My objective is to create a tabbed application, then the view for each of the tabs are constructed in separate storyboards.
My mainstoryboard is a tab view.
Then I create a secondary storyboard (storyboard#2) with 2 View Controllers. The first view controller (also ticked as initial) have a button, and segue (modal) to 2nd view.
I managed to load the view by subclassing and overriding loadView from storyboard#2.
Here's the simulator output.
When click on the "click me" button, I get a EXC_BAD_ACCESS. The segue does not work, seems like the second storyboard is not being loaded completely.
Has anyone tried to do this before and get it working? There's a youtube video from SkillMaster.net but he does not demonstrate if a segue is working under the secondary storyboard. the video is here: http://youtu.be/D4_twoYvB4M
Thanks for any input and help!
Screenshots:
http://www.box.com/s/njnyzjoqg8pnqofv838m
http://www.box.com/s/8dqygclmp5ic86e47bi5
http://www.box.com/s/k7foe7gpgh2rs3y8gqxd
http://www.box.com/s/rym111x7xqxqao51ruip
These are the best articles I've seen on multiple storyboards.
Storyboard best practices
Linking storyboards with segues
Not only does this guy tell you how to create a new storyboard in code, he
recommends multiple storyboards in practice (more modular code)
discusses when to use xibs vs storyboards (xibs hold views, storboards are based on controllers)
provides a class for linking storyboards with segues on github
Note that this last point is important because the key downside of multiple storyboards is that you can't usually link them with segues, but robs library allows that with a bit of fudging
Also see the discussed here
The OP edited his question to include the answer:
UIStoryboard* storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"HelpStoryboard" bundle:nil];
UIViewController* initialHelpView = [storyboard instantiateInitialViewController];
initialHelpView.modalPresentationStyle = UIModalPresentationFormSheet;
[self presentModalViewController:initialHelpView animated:YES];
Of course, where you call this from is meaningful, because you might have 2 storyboards and their view stack in memory. So probably best if you call this code from outside the other storyboard's view controllers.
I've examined the RBStoryboardLink approach suggested by Rhubarb.
This implementation substitutes view controller's properties which looks odd. I believe I've found the way to avoid this. Here is the demo project.
Navigation controllers
Navigation controllers could just set a referenced view controller as a root. Implementation of such view controller may look like this:
#interface ExternNavigationController : UINavigationController
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *storyboardName;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *sceneIdentifier;
#end
#implementation ExternNavigationController
- (void)awakeFromNib
{
NSAssert(self.storyboardName, #"storyboardName is required");
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:self.storyboardName bundle:nil];
UIViewController *vc = self.sceneIdentifier
? [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:self.sceneIdentifier]
: [storyboard instantiateInitialViewController];
self.viewControllers = #[vc];
}
#end
View controllers
Problems begin when you want to push a view controller defined in an external storyboard. This is the case when properties are copied. Instead of this, we can implement a custom segue which will substitute a fake destination controller with a real one from external storyboard.
#interface ExternStoryboardSegue : UIStoryboardSegue
#end
#implementation ExternStoryboardSegue
- (id)initWithIdentifier:(NSString *)identifier source:(UIViewController *)source destination:(ExternViewController *)destination
{
NSAssert(destination.storyboardName, #"storyboardName is required");
UIStoryboard *storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:destination.storyboardName bundle:nil];
UIViewController *vc = destination.sceneIdentifier
? [storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:destination.sceneIdentifier]
: [storyboard instantiateInitialViewController];
return [super initWithIdentifier:identifier source:source destination:vc];
}
- (void)perform
{
[[self.sourceViewController navigationController] pushViewController:self.destinationViewController animated:YES];
}
#end
ExternViewController is used as a placeholder and contains required for substitution properties (storyboardName and sceneIdentifier).
#interface ExternViewController : UIViewController
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *storyboardName;
#property (strong, nonatomic) NSString *sceneIdentifier;
#end
#implementation ExternViewController
#end
We need to set these properties and custom class for placeholder view controller. And also link view controller with ExternStoryboardSegue.
