Custom UIView variable / property Access - ios

Question

I've managed to setup a custom UIView class with a nib.
My .h looks like
#interface MyView : UIView <UITextFieldDelegate>
#property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UITextField *textField;
#property (nonatomic, strong) MyView *topView;
And .m
#implementation MyView
NSString *_detail;
-(id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder{
if ((self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder])&&self.subviews.count==0){
MyView *v = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"MyView" owner:self options:nil] objectAtIndex:0];
self.textField = v.textField;
if (self.topView == nil)self.topView = self;
v.topView = self.topView;
[self addSubview:v];
}
return self;
}
-(NSString *)topDetail{
return _detail;
}
-(NSString *)detail{
return [self.topView topDetail];
}
-(void)setTopDetail:(NSString *)detail{
_detail = detail;
}
-(void)setDetail:(NSString *)detail{
[self.topView setTopDetail:detail];
}
- (BOOL)textFieldShouldReturn{
//here I show an UIAlertView using self.detail for the message
}
Note: The setup I have works exactly how I want it to.
The problem
What I would like to do is remove my manual detail methods and turn NSString *_detail into #property (...)NSString *detail
When I try it with the #property, then within my ViewController if i call
myView.detail = someString, myView will be referring to the top most view. Then if textFieldShouldReturn gets called because of user interaction, then it calls the nested MyViews _detail which has not been set.
What I want:
To not have to write extra code for access to _detail regardless of where I'm accessing it from. I want to merely declare the property and go on with my usual coding.

Answer 1

Your problem is that you're trying to keep the a class reference, topView, with an object property.
In other words every objects' topView is the object itself, which makes no sense.
Your definition should be:
#interface MyView : UIView <UITextFieldDelegate>
// Class "properties"
+ (instancetype)topview;
+ (void)setTopView:(UIView *)topView;
// Object properties
#property (nonatomic, weak) IBOutlet UITextField *textField;
#property (nonatomic, strong) NSString *detail;
Now you can keep track of the topView:
static MyView * _topView;
#implementation MyView
+ (instancetype)topView {return _topView}; // You could also create one here lazily
+ (void)setTopView:(UIView *)topView { _topView = topView };
-(id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder{
if ((self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder])&&self.subviews.count==0){
JUITextFieldHint *v = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:#"JUITextFieldHint" owner:self options:nil] objectAtIndex:0];
self.textField = v.textField;
if ([MyView topView] == nil)[MyView setTopView:self];
v.topView = self.topView;
[self addSubview:v];
}
return self;
}
No more need for manual setters and getters. Now you can use your detail property, either with anyInstance.detail or [MyView topView].detail, or even MyView.topView.detail if you like dots like me ;)
You're init method still looks weird but should work. Check Apples init template.
Lastly, textField can be weak as long as it has a superview, otherwise make it strong.

Answer 2

My xib contained one UIView (no controller). I had the UIView set to MyView for the class.
I changed the UIView back to just UIView then set File's Owner to MyView. This solved issues of recursion (which is why I had such a weird setup in the first place) and caused my variables and IBOutlets to be linked up properly.
Credit goes to How do I create a custom iOS view class and instantiate multiple copies of it (in IB)? and some of the comments which I missed the first couple times I read through it.