Apologies if this is a silly question, but I've done some googling and searched SO and haven't found anyone asking this exact question.
I have been doing iOS development for some time now, but I am completely new to the Interface Builder. What I want to know is this: is there any way to just create ONE .xib file and then use it for both iPhone and iPad in a Universal application?
It seems silly to me to have to create them separately; why do twice the work laying something out more than once in Interface Builder when I could do it once (with minor adjustments for screen size) in code?
Please let me know if I'm missing/misunderstanding something here. Like I said, I'm a complete Interface Builder newbie :)
EDIT: I have submitted non-interface-builder games to the App Store in the past where the iPhone and iPad versions were identical, so I'm not concerned with making the game look/feel different on each device. I intend for them to look exactly the same, aside from some slight positioning changes due to the difference in aspect ratio.
If you know what the resulting view would look like, based on autoresizing, you can indeed use only one .xib. May come in handy if the view is just some sort of a shared component that autoresizes as you want it to. However, if you need the view to look way different on iPad than on iPhone, just use two .xibs. It’s possible then to load the appropriate one as needed, for example in instance initializer, like this controller’s -init:
- (id)init
{
if ([UIDevice currentDevice].userInterfaceIdiom == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad)
{
self = [super initWithNibName:#"YourNibForPad" bundle:nil];
}
else
{
self = [super initWithNibName:#"YourNibForPhone" bundle:nil];
}
if (self) { /* initialize other ivars */ }
return self;
}
The main reason that XIBs are separate files is because Apple feel that UIs designed for iPhones/iPod touches and iPads should be tailored to each respectively. This is echoed in their their iOS App Programming Guide, which says the following:
For views, the main modification is to redesign your view layouts to support the larger screen. Simply scaling existing views may work but often does not yield the best results. Your new interface should make use of the available space and take advantage of new interface elements where appropriate. Doing so is more likely to result in an interface that feels more natural to the user—and not just an iPhone app on a larger screen.
Whilst it can take time to maintain two XIBs for what is effectively one UI, I feel it is more straightforward than using one XIB and then having to connect up most of your UI elements in order to move them around programmatically when that XIB loads. After all, with two XIBs at least you can see what each UI looks like, and then make visual changes easily.
As an aside, don't forget iOS 5's Storyboards (read about them here), which make managing a view/view controller hierarchy much simpler.
Try to name them
MyCell.xib and MyCell ~ ipad.xib
then:
[self.tableView registerNib: #"MyCell" forCellReuseIdentifier: #"MyUniqueIdentifier"];
If your using IB, you need to create 2 separate xib files for iPhone and iPad. You need a separate iPad xib to make your app comply with the Apple iPad UI guidelines.
Related
I know it's very vague and is asking a lot but does anyone know how to convert the standard iOS starter project from iPhone to iPad (both is best)? Or does anyone know where I can download one. I am a new iOS developer and am trying to start learning with Parse.
I am referring to this project https://www.parse.com/downloads/ios/parse-starter-project/latest
P.S. Just because this question isn't perfect doesn't mean you have to go and down vote and flag it for removal I don't have a lot of points already no need to lose even more :)
Not being able to see this sample project, it's hard to say for certain what it will take.
At bare minimum go into your project summary, and select "Universal" for the device support.
Above and beyond that, it just depends on what the app is and how it's structured. For NIBs, you will want a NIB for iPhone and one for iPad. I find it easy to abstract this away so that I can simplify my view loading:
MyController *myController = [[MyController alloc] initWithView:#"MyControllerView" bundle:nil];
Then in a category, I'd define initWithView similar to:
#implementation UIViewController (Universal)
-(id) initWithView:(NSString *)view bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundle{
bool isIpad = UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad;
NSString *nibName = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#_%#", view, (isIpad ? #"iPad" : #"iPhone")];
return [self initWithNibName:nibName bundle:nibBundle];
}
#end
But, that's just one aspect of supporting both devices. In reality the subject is rather specific to the app you're working on. Things like OS support (e.g., am I only targeting iOS 6 or higher) play a factor in things.
I have solved it now, if anyone needs the files email me turboecreations#iCloud.com I would upload them but I dont want my MediaFire and other accounts to be removed if I run into copyright issues.
Very frequently we reuse same view controllers when developing universal apps both for iPhone and iPad. But frequently some customization is needed, like:
IF iPad THEN
...
ELSE
...
So, in order to achieve such customization the controller might have some property that is set during initialization of the controller, or there might be custom constructors. Just curious is there design pattern that suites for such situations.
Don't.... :) Use a common class called for instance MyClass and then sub-class it MyClass-iPad & MyClass-iPhone and use two different XIB for each. Avoid using this kind of stuff (there is no need for it).
