Adding data to a scrollview/table - objective-c

I have an NSCrollView that contains an NSTableView. It has 3 columns and 4 rows. I have 4 NSStrings with content that I need to copy into the scrollview.
Using Xcode 4 I tried connecting the table or the NSTextFieldCell and then adding the text via
[_Cell1 setStringValue:MyString];
But nothing happens. It doesn't get updated.
Any way to do this?
Thank you.
EDIT:
I found the following answer to a similar question. I still am confused but after reading Apple's example about bindings I can only say that this does not make any sense, so much code to achieve something so simple. That's the problem with everything being an object and with OOP in general.
Any simple samples out there? I don't even know how to start setting this or connecting the gazillion things you need to connect to start working with this

You should use the NSTableViewDelegate. That's a set of methods the NSTableView calls to get the data that it should display. You just have to declare the delegate object of the tableview.
Delegate Protocol
NSTableView Tutorial

Unfortunately, you can't "add" or "set" the content of a table view. Like most view objects, a table view doesn't store content; it depends on a controller to provide content when it needs it.
There are two options:
Data source: simplest, easiest to understand
Binding to an array controller: harder to understand, but less work to implement
The best Apple resource on the subject: Populating Cell-Based Table Views from the Table View Programming Guide. If you're struggling, I suggest you start with the data source option. It'll be just a few lines of code, and you can adapt the simple samples from that document.
To populate the table, you need to implement these two methods:
– numberOfRowsInTableView:
– tableView:objectValueForTableColumn:row:
And to change the data, you'll need to implement one more:
- tableView:setObjectValue:forTableColumn:row:
You'll need to set your controller as the data source for the table view in interface builder. And the correct protocol for this is NSTableViewDataSource, not NSTableViewDelegate.

You could use an NSArrayController and bind the table columns' value bindings to the array controller's arranged objects. Then add the values you want to display to the array controller.

Related

Issue in lazy loading the table view

I am badly struck in a issue where I am trying to populate the nestableview lazily. Below is my approach.
I have created a custom class PRIList where it has an instance of array to manage the models.
I have bound the priList.items to the array controller in the xib where items is not an instance in PRIList but to support lazy loading I have implemented the methods countOfItems and objectInItemsAtIndex:.
Initialy when I populate the PRIList I populate few objects (say 50) with valid objects and rest with the faulty objects. In the objectInItemsAtIndex I check if the item at particular index is valid or faulty. If it is faulty I fetch next set of 50 objects.
What I understand is NSArrayController calls the method objectInItemsAtIndex for only the visible rows in the table view. But the problem here is as soon as set the PRIList the objectInItemsAtIndex method is called for all the objects. This is even called when some selection is changed in table view (the stack trace shows this method is called from [_NSModelObservingTracker startObservingModelObjectAtReferenceIndex])
Basically I want to fetch the records whenever the user scrolls down in the table view.
I followed the same approach in a different project in Lion. It worked there. Currently I am in Mavericks.
I tried overriding the isCompatibleWithResponsiveScrolling in the custom table view and returned it to NO. Still no luck.
Any help is very much appreciated.
First, have you assigned or bound the sort descriptors of the array controller? Or set any columns to automatically generate sort descriptors? (I'm not sure that latter is relevant. It depends on whether the column is sorted by default.)
In any case, if the array controller feels the need to sort the objects in order to arrange the objects, then it will need to load all of the contents. I was under the impression that it always does so, anyway, although you report that it works.
For an issue like this, I'd recommend that you go for full manual control. That means not using bindings or an array controller. Use a data source.

What is the appropriate UITableView delegation strategy for this situation?

I have a UITableView and I would like all the functionality that comes built into the UITableViewController except that I would like to have the delegate be a separate class. The problem is I need to pull an identifying piece of information from my data source in order for my delegate class to function. Should I make UITableView delegate to UITableViewController, which would then pull the appropriate identifying information, and then just call the third class from within didSelectRowAtIndexPath? I just want to structure this in the appropriate way.
I am fairly new to iOS and objective-C, so I feel like there is a solution that everyone would use, but it is not obvious to me.
I would make the delegate and the data source both point to your custom class. It will be easier to manage table view events all in one place and you really don't need a UITableViewController. If you separate them, there will most likely be heavy coupling between the delegate and the data source as it sounds like you would need to transfer a lot of information between each of them, which defeats the purpose of dividing them into separate classes.
A strategy that I normally use when I have two table views in the same UIViewController and that can fit your needs is to create an Object class for each tableView for example: MyFirstTableViewManager and MySecondTableViewManager.
Each table view manager is set as the delegate and data source to each tableview.
If I need to display a lot of information on each tableview I create properties on each Table View Manager class which I set from the UIViewController.
This way I split the logic of managing each table view to make it easier and keep it clean and from my UIViewController I can set the information to display on each table view by settings each Table View Manager properties and make them to reload its data when required.
Hope this helps you.

