I know the second button here shows the Assistant editor:
And I know how to make an Outlet and Action by Control dragging from an object in the Interface Builder to the View Controller code. Ideally it should be as easy as the documentation makes it look:
But this is usually what Xcode actually looks like for me when I press the "Assistant" editor:
A mess. I have to minimize lots of things, try to get the storyboard object in view, and then go find the right View Controller. All this before I can do the Control-drag.
Is there a way to make the connection without using the Assistant editor? (And preferably without having to type a lot of code in myself.)
Don't press the assistant editor button. Sometimes it opens a random file instead of the one you want.
When you are in Storyboard, Option click on the .h file that you want to open in the Project Navigator. This will open the proper .h file to add the outlets or actions.
When you're done, close the Assistant editor right pane (which is displaying the .h file) and you will be back in Storyboard.
Yes, you can do it without the Assistant editor and without writing lots of code. It requires learning to do two things:
Use code snippets
Use the Connections inspector
Create code snippets for the IBOutlet and IBAction
Normally when you create an IBOutlet and IBAction with the Assistant editor it automatically adds code like this to your View Controller:
#IBOutlet weak var myOutletName: UIButton!
#IBAction func myActionName(sender: AnyObject) {
}
You could type this all yourself and then add the connection in the Connection inspector, but why do all that typing? Just make a code snippet that will autocomplete. Drag the code to the Code Snippets library in the Utility panel.
Give it a title and most importantly, a Completion Shortcut. I called mine "ibaction" for the #IBAction code.
Now all I have to do is start typing "ibaction" and I can autocomplete the code snippet. I only have to edit the name of the action. It is a similar process for the Outlet.
Read more about creating code snippets:
Xcode Snippets
Creating a Custom Code Snippet
Now all you have to do is connect the IB object to the code.
Make the connection with the Connections inspector
First, click the object in the storyboard that you want to connect. For me, I am using a Button.
Then select the Connections inspector. It is on the far right.
Alternatively, you can right click or control click the object to get a menu.
Then click the New Referencing Outlet to connect it to your Outlet or the Touch Up Inside under Sent Events to connect it to your Action.
For whatever reason I find that sometimes I need to drag just a little bit after clicking the "+" button to get the menu of available connections to show up.
I need help using Interface builder to create a storyboard and initial view, using xCode 6 and Swift. I do not want to start with the template "Single View Application" but with an "Empty Application" - for learning purposes.
I am starting with File->New->Application in xCode 6.
In the left pane I have selected iOS-> Application and I am choosing the template "Empty Application"
So now, I have my empty application and I want to use Interface Builder to create a story board.
I select File-New-File - then in the left pane I select iOS-User Interface and in the right pane I select Storyboard. I call my storyboard "Main"
That seems to do nothing, so then upon examining other templates, I decided that I need to go to info.plist and add a key/value pair, and so in info.plist I added a key "Main storyboard file base name" and a value of "Main"
After that I get the error:
Failed to instantiate the default view controller for UIMainStoryboardFile 'Main' - perhaps the designated entry point is not set?
So now I go to the story board and drag and drop a "View Controller" onto the storyboard, and btw - in the View controller inspector it is checked "initial scene - Is Initial View Controller"
But this doesn't create any swift file - which may be expected, but just to be clear it doesn't. Now when I try to run, I get the error:
Application windows are expected to have a root view controller at the end of application launch
So any ideas? I am trying to figure out how you properly use Interface Builder to create a storyboard and initial view and do a basic hello world, without skipping past the use of the tool to have it created for me in a template, because my assumption is you will quickly have more complex apps than can be created from a template, and it might be good to know how to use the tools - but I am not finding documentation on the subject.
Edit: strange timing I happened to find the answer just as someone else had also correctly answered the issue for me, so I will edit this post and remove the answer - as the answer below is exactly correct.
The storyboard automatically creates the window and instantiates the initial view controller for you. The code in the app delegate is creating another window which you don't want. You should delete all the code in didFinishLaunchingWithOptions, except for "return true". It will then run properly.
I just started learning XCode, objective-c, iOS, and all that. This is my first foray into app development. I'm not new to development, just iOS development and XCode.
So I'm going through a Udemy course that has me working with storyboards and I have some concern because every professional iOS developer I know uses something called Interface Builder which apparently removes the need for storyboards.
I've only just started, so I still have only a rough idea of what a storyboard even is....it seems to just be a graphical representation of a single page view. I don't know how it relates to this so-called Interface Builder and what their relationship is.
By going through this course learning with storyboards, am I being put on the wrong track? Or is this a useful beginning step before transitioning to the Interface Builder? Will using storyboards help me to work with that later? Am I wasting my time?
The Interface Builder refers to the part of Xcode that lets you view and edit Storyboards and .xib files (it automatically opens when you click on such a file).
