Creating uitableview Forms with uitextfields

Introduction

In this article, we will explore how to create a uitableview form using uitextfields. We will go through the process of creating a custom cell that can display multiple fields and handle user input.

Understanding the Problem

The problem at hand is as follows:

We have a uitableview with multiple rows.
Each row represents a field (e.g., txtDetails, lblTitle) in our form.
The goal is to retrieve the values from these fields and store them in an external data structure.

However, we’re facing a challenge. When we try to retrieve the values from all the fields at once using the provided code, only the visible fields return non-null values, while the others appear null.

Solution Overview

To solve this problem, we will implement a custom cell that conforms to the UpdateValueProtocol. This protocol allows us to notify our table view when a value is updated in any of its cells.

We will also create an external data structure (contactDictionary) to store all the values from the fields. This way, even if some fields are not visible, their values can still be retrieved and stored.

Creating the Custom Cell

First, we need to create our custom cell class that conforms to the UpdateValueProtocol. We will also make sure it implements the UITextFieldDelegate protocol to handle text field input.

// Cell.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@protocol UpdateValueProtocol <NSObject>

- (void)updateValue:(id)value forKey:(NSString *)key;

@end

@interface Cell : UITableViewCell <UITextFieldDelegate, UpdateValueProtocol>

@property (nonatomic, assign) UITableViewController<UpdateValueProtocol> *parent;
@property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableDictionary *contactDictionary;

@end

// Cell.m

#import "Cell.h"

@implementation Cell

- (void)updateValue:(id)value forKey:(NSString *)key {
    [self.parent updateValue:value forKey:key];
}

- (BOOL)textFieldShouldReturn:(UITextField *)textField {
    [self.parent updateValue:textField.text forKey:[textField.placeholder description]];
    return YES;
}

Creating the Table View Controller

Next, we need to create our table view controller that will manage the data and notify the custom cells when a value is updated.

// ParentTableView.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@protocol UpdateValueProtocol <NSObject>

- (void)updateValue:(id)value forKey:(NSString *)key;

@end

@interface ParentTableView : UITableViewController<UpdateValueProtocol>

@property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableDictionary *contactDictionary;

@end

// ParentTableView.m

#import "ParentTableView.h"

@implementation ParentTableView

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    self.contactDictionary = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
}

- (void)updateValue:(id)value forKey:(NSString *)key {
    if (!self.contactDictionary)
        self.contactDictionary = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
    [self.contactDictionary setObject:value forKey:key];
}

Using the Custom Cell

Finally, we can use our custom cell in our table view controller and retrieve its values whenever needed.

// Main ViewController.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface MainViewController : UIViewController

@property (nonatomic, strong) ParentTableView *tableView;

@end

// Main ViewController.m

#import "MainViewController.h"

@implementation MainViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    self.tableView = [[ParentTableView alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStyleGrouped];
    [self.view addSubview:self.tableView];
}

@end

Conclusion

In this article, we learned how to create a uitableview form using uitextfields. We implemented a custom cell that conforms to the UpdateValueProtocol and notifies our table view when a value is updated.

We also created an external data structure (contactDictionary) to store all the values from the fields. This way, even if some fields are not visible, their values can still be retrieved and stored.

With this solution, you should now be able to create a form with multiple fields that can retrieve its values whenever needed.

Last modified on 2023-12-22