How to update a CGFrame? - objective-c

The following code has a (at least one) deep flaw: Once CGFrame is set it's location is fixed.
-(UIImageView*) ownImageView {
if (ownImageView == nil) {
ownImageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:
CGRectMake(self.xPosition, self.yPosition,
[constants cardWidth], [constants cardHeight])];
[ownImageView setImage:self.faceImage];
}
return ownImageView;
}
I would like to reuse the UIImageView (once created, I don't want to realloc it). Instead, i'd like to change x,y coordinates of the frame it contains.
The following code works fine, however, it seems carelessly wasteful
-(UIImageView*) ownImageView {
[ownImageView removeFromSuperview];
ownImageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:
CGRectMake(self.xPosition, self.yPosition,
[constants cardWidth], [constants cardHeight])];
[ownImageView setImage:self.faceImage];
return ownImageView;
}
Question: How would you handle this, while keeping as much of lazy instantiation as possible?
The view represents a 2d rectangle moving along the screen. I'd like to represent the "move" by simply changing X/Y position of the existing view instead of replacing it with a new copy.

ownImageView.frame = CGRectMake(x,y,w,h);

If you want to move it the simplest thing to do is to let Core Animation do the work for you.
For more details and options check UIView Class Reference
[UIView animateWithDuration:2
delay:0
options:UIViewAnimationCurveEaseInOut
animations:^{
self.THE_VIEW.center = CGPointMake(200, 200);
// OR you can change it's frame if you prefer
}
completion:NULL];

Related

User defined iOS interface

Introduction
I am writing an app where the interface on a screen can vary depending on user input on the previous screen. What I'm trying to do right now is load up x amount of sliders, where I get x from the previous screen. The real issue I'm having is won't each slider I use have to be named and defined? I've thought of a way to do this but I'm not entirely sure how to implement if you could advise me it would really be appreciated
Pseudo Code
-(void) loadInterface {
// Set up a frame
CGRect myFrame = CGRectMake(10.0f, 100.0f, 250.0f, 25.0f);
for (int i = 0; i < x; i++) {
[self newSlider]
// Retrieve info here about the slider and pass it to newSlider
}
}
-(void) newSlider (info about slider) {
// Here I need the code to load a slider
// If I use something like this:
// UISlider *slider1 = [[UISlider alloc] initWithFrame:myFrame];
// The next time this method is loaded the slider will be overwritten right?
}
You could use an NSMutableDictionary to keep track of all your sliders, although maybe you do not need that at all.
In newSlider you create a slider and you should add it to some view (I assume self) through
[self addSubview:slider];
All sliders thus created will appear at the position where you created them and will not disappear unless you remove them from the view.
You could take this snippet as an example of how you can create a slider:
CGRect frame = CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 200.0, 10.0);
UISlider *slider = [[UISlider alloc] initWithFrame:frame];
[slider addTarget:self action:#selector(sliderAction:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventValueChanged];
If you define correctly frame, you can make all of your sliders align nicely in your UI.
When a slider action is carried through by the user, the sliderAction: method is called, which has an argument referring to the slider:
- (void)sliderAction:(UISlider* slider) {
...
}
so you know exactly which slider was actioned and this is generally enough to handle the action.
In any case, as I said, if you want to keep track of all the sliders, add them to a NSDictionary at the moment of creation:
[self.sliderDict setObject:newSlider forKey:#"nth-slider-name"];
You don't need new variables for each slider, because the scope of the UISlider instance you use in your newSlider method is limited to that method. Meaning the variable will be free for use once the program exits the method.
You should also pass which slider it is to that method, this can then be used to position it and to give the view a tag for later use:
-(void) loadInterface {
// Set up a frame
CGRect myFrame = CGRectMake(10.0f, 100.0f, 250.0f, 25.0f);
for (int i = 0; i < x; i++) {
[self newSlider:i]
// Retrieve info here about the slider and pass it to newSlider
}
}
-(void) newSlider:(int)sliderNumber {
UISlider *slider = [[UISlider alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, sliderNumber * 100, 320, 50)];
slider.tag = sliderNumber;
[self.view addSubview:slider];
}

