
-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
// Get the cell number that was tapped and then
// use that to access your array of URLs.
// Then pass that URL to a UIWebView.
NSURL *URL = [NSURL URLWithString:urlLinks[indexPath.row]];
NSURLRequest *requestObj = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];
[websiteView loadRequest:requestObj];
}
Also in the viewDidLoad, set the webview delegate like so:
websiteView.delegate = self;
Update - In answer to your comments
Ok so in my answer I just assumed you are using an array for the list of URLs. But there are other ways too. You don't have to use an array if you don't want to.
As to how you populate the array? Well that depends on quite a few things:
1) Are you downloading a list of URLs from a server?
2) Are you setting the list of URLs in your code?
If you are doing option 1, then you are probably parsing something like a JSON file which you are downloading from a server. In this case you may want to use something a long the lines of:
urlLinks = [[feed objectForKey:#"items"] valueForKey:#"url"];
The above code will put all the url links into your array. (This is just a very tiny snippet - not the whole code - just to give you an idea).
If you are going with option 2, so you already know the list of URLs and you want to define them in your app, then just do this:
NSArray *urlLinks = [[NSArray alloc] initwithObjects:#"http://url1.com", #"http://url2.com", ...etc.... , nil];
Right so to then access the URLs, you need to basically get the string from the correct array object and then turn that into an NSURL and then pass that to your webview like so:
NSURL *URL = [NSURL URLWithString:urlLinks[indexPath.row]];
NSURLRequest *requestObj = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];
[websiteView loadRequest:requestObj];
Lastly, how you present your UIWebView is up to you. It doesn't have to be in a seperate ViewController if you dont want it to. Thats up to you. But if you do, then yes, the next bit is to present the next view controller on screen. Just remember you will have to pass your URL to it, if you want the UIWebView in that view controller to present your website.
Update 2 - in answer to your question/code
Ok there are a few things wrong with your code:
Get rid of the "etc...." bit in your array declaration.... Lol I only added that to help you understand how to populate the array. So it should really be:
flashtopicsEth = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"Topic1",#"Topic2", nil];
You have just randomly inserted your array code in your implementation (.m) file.... that's not where you put it. You can insert it in methods such as the viewDidLoad or other methods that you make yourself. You can't just randomly add it wherever you feel like. So for the purposes of keeping things simple, lets start with just assigning the arrays in the viewDidLoad like so:
-(void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
flashtopicsEth = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:#"Topic1", #"Topic2", nil];
urlLinks = [[NSArray alloc] initwithObjects:#"http://url1.com",#"http://url2.com", nil];
webView.delegate = self;
NSURL *URL = [NSURL URLWithString: urlLinks[indexPath.row]];
NSURLRequest *requestObj = [NSURLRequest requestWithURL:URL];
[webView loadRequest:requestObj];
}
Declare your NSArray's in your header file and assign them in the implementation (.m) file. Don't declare them in the viewDidLoad because they will then be local to the viewDidLoad and the other UITableView methods will not be able to access them unless your pass the array to them. For the purposes of keeping things simple (as you are a beginner), just declare them like this in your header (.h) file:
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#interface FlashTopicsEViewController : UIViewController {
NSArray *flashtopicsEth;
NSArray *urlLinks;
}
#property (nonatomic,strong) IBOutlet UIWebView *webView;
#end