Explanation:
The iPad version should only be aware of classes of the type Something-iPad this makes the code clean and creates a well defined architecture. If I jump into your code and someone tell's me: "Ok Jacky Boy, you have to make changes on the iPad version". I won't care to look ath the Something-iPhone classes. Most of the logic (business) should be on super class Something where the small tweaks should be on the sub-classes.
On side note, on most of my projects, normally I don't have anything on the Something-iPhone classes, because the design is done on the XIB. On the Something-iPad I would normally keep a reference to a UIPopOverController (just an example) and some rotations tweaks.
Edit 1:
I would receive an NSDictionary on the init of the UIViewController, like this:
initWithNibName:bundle:configurationDictionary:
After receiving this configurationDictionary, I would then use it on the viewDidLoad (for example). You could then do some cool stuff like this:
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[[self view] setBackgroundColor:[[self configurationDictionary] objectForKey:BACKGROUND_COLOR_KEY]];
}
If you have different initializers or larger chunks of different functionality then it makes sense to define a base class with the core functionality and then an iPad-specific subclass and an iPhone-specific subclass.
But in cases where you only have a trivial difference (for example, displaying an action sheet), then I would simply use something like:
- (void)someMethod {
// a bunch of stuff that is the same
if (UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM() == UIUserInterfaceIdiomPad) {
// one or two lines for iPad
} else {
// one or two lines for iPhone
}
}
I have plenty of situations where I do both - subclass for the bigger differences and use UI_USER_INTERFACE_IDIOM for trivial differences in the base class.
If you need the same VC in N places but each time initialized a little differently I would move the logic in a specific factory class / category on the VC
like its done with for example SLRequest objects / in ShareKit
I am trying to make a simple app from a tutorial that does not have a viewController at all. All the code is in the AppDelegate. I am on xcode 4.2 and I am getting this error:
Applications are expected to have a root view controller at the end of application launch
I'm not sure how to deal with this. There are some blogs out there with fixes but none of them are working for me and I really would like to understand what is going on here. And, how to fix it.
I do have a view that contains some buttons and labels. But I have no "ViewController". The files contained in my project are: AppDelegate.h, AppDelegate.m, and Window.xib only. There is no ViewController.h, ViewController.m
** edit **
I ended up making the app from a 'view based application' instead and just moving all the logic from the app delegate to the view controller. So, I didn't really solve the problem per se. The app works now though. Thanks for the help
It's not possible to have an iOS app that doesn't have a view controller. You can always create a trivial view controller, i.e.,
[[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:UIScreen.mainScreen.bounds].rootViewController =
[[[UIViewController alloc] init] autorelease];
It sounds like you're looking at an old tutorial. UIWindow got a rooViewController property in iOS4. I believe it became required in iOS5 to help keep controller hierarchies and view hierarchies in sync with the addition of custom container controllers (and to fix a corner case where replacing the "root controller" of a UIWindow could stop orientation changes from propagating). There was a WWDC presentation in 2011 that explained this in some detail. I think it was Session 102, Implementing UIViewController Containment.
At then end of the day, there's no good reason not to have a root view controller. Apple wants to be able to assume it's there in their APIs going forward. If the tutorial you're looking at doesn't account for that, it's broken.
While I agree that there may be workarounds, another question to address is: why do you want an app without a view? Even if it's designed to run in the background and present no visual interface, at least make a simple view showing the application name and version, a largeish icon and perhaps a status. This kind of idle screen uses very little system resources, especially when the app is backgrounded, but improves the overall experience of the app.
If you set your deployment target to 4.3 and run on the iPhone 4.3 simulator, you won't get the warning.
To install the iOS 4.3 simulator, go to Xcode > Preferences > Downloads.
I am creating a program that will run an experiment on a user. It has a 'start' page with a button. When they click the button, I want the window to change to the 'test' page.
I believe this is done by switching views, and I have tried to find some tutorials/answered questions on it by I have had trouble due to a few things:
-I'm not sure how to create the views themselves in Interface Builder
-I am NOT developing for the iPhone
Do I need to create a new XIB file? Should I have made multiple windows instead?
Any help or direction in this matter would be very much appreciated! :D
Let me strongly suggest that you forget about your particular task for a little while and instead spend some time learning how the Cocoa framework works. A good place to start might be the Cocoa Application Tutorial, which will walk you through the creation of a small MacOS X application (and quite possibly answer your question in the process). It's fine that you're new to Objective-C, Cocoa, etc., but in that case you should spend some time with Apple's documentation to help you get up to speed.
I would suggest you to have a look at one of the many tutorials around there:
Learn Cocoa Tutorial: this one will guide you step by step through IB;
A full Cocoa/Xcode/Interface Builder Tutorial: this will deal more in detail with IB/Xcode integration.
Apple Tutorial: this is more in-depth and explains many more details and concepts, so good for a second read.
