Update tableView data - ios

Question

I have a UITableView embedded in a UIView that I can't figure out how to update. When I come to this page with the UITableView embedded in the UIView there's a button that when pressed brings up a modalForm. There is a textField that the user enters a name into and then presses another button to "Create" the object, dismiss the modalForm, and update the app data. However, I'm not sure how to refresh my UITableView data… Is there a way to tell the UITableView to refresh when the modalForm view is dismissed?
EDIT: I know i need to send this message [tableView reloadData]; in order to refresh, but I'm wondering where I can put it so it gets called upon dismissal of the modalForm?

Answer 1

In the view controller that is presenting and dismissing the modal, you should be calling the dismissViewControllerAnimated:completion method to dismiss the modal. The modal should not dismiss itself. You can use a completion block to execute whatever code you would like that will execute when the modal is finished dismissing. Example below.
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:^{
//this code here will execute when modal is done being dismissed
[_tableView reloadData];
}];
Of course don't forget to avoid capturing self strongly in the block.
If you end up having the modal dismiss itself, you will need either a delegate method so the modal can communicate back to the presenting view controller, or a notification sent by the modal and captured by the presenting view controller, or you could implement viewWillAppear: in the presenting view controller. This method will fire everytime the view is about to appear. Which means the very first time as well as after a modal is dismissed and is about to show the view it was presenting over top of.
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Below is an example of writing your own protocol and using it.
MyModalViewController.h
#protocol MyModalViewControllerDelegate <NSObject>
//if you don't need to send any data
- (void)myModalDidFinishDismissing;
//if you need to send data
- (void)myModalDidFinishDismissingWithData:(YourType *)yourData
#end
#interface MyModalViewController : UIViewController
#property (weak) id <MyModalViewControllerDelegate> delegate;
//place the rest of your properties and public methods here
#end
The where ever you want to in your MyModalViewController implementation file, call your delegate method of choice. You should first make sure your delegate actually responds to the selector though.
MyModalViewController.m
if ( [self.delegate respondsToSelector:#selector(myModalDidFinishDismissing)] )
[self.delegate myModalDidFinishDismissing];
In your viewcontroller that is presenting the modal, you need to state in the header file that you conform to the protocol, you need to set the delegate of the modal as the viewcontroller, and make sure you actually implement the delegate method you intend on using.
MyPresentingViewController.h
#interface MyPresentingViewController : UIViewController <MyModalViewControllerDelegate>
MyPresentingViewController.m
myModal.delegate = self;
- (void)myModalDidFinishDismissing {
//do something
[tableView reloadData];
}

Answer 2

You can have a delegate variable in your modal form class. When you dismiss your modal form, you can call something like [delegate performSelector:#selector(modalFormClosed)] which calls the [tableView reloadData].
#interface ModalForm : UIViewController
#property (nonatomic, weak) id delegate;
#end
#implementation ModalForm
- (void)viewWillDisappear:(BOOL)animated {
[super viewWillDisappear:animated];
[self.delegate performSelector:#selector(modalFormClosed)];
}
#end
In your class that uses the ModalForm:
myModalForm.delegate = self;
And make sure you have the modalFormClosed method too:
- (void)modalFormClosed {
[self.tableView reloadData];
}
Or you can send a NSNotification (look into NSNotificationCenter) when your modal form disappears.

Answer 3

I wish I had the reference, but some years ago I saw a note from Apple saying a modal view should never dismiss itself. Instead you call a method on a presenting view controller. In this method the presenter dismisses the modal view controller. Typically I put a category on my UIViewControllers:
#interface UIViewController (Extension)
-(void)simpleDismissAnimated:(BOOL)animated;
#end
#implementation UIViewController (Extension)
-(void)simpleDismissAnimated:(BOOL)animated {
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:animated completion:nil];
}
Either include it in all your view controller subclasses, or in your pch file.
So have your modal view controller call:
[self.presentingViewController simpleDismissAnimated:YES];
Then in your presenting view controller, override the implementation of simpleDismissAnimated: to something like:
-(void)simpleDismissAnimated:(BOOL)animated {
[_tableView reloadData];
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:animated completion:nil;
}
That should take care of it.

Answer 4

Try this line:
[self.tableView reloadData];

Answer 5

You can try putting [tableView reloadData] in viewWillAppear method where your tableView is.

Answer 6

I had the same problem. ReloadData didn't work me. I solved it so that i made new method like this:
- (void)insertNewString:(NSString *)text{
if (!_yourArrayWithData) {
_yourArrayWithData = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
}
[_yourArrayWithData insertObject:text atIndex:0];
NSIndexPath *indexPath = [NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:0 inSection:0];
[self.tableView insertRowsAtIndexPaths:#[indexPath] withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationAutomatic];
}
and when i want to add something to tableView, i use button with action like this:
- (IBAction)SaveNewPhrase:(id)sender {
NSString *mainText = _NewPhraseTextView.text; //I take nsstring from textView
if([mainText isEqual:#""]){
return;
}else{
NSMutableArray *contentFile = [NSArray arrayWithContentsOfFile:docPathContents()];
NSMutableArray *copyContentFile = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
//save array with new item
[copyContentFile addObject:mainText];
[copyContentFile addObjectsFromArray:contentFile];
[copyContentFile writeToFile:docPathContents() atomically:YES];
[self insertNewString:mainText]; //refresh tableView
[_NewPhraseTextView resignFirstResponder];
}}
I hope, that it helps.