Can I send performSegueWithIdentifier: to anything other than self? - ios

I have a category on UIViewController that deals with errors coming from my networking layer. If I get an authentication error in response to a network call, I want to perform an unwind segue which takes me back to my LoginViewController.
However, I don't want to have to add the appropriate unwind segue to every single view controller in my Storyboard. Can I simply declare the unwind segue in the UITabBarController that is at the "top" of my view controller navigation, and then say
[self.tabBarController performSegueWithIdentifier:#"UnwindToLoginSegueIdentifier" sender:self]
... from inside my UIViewController+ErrorHandling category?

No, you can't do that. The unwind segue has to come from the controller you're unwinding from, and all segues need to be connected from a particular instance in the storyboard. The login view controller really should be one that's presented modally, not be one of the tabs, since you only need it briefly, then it should go away. If you set up your app that way, you can present and dismiss it from any controller (present it without animation from the controller in the first tab, if that's what you want the user to see when the app launches). You'll still have to have code in every controller to do that, unless you make a common base controller with that functionality that all the other controllers inherit from.

Related

Call function in ViewController after RelationshipSegue

I am having a multiple UIViewController embedded in a UITabbarController.
These are connected by Relationship Segues.
The starting point, VC1 initially loads data and is then processed to a "detail" view.
Whenever I change tabs and go back to VC1, the application gets stuck, as viewDidLoad is not called.
Is there a way to trigger a function each time VC1 is segued to?
the application gets stuck, as viewDidLoad is not called
The application is not stuck. It is working perfectly. viewDidLoad is called when a view controller is created and loads its view. That only happens once in the life of the view controller. When you leave a view controller and come back to it, it is still there (i.e. it is not being created from scratch), so naturally viewDidLoad is not called.
If your goal is to hear about the fact that the tab bar controller is switching to VC1, give the tab bar controller a delegate and implement tabBarController(_:didSelect:) or similar.
Even better, configure things so that there is no need to do this. If there is common data that is accessed by both view controllers, architect things so that a view controller sends new data up to a data controller and the data controller broadcasts news of the change down to all view controllers that need to know this.

Is it possible to use an unwind segue from a single modal view controller back to one of multiple instances of the same source view controller?

My Storyboard layout is such that I have MainVC connected to ModalVC via a segue that presents it modally.
However, programmatically, at runtime, I instantiate five instances of MainVC in total.
As a result, all five instances of MainVC, with the same identifier, are connected to ModalVC.
I need to change properties in MainVC after performing some actions in ModalVC and dismissing it, and there appear to be various ways to do this via segues.
The top answer here is quite detailed and explains the implementation of using an unwind segue but only in the scenario of there being one source view controller:
Passing data with unwind segue
My question is: will using a segue, like in that answer, or any other way, work in my situation, with multiple instances of the same MainVC (same identifier) attached to a single instance of ModalVC?
Will the unwind segue only transfer data or perform actions in the single MainVC instance that initiated it? Or will it end up affecting all five MainVC instances because the MainVC instances have the same identifiers? If the latter, is there any way around this?
Apple has a comprehensive technical note on how unwind segues work and how the destination view controller is determined, but, in summary, the process examines the view controller navigation hierarchy to find the first view controller that can handle the unwind segue and is willing to do so.
In your case, this would be the MainVC instance that presented the ModalVC that is unwinding. The unwind segue cannot be handled by a view controller instance that is not in the navigation hierarchy (e.g. An instance of MainVC that did not present the ModalVC)

UIStoryboard Show (e.g. push) simple inverse action to go back

In storyboard we have great feature that allow us to make Show (e.g. push). So seems the logic is next:
If we don't have navigation controller then view controller will use present modal logic. My question is there any inverse action that I can use with Show?
I have a UIButton that close current view controller screen:
- (IBAction)onTappedCloseButton:(id)sender
{
[self.navigationController popViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}
But in case if I don't have navigation controller, how can I simple use inverse action to go back? So my solution is to check if self.navigationController is nil then use dismissing option:
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
But maybe there is another cool solution like Show (e.g push). But Close (e.g. pop)?
Yes, you can use an unwind segue to go back, and it will be the reverse of whatever the forward segue was.
You have two options on how to do this:
1) The Unwind segue
To make an unwind segue you have to add a method in the view controller you want to "unwind" to with the following format:
-(IBAction)someSelectorName:(UIStoryboardSegue *)sender;
You will then be able to drag from your UIButton up to the "exit" icon in your storyboard.
Wire it up to the selector you just defined and UIKit will figure out how to get back to that view controller without you having to write any code. This can be especially useful as it can figure out when it needs to call -dismissViewControllerAnimated: more than once and can call those methods successfully. It can even unwind from within a view controller embedded in a navigation controller when the view controller you're unwinding to has the navigation controller presented on top of it. (i.e. it will do a dismissViewController instead of a pop to unwind)
2) The Custom unwind method
Say you don't want to or cant trigger this action from a storyboard. There is still an option and its detailed over at this question here:
Whats the programmatic opposite of showViewController:sender:
The gist is you can write your own generic dismiss method by implementing categories on the UIKit container View controllers (or on your own container)