From one of my XIB files I am navigating into a more complicated part of the GUI, and for this part I am using a Storyboard. So a button in my XIB will navigate to the storyboard. The code I have for this is:
UIStoryboard* storyboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"MyStoryboardIdentifier" bundle:nil];
UIViewController* myStoryBoardInitialViewController = [storyboard instantiateInitialViewController];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:myStoryBoardInitialViewController animated:YES];
This will successfully push my StoryBoard onto the view. The code above is called from a buttons "Touch Up Inside" action.
As from Xcode 7(and ported back to iOS8) you can now have storyboard references. It was mentioned in this WWDC 2015 session(it starts talking about them around first hour). Basically all you had to do is select ViewController's which you wish to move to separate storyboard, and click on Editor->Refactor to Storyboard.... Give it a name and voila:
Please note that if you had VC's which are moved to the new storyboard, and are not referenced outside of it(what it should be), you should delete their references from main.storyboard(relax they will remain in newly created storyboard, you are deleting only references to them).
Apple's docs say that you may have multiple storyboards. Unfortunately they don't go into any real detail on how to do that. As you've found out, Interface Builder won't help you, so you'll have to do it in code. It works much like loading XIBs:
[UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#”MyNewStoryboard” bundle:myBundle]
Having said that, if you don't "want one big/bloated storyboard" as you said in your comment then XIBs really are the way to go. That 'bigness' is the benefit: all the transitions between VCs are laid out in one place. Having multiple storyboards is really so that you can support multiple different and unrelated flows through your app: for example, one storyboard for a complex configuration flow and another one for the main user flow.
Xcode 8.2.1
You can reference a view controller in an external storyboard.
drag a connection from the UITabBarController to the external Storyboard Reference, add it as a "view controllers" relationship. In the main storyboard it shows as "Item/square", but in the external storyboard you should add a UITabBarItem and define the name and image/s for the tab.
Attributes inspector when the Storyboard Reference is selected.
You will also need to give the external controller a "Storyboard ID" in its storyboard (not shown here), and reference it's name in the reference.
I've found that if you have a named segue in a second storyboard that you want to use in a call to performSegueWithIdenitfier: you must set the "Storyboard ID" field in the "Identity" tab on the source ViewController.
For example if you gave a VC called "ViewController1" with a segue called "segue1" to another VC, set the "Storyboard ID" of "ViewController1" to whatever (say "viewC1" or something) and then in ViewController1.m you can use [self performSegueWithIdentifier:#"segue1" sender:self].
Follow below steps to achieve this task:
Step 1 : Search for an Storyboard Reference in components (Refer Screen Shot)
Step 2 : Select new storyboard reference. (Refer Screen Shot)
Step 3: Provide new storyboard name and identifier of initial view controller's identifier (Refer Screen Shot)
Build and Run. It will Work.
Related
I wanted to have separate storyboard files for every UIViewcontrollers in my iOS app.
So how can we assign different storyboards for each controllers? Also how do we do navigation between those?
This I am doing to avoid svn conflicts while so many people working on UI.
get a reference to the storyboard...
UIStoryboard *someStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"NameOfYourStoryboard" bundle:nil];
then instantiate either the initial viewcontroller from that storyboard...
UIViewController *initialViewController = [someStoryboard instantiateInitialViewController];
or some other viewcontroller identified by it's storyboard identifier...
UIViewController *someOtherViewControllerFromTheStoryboard = [someStoryboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"SomeViewControllersStoryboardIdentifier"];
after that you can simply push (within a navigation controller) or present the new viewcontroller.
since iOS 9.0 you can even connect storyboards via storyboard references in the storyboard itself:
https://developer.apple.com/library/prerelease/ios/recipes/xcode_help-IB_storyboard/Chapters/AddSBReference.html
Keeping different storyboards for different modules is good approach. You can achieve the navigation between storyboards as follows:-
Suppose you are in A view controller and want to push another view controller named FabIdeaDetailViewController which is present in storyboard named FabIdeas:-
FabIdeaDetailViewController *horizontalListController = (FabIdeaDetailViewController*)[UIViewController instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"FabIdeaDetailViewController" fromStoryboard:#"FabIdeas"];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:horizontalListController animated:YES];
Now for pushing another view controller named WishlistViewController which is present in storyboard named Wishlist:-
UIViewController *WishlistViewController = [UIViewController instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"WishlistViewController" fromStoryboard:#"Wishlist"];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:WishlistViewController animated:YES];
first part of my question is basic understanding.