Splitting up large iOS View Controller?

I have a view table view controllers that contain a fairly large set of functionality and many lines of code - Is there an accepted way to split the single controller into multiple controllers or objects to help make it more readable and easier to navigate/maintain?
Yes there are ways to make your code more modular. First off using a UITableView there is a Delegate and a DataSource. You can create separate NSObject classes for each of these.
The DataSource class would contain things like tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: and tableView:numberOfRowsInSection:. With the full list here: UITableViewDataSource.
The Delegate class would contain things like: tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: and tableView:willDisplayCell:forRowAtIndexPath:. WIth the full list of here: UITableViewDelegate
It really matter on where most of your code is. If its all in creating a custom cell create a class for that and just send it the info it needs to build its self.
You could just use two subclasses of UIView (or tableView depending on what your are doing) to make the View code a bit more modular. Without more details on what you are attempting it is hard to be more specific.

Cocoa: getting a Table View cell to send action messages

I'm really having trouble getting a Cocoa Table View cell to send action messages.
At the most basic level, in IB there is an action assigned for the NSTextViewCell object, and after editing and pressing Return nothing happens.
So I have an IBOutlet hooked up to the NSTextViewCell, and have been experimenting with NSActionCell messages to it. But the Table View seems to pretty much just ignore them.
I've also tried subclassing NSTextViewCell, but the methods I'm seeing all look like they want to pass values to the object from somewhere, not return a value from inside the object to configure its behavior.
I'm pretty new to programming and Cocoa -- can someone explain each thing that needs to be overridden and how and where to do it?
AFAIK, the cells in an NSTableView won't send action messages out to your application, they're sent to the NSTableView so it can update its data. NSTableView itself tries to be pretty clever and update your data directly, rather than just telling you something changed, so depending on what you're trying to do and what the data source for the table is, you have a few options.
If you're using an NSTableViewDataSource object to populate the table, it's simple; just implement tableView:setObjectValue:forTableColumn:row: and the NSTableView will call that every time something is edited.
If you're using Cocoa data binding (for example, using an NSArrayController to bind an array of objects to the table,) then as long as everything is wired up correctly, the data should just automagically get updated in the source objects when the table is edited. If you need to take special action, then you can do whatever you need to in the property setter of your data class.
I haven't tried it yet, but could work...
NSCell *cellYouWant = [tableView preparedCellAtColumn:tableView.clickedColumn row:tableView.clickedRow];

NSTableView doesn't increase the number of elements in table?

I've an NSTableView that uses the controller object for the NIB being displayed as the data source. I implement the NSTableView informal protocol.
This NSTableView gets its values from Core Data. I startup the application, load all values I have in XML and then display them.
My problem is, the NSTableView doesn't seem to add any new rows to the end of the table. If I start the application with no values in permanent storage and add another one (adding values works as I can see them being saved to XML), the table view simply ignores the new value.
If I add a value I know will go to the end of the table (the contents are organized alphabetically), I won't see the new value.
If I and a value that I know won't go to the end of the table, the value will be added, I will see it on the table, but the last value on the table will be pushed out and disappear.
I've noticed that - (int)numberOfRowsInTableView:(NSTableView *)tv is only being called when the application starts up and not when I do [tableView reloadData]. What causes this event to be fired? I tried firing it by hand before calling reloadData on the tableView but doesn't seem to work.
Any ideas to what might be causing this?
Has anyone encountered something like this? Any clues to what might be?
Alex's comment made me review the code, specifically bindings in Interface Builder. Turns out I had set the bindings between the table and my controller object and implemented the NSTableDataSource.
I've removed all bindings and only implement the NSTableDataSource protocol.