My Navigation Controller Count Keeps Growing

I'm new to iOS dev and am not entirely sure on Storyboards/Segues/Pushing and Popping.
So in my app I have a navigation controller with 5 view controllers leading from one to another.
When it reaches the last view controller i have a segue to the first and I have a few tasks listed in the prepareForSegue method.
Out of curiosity I decided to check what happens to the [self.navigationController.viewControllers count]. I found that it keeps growing and growing which doesn't 'feel' correct.
Am i handling going back to the first screen correctly? The prepareForSegue method is useful as it allows me to send some data back to the first segue. Is it possible to maybe say when you go back clear all views on that navigation controller?
Thanks
You can use an unwind segue. Here's a good tutorial:
pragmaticstudio.com/blog/2013/2/5/unwind-segues
Make sure to create the unwind action method before you wire it up in the storyboard otherwise it won't show up when you drag to 'Exit'. That was the most confusing part for me when I first set one up. The tutorial does it in the correct order so if you follow it you should be fine.
Also, here's a sample I put together showing how to transfer data back in an unwind segue. It uses a modally presented view controller but the technique is the same:
github.com/soleares/AddToTableView
No, you should never go backwards with a segue (other than an unwind). Segues ALWAYS instantiate new controllers, so you're not actually going back to the first controller, you're just creating a new instance, which gets added to the stack. So either go back with an unwind segue or use popToViewController:animated:. Using an unwind segue will allow you to use prepareForSegue, and it does cause all the controllers in between to be deallocated (if you have no other strong pointers to them).

About passing data between view controllers with delegate

FIRST SCENARIO:
I have two view controllers
VC1 has a button, and a label
VC2 has a button, and a text field
theres a modal segue between VC1 -> VC2
when I run this segue, we set VC1, as the delegate for VC2.
We go to VC2, fill out the text field, hit the button, and VC2 is dismissed.
some delegated method is run on VC1, and VC1.label is filled in.
question: is there any way to do this without dismissing VC2.. for example, if VC2.button just modal segues us back, or slides us back to VC1 im assuming it re initializes the viewcontroller and the label wont be changed. do you always have to dismiss the view controller
SCENARIO 2:
again, two view controllers.
this time its reversed.. so i have
VC1 with a textfield and a button
VC2 with a label and a button
soo now we fill out VC1, and we expect it to show up on VC2. But without a segue, they have no relationship. is there any way to pass data between VCs using delegation without one initial segue? Is this segue requirement to use delegation something specific to view controllers? Im assuming it is because in other cases we just instantiate objects, and use their delegate methods. but with view controllers we want to reference one that is already created, and not instantiate a second one.
note: im using story boards
1) You could do it without dismissing VC2, but it's not a good idea. You don't want to segue "back" to one, because, as you surmised, you're actually creating a new instance of VC1, and then if you segue again to VC2, you're creating a new instance of that too. You will keep piling up more and more instance of the two controllers and none will ever be deallocated.
2) Again, your instincts are correct -- you need to somehow get a reference to the instance of VC2 that your putting on screen in order to set yourself as delegate. You don't have to have a segue to do that, you could create the second controller in code and do a manual push or presentViewController, but that's functionally, the same as doing a segue.
Sorry, dont fully understand what you want .. but here is my take.
FIRST SCENARIO:
Why would you need to update the view that isnt on screen ?
Just update in viewWillAppear.
Otherwise you can have the delegate update it when you finish editing that textfield.
SCENARIO 2:
You need a link between the view controllers, use segues makes easy, set as delegate and pass along the info. Why make it harder than it needs to be
Many things have delegates, textfields etc, you are just saying this class / obj will do something for something else.
There are many youTubes about delegates, ie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNmZEXNQheE
For more info see this stack post - it covers everything you need to know
Passing Data between View Controllers

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