Alternative to "self" in calling methods in Objective-C

This may sound really noob, but i've spent an entire day wrestling with this problem and would appreciate some help.
You see i have a method which I call more than once inside gameplay. If I use [self myMethod]; then it works for ONE time. And then when I call it again, the animation in the method doesn't commence anymore.
What I need is to replace "self" with an alternative that can be "alloc'ed" and "released" to make my animations work.
I've tried;
#implementation gameViewController
gameViewController *object = [[gameViewController alloc] init];
[object myMethod];
However the above substitute for self doesn't even call on the method. I don't know what I did wrong, it's suppose to work just like "self".
Is there something i missed? How do you make an object of the class to work just like "self" does?
Thanks so much.
Here is a more detailed look of my code;
[self explosionAnimations];
- (void) explosionAnimations
{
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed: #"Yellow Explosion.png"];
[bomb setImage:image];
[UIView beginAnimations:#"bomb1ExplosionIncrease" context:NULL];
[UIView setAnimationDuration:0.5];
[UIView setAnimationDelegate:self];
bomb.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(3.4, 3.4);
[UIView commitAnimations];
}
The setImage works fine every time. But the animations stop working on the second call of the method. While in the console it logs "animation completed" with nothing happening to the image.
This leads me to believe that somehow "self" believes that the animation was already done and will not bother to do it again. So I thought a new "alloc" might give it a kick awake.
The problem doesn't have anything to do with "self". The problem is that you set the transform in your animation, and then when you run it again, you're setting the same transform, so it does nothing. You need to reset the frame to the new frame and then set the transform back to the identity transform before you do the animation again. Also, you should be using block based animations. I'm not sure this is the best way to do it, but this worked for me (if you have auto layout turned off).
- (void)explosionAnimations {
UIImage *image = [UIImage imageNamed: #"Yellow Explosion.png"];
[self.bomb setImage:image];
[UIView animateWithDuration:.5 animations:^{
self.bomb.transform = CGAffineTransformMakeScale(3.4, 3.4);
} completion:^(BOOL finished) {
CGRect newFrame = self.bomb.frame;
self.bomb.transform = CGAffineTransformIdentity;
self.bomb.frame = newFrame;
}];
}
If you're doing this in an app with auto layout turned on (which it is by default), then I would not use a transform, but just resize the width and height of the image view by adjusting its height and width constraints. So, in this method, you should make IBOutlets to height and width constraints you make in IB, then change their constant values in an animation block:
[UIView animateWithDuration:.5 animations:^{
self.heightCon.constant = self.heightCon.constant * 3.4;
self.widthCon.constant = self.widthCon.constant * 3.4;
[self.view layoutIfNeeded];
}];

UIView animation not working with addSubview

I have an iPad app that is displaying a "note" (subclassed UILabel) with text on it. In order to navigate to the next note, I'd like it to slide it off the screen to the left while having the next one slide in from the right. I can get either animation to work, but not both at the same time.
Here's the code in my controller:
- (void)slideOutLeft {
// create the new note
flSlidingNote *newNote = [[flSlidingNote alloc] init];
newNote.text = #"blah blah";
CGRect newFrame = CGRectMake(1000, 70, 637, 297); // off the right
newNote.frame = newFrame;
[self.view addSubview:newNote];
// slide off the current one
CGRect currentFrameEnd = noteLabel.frame; // noteLabel is the existing note
currentFrameEnd.origin.x = 0 - noteLabel.frame.size.width; // off the left
[UIView animateWithDuration:1.0 animations:^{
noteLabel.frame = currentFrameEnd;
} completion:nil];
}
noteLabel does not animate at all. If I comment out the addSubview:newNote part it does. I'm still relatively new at this, so it's probably just something simple.
The problem happens whether newNote is animated or not (not animated in the code snippet).
You want to put the animation for both your views and the addSubview call for your new view in one animation block, like so:
// layout the new label like the old, but 300px offscreen right
UILabel * newNote = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectOffset(self.noteLabelView.frame, 300, 0)];
newNote.text = #"NEW NOTE";
[UIView animateWithDuration:2.0f
delay:0
options:UIViewAnimationCurveEaseInOut
animations:^{
// animate the old label left 300px to offscreen left
self.noteLabelView.center = CGPointMake(self.noteLabelView.center.x-300, self.noteLabelView.center.y);
// add the new label to the view hierarchy
[self.view addSubview:newNote];
// animate the new label left 300px into the old one's spot
newNote.center = CGPointMake(newNote.center.x-300, newNote.center.y);
}
completion:^(BOOL finished) {
// remove the old label from the view hierarchy
[self.noteLabelView removeFromSuperview];
// set the property to point to the new label
self.noteLabelView = newNote;
}];
In this snippet above, I'm assuming the old label is addressable via the property self.noteLabelView.
(Also have a look at https://github.com/algal/SlidingNotes , though I can't promise that will stay there long so maybe SO isn't the right format for such a link? )
Adding to what Gabriele Petronella commented, here is a good resource on KeyFrames and AnimationGroup, with a sample GitHub project linked:
http://blog.corywiles.com/using-caanimationgroup-for-view-animations
This really helped me understand animations better.
not sure but i've seen other code that loops through subviews and performs animations, you may want to try the following:
for(UIView *view in self.subviews)
{
// perform animations
}