A .xib (or 'nib') file is a representation of a single logical view in you application (on iOS, typically a UIViewController with a number of views, such as a UIScrollView and a UINavigationBar).
A storyboard is a collection of such views, and can be used to build transitions from views to other views, among other things.
I recommend reading Apple's Documentation on storyboards to get an idea of what they can do for you.
...
Interface Builder which apparently removes the need for storyboards.
...
Actually, storyboard is a concept within Interface Builder.
It's a visual representation of the entire app flow.
I think all you need is a quick-read through the Apple Interface Builder Doc.
In basic understanding, IB is a drag-drop area to visually create your views.
To quote:
You create your app’s user interface in Interface Builder. Select a
user interface file in the project navigator, and the file’s contents
open in Interface Builder in the editor area of the workspace window.
A user interface file has the filename extension .storyboard or .xib.
Logical Example: Instead of programmatically coding a UIButton and setting it's frame or constraints, you go to the Interface Builder, select a UIButton object and place it where you would want it to go. You will also specify what the object name and what method it responds to. (but this will need the object name and method name to be defined in the respective class's .m or .h file that the view is associated with)
Interface Builder can be either XIB/nib or Storyboard. Latter of which is the more recent (and recommended) method provided by Apple.
Using a storyboard, you have one single file, a .storyboard file that will represent the entire app flow.
An app can have multiple screens/views and so a storyboard will basically represent multiple UIViewControllers, each of which will be tied to a particular class.
For example, in this storyboard, you can visually see (assumptions from here on) that you have, say, 5 screens in the entire app:
Screen 1 begins with maybe a UINavigationController
Screen 2 is the root view of this UINavigationController, say, LoginVC (tied to LoginVC.m and LoginVC.h).
A button on LoginVC takes you to, say, SignUpVC (tied to SignUpVC.m and SignUpVC.h)
Another button on LoginVC takes you to, say, ProfileVC (tied to ProfileVC.m and ProfileVC.h)
Screen 3 is SignUpVC
A button takes you back to LoginVC
Screen 4 is ProfileVC
A button takes you to SettingsVC (tied to SettingsVC.m and SettingsVC.h)
A button logs you out and takes you back to LoginVC
Screen 5 is SettingsVC
Q.
By going through this course learning with storyboards, am I being put on the wrong track?
A.
No, absolutely not. You're going in the right direction.
However, i think knowing the former XIB/nib method is worth your time as well.
Plus, programmatically creating UIViews is highly recommended.
Q.
...is this a useful beginning step before transitioning to the Interface Builder?
A.
It's already getting you acquainted with the Interface Builder so there won't really be much "transitioning" required.
Q.
Will using storyboards help me to work with that later? Am I wasting my time?
A.
Yes, unless you work in a team under version control, in which case, XIB still looks good.
So what's XIB?
It's still within the Interface Builder scope...
Break a storyboard into it's individual views and you have multiple files (.xib files) that represent a UIView or UIViewController for a single class. (hence helps when you work in a team under version control)
So now... instead of having one .storyboard, you will have multiple .xib files that will be associated to all those classes that (you deem) needed a visual representation.
Links:
Storyboard
XIB
Storyboard :
Has a nice UI designer , WYSIWYG , drag, resize design editor, that generates code and sync with manual code changes.
SwiftUI:
Code is the single source of truth. No Designer. Lots of hard coding
I have a UIViewController I created in my apps storyboard, as well as a custom UIViewController subclass which I added to the project (and is correctly in the compile phase for my target). However when I go to set the 'Custom Class' property on the view-controller in Storyboard my custom class does not show up on the list.
Checked that the class is part of my app's target, not tests'
Double checked that it is correctly a subclass of UIViewController
Compiled program just to make sure xcode was working with latest information
Restarted xcode
What would cause my class to not show up in the 'Custom Class' drop down?
Two ways I found that solve the problem but they are work arounds:-
Just type the view controllers name in the text field, or
close the project and then reopen it and in the project initialization it places the file on the list.
If you still have your problem or for those who could have the same problem:
Make sure to select on your storyboard your "ViewController" instead of your "View" (which is automatically selected when you click on the view in the storyboard). The difference between those two is that when the view controller is selected, a blue rectangle pop up around your app. To be sure to select the view controller, open the document outline and select it directly in your storyboard hierarchy.
I would try the following:
Check that the file implementing the class is part of the build phases (check under target > build phases)
Add the .m file to build phases (if it isn't already).
Restart Xcode.
You can fix this by editing the XML of your Storyboard.
Right-click your My.storyboard entry in the Project Navigator panel and select the Open As->SourceCode menu choice. Find your view controller entry in the XML, and add the attribute customClass="MyController".
Save the storyboard.
Right-click your My.storyboard entry in the Project Navigator panel again, and select the Open As->Interface Builder - Storyboard menu choice.
