How open a viewController from inside a Static Library in Xcode? - ios

Question

I have a static library that contains a view controller class.
How on a new project in Xcode after include the static library (and headers) can I call this viewController?
View controller on static library:
#import "VC.h"
#interface VC ()
#property (nonatomic, strong) UILabel *label;
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIWindow *window;
#end
#implementation VC
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
_window = [[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
_window.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
[self.view addSubview: _window];
[super viewDidLoad];
self.label = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(115.0f, 150.0f, 200.0f, 30.0f)];
self.label.text = #"hello world!";
[self.view addSubview:self.label];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
#end
I have tried to allocate this ViewController in a new project and call it... but do not work:
VC *vc = [[VC alloc] init];
[self presentViewController:vc animated:YES completion:nil];
Am I missing something else?
* UPDATE
After the last edit, now I can see the viewcontroller, but it's not on top of the main viewcontroller and it becomes black after it loads... any thoughts?

Answer 1

There are a few ways to do this. I would say the most simple way to do this is simply include your viewControllers .xib or storyBoard as files in a folder with the library. If there is no good reason why users cannot have access to this, it shouldn't be that big of an issue.
The other way to do it would be to use the universal framework to make your library. This will return two frameworks for you when you compile it, one with the suffix .framework and the other with the suffix .embeddedframework. The latter will have links to your resources.
The final way to do it is include it in your project as a bundle. This is a somewhat involved and non-intuive process compared to the above ones.
EDIT:
If you are doing it not with a storyboard or .xib file you need to actually alloc and init self.view. It isn't getting loaded in from a storyboard, so you need to load it yourself. That's the issue with this code.

Answer 2

I was missing the basic structure for the view controller.
Creating an UIWindow inside the viewController fixed the problem for me.
Full Source code:
Static library view controller file (VC.m):
#import "VC.h"
#interface VC ()
#property (nonatomic, strong) UILabel *label;
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIButton *button;
#property (nonatomic, strong) UIView *window;
#end
#implementation VC
- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
if (self) {
// Custom initialization
}
return self;
}
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
// CREATE UIVIEW INSIDE VIEW CONTROLLER
_window = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]];
_window.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
// CREATE BUTTON TO CLOSE VIEW CONTROLLER AFTER IS SHOWN
_button = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
[_button addTarget:self action:#selector(closeWindow:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchDown];
[_button setTitle:#"Close View" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
_button.frame = CGRectMake(115.0f, 150.0f, 200.0f, 30.0f);
// ADD BUTTON TO THE UIWINDOW
[_window addSubview: _button];
// ADD UIWINDOW TO VIEW CONTROLLER
[self.view addSubview: _window];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view.
}
- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning
{
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#pragma mark - Close ViewController
- (IBAction)closeWindow:(id)sender {
[self dismissViewControllerAnimated:YES completion:nil];
}
#end
After import the static library and headers to a new app you can invoke the view controller with an IBAction like this:
#import "VC.h" //header for viewcontroller code in static library
...
-(IBAction)callVC:(id)sender {
VC *vc = [[VC alloc] init];
[self presentViewController:vc animated:YES completion:nil];
}