Getting URL from cell using something like indexPath.row - uitableview

Question

I am trying to get a URL from a cell. To do this, I am using NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForSelectedRow]; and then would like to do something like NSURL *url = self.finalURL[indexPath.row] but because indexPath.row is only for Arrays, this doesn't work. Is there a way to achieve the same thing as indexPath.row but for objects not in an array.
Here is how I am saving the url:
cell.finalURL = self.finalURL;

Answer 1

A cell doesn't have a URL, unless you create a subclass of the cell and add that property to is. Conventionally, you will have an array of objects, strings, dictionaries, etc., and that is your tableView's data source.
If I had an array with three NSURLs in it called myArray that contained google, amazon, and bing, and I wanted to display three cells with the respective labels matching the items in the array, I would implement the following code:
#pragma mark - Table view data source
- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView {
// we only want a single section for this example
return 1;
}
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
// this tells the tableView that you will have as many cells as you have items in the myArray array
return myArray.count;
}
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
// first we try to reuse a cell (if you don't understand this google it, there's a million resources)
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:#"cell"];
// if we were unable to reuse a cell
if (cell == nil) {
// we want to create one
cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:#"cell"];
// here is where we do ANY code that is generic to every cell, such as setting the font,
// text color, etc...
cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor redColor];
}
// here is where we do ANY code that is unique to each cell - traits that are based on your data source
// that you want to be different for each cell
// first get the URL object associated with this row
NSURL *URL = myArray[indexPath.row];
// then set the text label's text to the string value of the URL
cell.textLabel.text = [URL absoluteString];
// now return this freshly customized cell
return cell;
}
That, along with the rest of the default tableview code and setting up the array itself, results in the following:
When a user taps on a cell you can access the URL in the array and do something with it like so:
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
// first deselect the row so it doesn't stay highlighted
[tableView deselectRowAtIndexPath:indexPath animated:YES];
// get the URL associated with this cell by using indexPath.row as an index on your
// data source array, if you tapped the first cell, it will give you back the first URL in your array...
NSURL *selectedURL = myArray[indexPath.row];
// do something with that URL here...
}
Think of your table view's data source as a bunch of little cubbies. You can create the data source in a million different ways, but once you have it you basically take the items and place them in numbered cubbies. Your table view create's itself based on what's in those cubbies, so to make the first cell it looks in the first cubbie, and so on, and later on when a user selects a cell from that tableview, all the table view does is tell you the cubbie number that was selected, and it's your job to use that information to retrieve the data from that specific cubbie and do what you need to with it. Hope that helps!