The custom class entry will now contain your MyController class name.
Make sure your class inherits from UIViewController.
#interface ClassName : UIViewController
In Xcode 8, a few of my classes had the wrong path (case sensitive) specified for their file locations.
MyProject/mysubdirectory/MyViewController.xib (.m, .h)
vs:
MyProject/MySubdirectory/MyViewController.xib (.m, .h)
Really not sure how it ended up in that state, but my project exhibited the exact same behavior as above (no outlets/actions displaying in IB), and fixing that path fixed the problem.
I fixed this two different ways. One way was by I opened the .pbxproj file and fixing the case sensitive issue manually. The other way that worked was by tapping the folder icon under the Identity and Type section of the File Inspector tab of the file, and re-selecting the file there.
Click on a different view controller in the storyboard, then click on it's custom class pulldown to confirm the new class is listed, but don't select it. Click back on the new view controller you made and you should see it now listed in its custom class pulldown menu. odd, eh? just forces a refresh I think.
I had been having the same issues as described in this problem. However, none of the suggested answers fixed it for me. My project compiled OK without warnings or errors, but, in the .h file there were no 'outlet' indicators to indicate that my outlets had been linked to storyboard elements.
Additionally, attempts to create new outlets in my code, by right-click and dragging into my header file, were not recognising my header source as a potential target for this operation. And furthermore, my Class did not make an appearance in the Custom-Class dropdown for the ViewController's property inspector panel.
And yet, the project compiled OK.
Closer examination showed that I had defined my own class in the following manner...
#interface KJBMainDataViewTrackConMk2<UIScrollViewDelegate> : UIViewController
which apparently compiles nicely.
But, if this is changed to the following, (moving the protocols to the end)...
#interface KJBMainDataViewTrackConMk2 : UIViewController<UIScrollViewDelegate>
Then everything springs to life. All outlets are suddenly indicated as being 'connected' with a storyboard element. And right-click dragging starts to work again, and my custom class appears in the custom-class drop-down in the property inspector panel for the storyboard ViewController!
Other answers here probably represent the most likely causes of this condition, but, I felt it worth mentioning at least this one other potential cause.
I had the same problem, but none of the other solutions worked for me. The issue for me was that I had a Mac and iOS target, both with their own versions of the same view controller. For example, I had a .h/.m pair of files named FooViewController for Mac and another .h/.m pair of files named FooViewController for iOS. Each pair was properly included with their respective targets, but for some reason Xcode does not like it and my view controller would not show up in the Custom Class dropdown in the view controller in the storyboard. I ended up renaming my class in the iOS view controller and it immediately showed up in the dropdown.
In my case, I drag a new TableViewController object to the storyboard, but I add a new file which's subclass is "UIViewController".... Then, I add a file which's subclass is "UITableViewController", problem solved!!
For those of you who are still having this problem after trying all the way around is probably because you clicked the View instead of ViewController.
You have to choose the file when ViewController is clicked.
This solved my problem.
I happened to come across this problem, and had no luck after trying the previous suggestions. Finally I found the reason is the header file's type is set to C++ header. After changing it to C header (like all the other header files), the class appears in the drop list. Don't know why though... Possibly helpful for others so I post it here.
Storyboard is looking for the custom class but physically its no there and its not displaying the custom class name in the list and also not displaying the outlets . Following solution perfectly worked for me.
Just copy your code some where else.(Lets say on desktop)
Open your existing code.
Delete the custom class file.(Move to trash)
Now add files from copied project folder (From desktop)
Don't forget to check "Copy if needed" check box
Open the story board and bingo you will get your custom class files in dropdown
be sure initially not adding the CustomViewController to any group or folder. place it in the root of your app.
none of the above(or below :) helped me. though I found that
after adding new viewcontroller to storyboard (just by dragging it in)
and adding my class by File\New\File\Objective-C Class, give it a name, no XIB, Next, Create
if I select my viewcontroller in storyboard and try to assign my class to it - my class is not there
BUT
if I click on a view that is in the viewcontroller itself then click on a class dropdown menu in Custom Class
AND THEN
select viewcontroller (click on a bar below the viewcontroller) and now again click on a class dropdown in Custom Class my newly added class magically shows up.
weird, must be a bug with refreshing. Xcode Version 5.1 (5B130a)
Make sure you select View Controller to which you want to attach your class. The easy way is open Document Outline and choose your view controller (When you tap on it form the Storyboard sometimes it simply doesn't choose the object you meant).
for my case, somehow bundle resources got deleted, so I added back and worked!
Build Phases -> Add Build Phase -> Copy Bundle Resources
find your file
Then drag and drop your file there
Then make sure your target membership is checked.