I believe the other viewControllers in the storyboard are in a "Non instantiated" form when application is launched, and are launched when they are sequed, please confirm?
Second part how do I programmatically instantiate a sibling UIViewController within the storyboard and optionally create a seque to it. I've found some code from Objective-C (pasting below) but looking for a solution in SWIFT.
MyViewController *myVC = [[UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:nil] instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:#"MyViewController"];
Your first statement is true to a certain extent. Any controller connected to one that does get instantiated by a relationship segue or an embed segue will also be instantiated (like all the children of a tab bar controller). In your code snippet, you don't need to use storyboardWithName: if you're calling that method from a controller that was created in the same storyboard; you can just use self.storyboard.
var myVC = self.storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier("MyViewController")
I'm looking how to make a start button in storyboards, but it hasnt the initwithnib code to use, like in XLB. I'm using the sprite kit. So far my code is like this.
Viewcontroller.h = mainmenu
#interface ViewController : UIViewController
- (IBAction)PlayBtn:(id)sender;
#end
And in the viewcontroller.m I want to connect it to myScene where the game is. In the myScene.m.
for that I tried using following.
- (IBAction)PlayBtn:(id)sender {
MyScene *game = [[MyScene alloc] initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
[self presentViewController:game animated:YES completion:NULL];
}
Although getting error at the initWithNibName doesnt exist. I have only used xlb before but wanted to make a game with sprite-kit.
Here is a screenshot of my storyboard. All graphics are copyrigth protected.
Cheers!
You can mix and match nib files and scenes from storyboards if you like. If you want to do that, create a nibfile (XIB file) and save it to your project. Then use initWithNibName:bundle: as always.
If you haven't created a nib, that won't work.
If you want to load your view controller scene from your storyboard you have a couple of options.
You can set up a segue by control-dragging from your current view controller to another view controller, naming the segue with a unique identifier, and then invoking the segue directly using the view controller method performSegueWithIdentifier:sender:
Another option is to give the scene itself a unique identifier, then instantiate it with instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:, and display it using presentViewController:animated:completion: just like you are trying to do now.
My iPad App has two storyBoards - FirstStoryBoard and SecondStoryBoard
I have a single ViewController
I notice that Under Project > Targets > Summary there is an option for specifying the MainStoryBoard and if I change this setting the correct story board loads correctly.
The Question - How can I change the behavior so that I can change between the first and second story board at run time. In other words I want to
First, create storyboard instance:
UIStoryboard *board = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"MyStoryboard" bundle:nil];
and then get first view controller from it:
UIViewController *vc = [board instantiateInitialViewController];
add as child view controller:
[self addChildViewController:vc];
or maybe (if you are in AppDelegate.m / application:didFinishLaunchingWithOptions: method)
self.window.rootViewController = vc;
The Question - How can I change the behavior so that I can change
between the first and second story board at run time.
You can't switch the value of the Main Storyboard setting (specified by the UIMainStoryBoard key in your Info.plist) at runtime, so do the next best thing: use a common storyboard or nib file that contains very little, and then instantiate the storyboard that you want using the UIStoryboard class. For example, you could use a simple nib file to create your app delegate, and have the app delegate's -application:willFinishLaunchingWithOptions: load first view controller from the storyboard of your choice.
I'm making an app that will have a VC doing a similar job as a UITabBarController and I'm using
[self addChildViewController:theViewController];
// [self addSubview ... etc
to put a custom UIViewController's view as a subview of my main (root) VC.
So my question is, which is the correct way to instantiate a VC and not have to build it's UI programatically - from a .xib file, or from a storyboard?
With a xib:
UICustomViewController *controller = [[UICustomViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"customVC" bundle:nil];
With a storyboard:
UICustomViewController* child = [self.storyboard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:identifier];
I believe .xib files are old stuff and storyboards are the way to go, but I also read this article, which suggests that using a storyboard to do this is a bit hacky. I don't know, any thoughts?
there is nothing any major difference in both way , they are same . but in many other angle storyboard is the straight way, there is nothing any hacky
If you want the child view controller to be present when the app opens, you can do it in a storyboard without any code at all. Add a container view to your root vc, and you will automatically get a view controller embedded in it.