UIImage content disappearing (and reappearing) when using drawLayer:inContext

I'm using the delegate method drawLayer:inContext to change the background opacity for a small box as it moves around the screen. The layer had a UIImage set as the content when it was initialized.
Every time drawLayer:inContext is called the image will either disappear or reappear (toggling back and forth) making for a stutter-y looking movement on screen.
I have the image data as a local ivar in the delegate class so that it doesn't need to reload every time.
I'm not sure what's causing this. Any ideas? Here's the code I'm using:
- (id)init
{
self = [super init];
if(self) {
UIImage *layerImage = [UIImage imageNamed:#"Hypno.png"];
image = layerImage.CGImage;
}
return self;
}
- (void)drawLayer:(CALayer *)layer inContext:(CGContextRef)ctx
{
float alpha = layer.position.y / layer.superlayer.bounds.size.height;
UIColor *reddish = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:0.0 blue:0.0 alpha:alpha];
CGColorRef cgReddish = reddish.CGColor;
layer.backgroundColor = cgReddish;
[layer setContents:(id)image];
}
Don't use -drawLayer:inContext:. That method is for drawing into a CG context which will then become the layer's contents, using Core Graphics or UIKit methods. You don't want to change the layer's contents at all -- you want to set it to be your image, once, and then never touch it again.
Your image is appearing and disappearing, because sometimes the layer displays the image, and other times the layer displays what you drew into the context in -drawLayer:inContext: -- namely, nothing.
(Also: in order for -drawLayer:inContext: to be called, you must be calling [layer setNeedsDisplay], or you have the layer's needsDisplayOnBoundsChange turned on, or something similar. Don't do any of that.)
Instead, try using the CALayer layout machinery. For instance, in your layer's delegate:
- (void)layoutSublayersOfLayer:(CALayer *)layer
{
float alpha = layer.position.y / layer.superlayer.bounds.size.height;
UIColor *reddish = [UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:0.0 blue:0.0 alpha:alpha];
CGColorRef cgReddish = reddish.CGColor;
layer.backgroundColor = cgReddish;
}
This will get called as part of the display process, anytime the layer or any of its superlayers have had their -setNeedsLayout method called. Often this happens automatically, but depending on exactly what causes the layer to move, you may need to do it manually. Try it and see.
(Alternatively: Since you already have code that changes the layer's position, why not change the layer's background color at the same time?)

Programmatically resize NSView

I have a main view that is supposed to display several subviews. Those subviews are directly above and below one another (in the z axis) and will drop down (in the y axis) and move up using this code:
if (!CGRectIsNull(rectIntersection)) {
CGRect newFrame = CGRectOffset (rectIntersection, 0, -2);
[backgroundView setFrame:newFrame];
} else{
[viewsUpdater invalidate];
viewsUpdater = nil;
}
rectIntersection is used to tell when the view has entirely moved down and is no longer behind the front one (when they no longer overlap rectIntersection is null), it moves down by 2 pixels at a time because this is all inside a repeating timer. I want my main view, the one that contains these two other views, to resize downward so that it expands just as the view in the background is being lowered. This is the code I'm trying for that:
CGRect mainViewFrame = [mainView frame];
if (!CGRectContainsRect(mainViewFrame, backgroundFrame)) {
CGRect newMainViewFrame = CGRectMake(0,
0,
mainViewFrame.size.width,
(mainViewFrame.size.height + 2));
[mainView setFrame:newMainViewFrame];
}
The idea is to check if the mainView contains this background view. When the backgroundView is lowered, the main view no longer contains it, and it (should) expand downward by 2 pixels. This would happen until the background view stopped moving and the mainView finally contains backgroundView.
The problem is that the mainView is not resizing at all. the background view is being lowered, and I can see it until it disappears off the bottom of the mainView. mainView should have resized but it does not change in any direction. I tried using setFrame and setBounds (with and without setNeedsDisplay) but nothing worked.
I'm really just looking for a way to programmatically change the size of the main view.
I think I understood, what the problem is. I read carefuly the code.
if (!CGRectIsNull(rectIntersection)) {
// here you set the wrong frame
//CGRect newFrame = CGRectOffset (rectIntersection, 0, -2);
CGRect newFrame = CGRectOffset (backgroundView.frame, 0, -2);
[backgroundView setFrame:newFrame];
} else{
[viewsUpdater invalidate];
viewsUpdater = nil;
}
rectIntersection is actually the intersection of the two views, that overlap, and as the backgroundView is moved downward, that rect's height decreases.
That way the mainView gets resized only one time.
To add on this, here is a simple solution using block syntax, to animate your views, this code would typically take place in your custom view controller.
// eventually a control action method, pass nil for direct call
-(void)performBackgroundViewAnimation:(id)sender {
// first, double the mainView's frame height
CGFrame newFrame = CGRectMake(mainView.frame.origin.x,
mainView.frame.origin.y,
mainView.frame.size.width,
mainView.frame.size.height*2);
// then get the backgroundView's destination rect
CGFrame newBVFrame = CGRectOffset(backgroundView.frame,
0,
-(backgroundView.frame.size.height));
// run the animation
[UIView animateWithDuration:1.0
animations:^{
mainView.frame = newFrame;
backgroundView.frame = newBVFrame;
}
];
}