Or you might reach out for some good book, like the classic Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X By Aaron Hillegass
As a further suggestion, since you specify that you are NOT programming for the iphone, there are a lot of docs on the web. Main thing to find them out is use the keyword "cocoa" when searching for them.
I rather suggest to use view controllers, every view controller should have xib file you can simply handle actions like on button click etc...
I suggest to try out create window based app, so one view controller is already created, now click file add file and choose view controller.
in first xib you could add buttons and every component you like...then set the second one.
you could create function
-(IBAction)foooFunction{
SecondViewController *foo = [[SecondViewController alloc] initWithNibName:nil bundle:nil];
[self presentModalViewController: foo
animated: YES];
[foo release];
}
then in xib of your first view controller you just simply drag and drop the foooFunction onto the button and you have it.
Apologies, I am new to Objective-C
And it is not problem that you are new :)
have a nice day and hope it helps
I feel i am totally out of my depth here, im very new to objective c but have been asked to design an iphone app as part of my uni course. I designed a sinple quiz before, but I was hoping to design a more advanced quiz game with 3 levels (each level will have a different quiz).
I dont know how to use the UIViews and I have tried a tutorial online to help me code a navigation controller. It allows gives me 3 options to go into subview 1, 2 or 3. All the subviews have the same screen though, with one label and a button.
I have 3 classes so far, RootViewController, BasicNavigationAppDelegate and SubViewOneController.
I really dont understand the code at all, im familiar with Java but this objective c is nothing like it. Could someone maybe take a minute to help out a person in distress and explain if i am doing this right by using the navigation controller to display my levels? When i check the xib interface files i dont see the button or label, or dont know where to add the quiz interface objects!! I really am confused by all this. Could anyone help?
You should search google for sample source code, and see how some of the views can be handled. There are many ways you can handle a view, whether its by a UINavigationController, UITabBarController, etc. If you are new to Objective-C, then your not really going to get an answer to this question that will instruct you on what exactly to do.
Interface Builder + View Controllers
Here's a good one for you: View Controllers Programming Guide
(Apple's) View Controller Reference Guide
Some Code Samples
Getting Started Sample Code
I recommend Head First iPhone Development: A Learner's Guide to Creating Objective-C Applications for the iPhone. Within a few chapters you'll know everything you need to build this app and you'll actually understand what you're doing.
(I don't know the authors or the publisher, I just think it's a great book for quickly getting up to speed.)
for a 3 level quiz, UINavigationController is definitely an option.
if you need to find out how to use a class, in xcode, type its name, then press -alt- and double click the class name, this will bring up a short description, with two icons, one will take you to the header file, and the other to the documentation.
to add elements to the nib/xib files, you will need to open the library window, where you will find labels, buttons etc. to use a button, you will need to define an action in your header file, and hook it up in IB, to be able to interact with UIElements in your code, you want to set up outlets in the header file, and hook them up in IB.
something you need to decide on, is how you are going to present the questions, and will also depend if the answer will be true/false, multiple choice, or text entry.
if you arent familiar with obj-c and xcode, it is probably worth picking up an ebook from someone like http://www.pragprog.com. they have an iPhone one up there by Bill Dudney which is quite good(i believe he now works for apple.)
for the standard slide out transition you could use this.
//you would probably want to call this something like level1NavBarItemWasPushed: instead
- (IBAction)lvl1pushNavBarItem:(id)sender {
//create instance of AnswersViewController class.
AnswersViewController *level1AnswersVC= [[Level1AnswersViewController alloc] init];
//pass it some kind of identifier so it can tell which quiz/question it is dealing with and pull in the answers, so that you can reuse the view
[level1AnswersVC setAnswersObject:<<insert object dictionary here>>];
//push the view controller onto the navigationController's view stack
[self.navigationController pushViewController:level1AnswersVC animated:TRUE];
//pushing it onto the view stack has given it +1 retain, so we can now release it without worrying about it disappearing prematurely.
[level1AnswersVC release];
}
for the page flip transition you could use this.
- (IBAction)lvl1pushNavBarItem:(id)sender {
//create instance of AnswersViewController class.
AnswersViewController *level1AnswersVC= [[Level1AnswersViewController alloc] init];
//pass it some kind of identifier so it can tell which quiz/question it is dealing with and pull in the answers, so that you can reuse the view
[level1AnswersVC setAnswersObject:<<insert object dictionary here>>];
//set the current viewController as the delegate, so that it can call back to us when its done
level1AnswersVC.delegate = self;
//set the modal transition style
level1AnswersVC.modalTransitionStyle = UIModalTransitionStyleFlipHorizontal;
//show answers as modal view, which has been setup to use the page flip transition.
[self presentModalViewController:level1AnswersVC animated:YES];
//pushing it onto the view stack has given it +1 retain, so we can now release it without worrying about it disappearing prematurely.
[level1AnswersVC release];
}