In my case, I selected the wrong UI.. so I deleted the class file and created a new one and selected the correct parent class
I had to restart XCode 7.3 (7D175)
What worked for me was, click on the file in the Project Navigator, then, in the File Inspector under "Identity and Type" beneath the "Location" dropdown box, click on the little folder icon and then select the file in the popup window.
Try to clean your project, and also restart your Mac. One peculiar thing that I did was change all the Custom Classes names and build the project again. It worked!
For macOS projects, creating a new class generated a class inheriting from NSObject instead on NSViewController.
Change from
import Cocoa
class AppsViewController: NSObject {
}
to
import Cocoa
class AppsViewController: NSViewController {
}
I was fairly frustrated with this issue as none of the answers above had solved my problem.
In my case: I was in the middle of working on swift view controller file and was making active changes (such as creating a custom collection cell class). I had not finished the code block and left it open like so :
class tableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
}
class collectionCell:
class viewController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad(){
super.viewDidload()
}
}
Note the incomplete code block 'collectionCell2'
This was enough for xcode to not recognize my viewController file as such.
Once I completed this block the file reappeared in my xcode as an option.
Very silly and simple.
Make sure the view controller is matching with the same Type in the storyboard .
In my case swift file name was different then swift class name i.e
file name was ViewControllerTest.swift
and class name was ViewController.swift
after changing both to common name solved my problem
Restart Xcode after above changes
Make sure the class name of the ViewController is the name that you want. i.e.
class MyCustomNameViewController: UIViewController {
.
.
}
Changing just the filename is not enough.
{Xcode 4.2, deployment target iOS4.3, not storyboard, using ARC}
I started with a tabbed application template & chose the universal platform, which nicely gives me view controller classes & NIB files for an iPhone (ClassName_iPhone.xib) & an iPad (ClassName_iPad.xib) for 2 tabs, with an if statement in the AppDelegate to determine which to run - exactly how I wanted it set up.
I wanted to add a 3rd & 4th tabs, so starting with the 3rd tab (doing 1 at a time) I created a new UIViewController subclass. As it doesn't give the option to create both NIBs at once, I selected "Targeted for iPad", & had intended to create the iPhone NIB manually. I added a "_iPad" suffix to the created NIB file, then I created a user interface view NIB file to which I added the "_iPhone" suffix. I then set up the code for the new view controller in the AppDelegate implementation file to include the 3rd view controller & tab, & I used the other view controller classes as a guide to set up the new class's code.
For the 3rd _iPhone NIB, I dragged a view object from the objects library onto the canvas, & set it up as per the other 2 _iPhone NIBs. But when I went to connect the outlets, there is no view outlet in the referencing outlets of the connections panel to connect with, which I thought there should be. At this point I suspected something was wrong.
I tried running it in the simulator, in iPad mode it works fine (all 3 tabs are clickable). But in iPhone mode clicking the 3rd tab crashes it with a "SIGABRT" on thread 1. It's obvious what I did didn't work. I don't see anything in the output window that gives me any clues.
Being a newbie to obj-c, so not being too sure of the problem, I would have thought that I either:
have used the wrong user interface template (view)
should have used a view controller object from the object library
(not a view)
or that I should have declared some outlets in my view controller
class files.
But if I should have done either of the latter 2, then my question would be why does the iPad NIB work then, when it clearly has a view object in the NIB & no outlets declared in the class files (same with the other 2 view controllers for both devices)?
Does the UITabView class somehow have outlets pre-declared within it for the first 2 tabs? But that still doesn't explain why the _iPad NIB works.
As usual, any help & advice much appreciated, & if there's a link to an explanation somewhere that I've missed, please show me, because I'm happy to do the research.
If what I've done wrong here is not determinable, then I guess ultimately what I'm asking is a clue to how best to create the second NIB file for iPhone to mesh with the class created with iPad NIB.
Sorry to answer my own question but with further searching I found this answer that was the solution, although not quite the whole story. So I thought to put what I did in an asnwer so others can refer to it.
As Piotr Czapla explains in the linked answer, for some reason Xcode doesn't populate the connectionRecords data, as you can see by my first red arrow. Having a look at the view controller that works (where second red arrow is), that's what the data should look like. So the answer is to cut the data & paste it into the NIB file, or type it. You can do this in Xcode by right-clicking the NIB file in the project navigatior & then Open As > Source Code, which is what you see in my screenshots.
The bit I want to add to Piotr Czapla's explanation though is the destination reference pointed to by the second red arrow might not be correct for the NIB file you're pasting into (mine wasn't) & Xcode might not let you go back into IB mode. If so, you need to get the correct reference from the IBUIView class within your NIB file, as pointed to by the third red arrow. Once I copied that reference to my destination reference ref=, as shown by the fourth red arrow, all was ok & the problem was solved. I could then go back into IB mode (right click, Open As > Interface Builder - iOS) & the view works in the simulator.