OBJ C - How to get the textfield name from a sender - objective-c

Question

I have several textfields, each with tags, that I want to individually add to an array. I need to figure out which field it is coming from before I add it. I would like to use the same method for all of them rather than have a method for each textfield.
Is it possible to get the variable name of the textfield from the sender? If they were button I could use [sender currentTitle], but I don't know how to get an identifier from the textfield.
I am thinking of something like this:
- (void)makeItSo:(id)sender
{
NSString * senderName = (UITextField*)[sender stringValue] ;
if ([senderName isEqual: #"name"] )
-- add name to array
else if ([senderName isEqual: #"address"] )
-- add address to array
}

Answer 1

If you give each text field a tag, then use the tag:
- (void)makeItSo:(UITextField *)sender {
if (sender.tag == 1) {
// the name text field
} else if (sender.tag == 2) {
// the address text field
}
}
This assumes you have set the tag property for each text field either in IB or in code.
It could be useful to define constants for each tag so you end up with something that is easier to read:
#define kNameTextField 1
#define kAddressTextField 2
- (void)makeItSo:(UITextField *)sender {
if (sender.tag == kNameTextField) {
// the name text field
} else if (sender.tag == kAddressTextField) {
// the address text field
}
}
If you have outlets or instance variables then you can do:
- (void)makeItSo:(UITextField *)sender {
if (sender == _nameTextField) {
// the name text field
} else if (sender == _addressTextField) {
// the address text field
}
}
where _nameTextField and _addressTextFields are the ivars for the text fields.

Answer 2

Is it possible to get the variable name of the textfield from the sender?
No, unless it's an instance variable, in which case you can, but you better don't.
I don't know how to get an identifier from the textfield
As always, it's enough to read the documentation as use the tag property of UIView:
if ([sender tag] == SOME_CUSTOM_PRESET_VALUE) {
// do stuff
}

Answer 3

For example you may have these text fields as ivars:
#property (weak) UITextField* textField1; // tag=1
#property (weak) UITextField* textField2; // tag=2
...
#property (weak) UITextField* textFieldN; // tag=N
When you receive an action you simply do:
- (void)makeItSo:(id)sender
{
// This is the searched text field
UITextField* textField= [self valueForKey: [NSString stringWithFormat: #"textField%d",sender.tag] ];
}
But at this point why not using a single property which is an array with N text fields, instead of N properties?