I have the following NSWindowController:
import Foundation
import Cocoa
extension NSImage.Name {
static let skyflokLogo = NSImage.Name("skyflokLogo")
}
class LoginWindowController: NSWindowController {
override func windowDidLoad() {
super.windowDidLoad()
}
#IBAction func cancelLogin(_ sender: NSButton) {
print("Jones")
}
#IBAction func confirmLogin(_ sender: NSButton) {
print("lol")
}
}
and I open the window like this:
static func loadLoginWindow() -> NSWindowController {
let win = LoginWindowController(windowNibName: NSNib.Name("LoginWindow"))
win.showWindow(self)
return win
}
And store it in the AppDelegate class:
#IBAction func loginFunction(_ sender: NSMenuItem) {
print("TEST")
testCtrl = UIHelpers.loadLoginWindow()
}
And components the window contains can be seen here:
My problem is that the window opens as it is supposed to, but my IBAction functions does not work and I cannot create IBOutlets by control dragging from the window. Can someone direct me to documentation or help me solve this?
You need to hold your LoginWindow (I personally recommend to append "Controller" to the class name) instance somewhere. Otherwise, the instance disappears as soon as loadLoginWindow() ended, and therefore IBActions cannot be performed.
I read quite a few questions and answers no this problem. Some are for Ojective C. Some are for iOS. The ones that were close to what I need didn't work.
I've set up a protocol for delegation. It doesn't work. The problem is that delegate variable isn't set. I need the reference to an active controller.
Delegator
protocol SwitchTabDelegate: class {
func selectTab(tab: Int)
}
class ViewController: NSViewController {
weak var delegate: SwitchTabDelegate?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
#IBAction func selectCompositions(_ sender: NSButton) {
if let delegate = self.delegate {
delegate.selectTab(tab: 2)
}
else {
print("self.delegate is nil")
}
print("delegate called")
}
}
Delegatee
class TabViewController: NSTabViewController, SwitchTabDelegate {
var viewController : ViewController?;
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
//viewController = storyboard?.instantiateController(withIdentifier: "viewController") as? ViewController
// viewController?.delegate = self
// print(viewController)
}
func selectTab(tab: Int) {
print("In the delegate")
switchToDataTab()
}
func switchToDataTab() {
Timer.scheduledTimer(timeInterval: 0.2, target: self,
selector: #selector(switchToDataTabCont),
userInfo: nil, repeats: false)
}
func switchToDataTabCont(){
self.selectedTabViewItemIndex = 2
}
}
The delegatee is the main NSViewContoller. On the storyboard, it contains two buttons and a Container view controller. Embedded in the container view controller is the TabViewController, the delegatee. You can see in the delegatee where I tried to get a reference. It does get a reference, presumably to the newly instantiated instance. I need a reference to the original view controller that was spun up when the application started.
Answer
I added the following code to the delegator:
override func prepare(for segue: NSStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
let controller = segue.destinationController as! TabViewController
self.delegate = controller as SwitchTabDelegate
}
That's not how it should work following the design pattern. The delegator should have no knowledge of the delegatee. I've spent way too much time on this issue so a hack is going to do.
When using storyboards, you want to "push" references to children when they are created vs. pulling them from an upstream controller. This is what -prepareForSegue:sender: is used for.
I'm starting to learn Swift.
I've a viewController that has a var which needs updating from an outside viewController. So I added public to its declaration but my code won't compile because my class is internal (by default). So i make my class public but then it forces me to make all functions inside my class public including viewDidLoad, the tableView dataSource and delegate methods. What am i doing wrong? I don't want anyone else to call my controller's viewDidLoad.
All I wanted to viewControllerA to access a var inside viewControllerB without exposing every function inside viewControllerB to the outside world.
In ObjC, this can be achieved very easily by marking the property readonly in the headerfile and readwrite in the implementation. In this case, I would've the property in the header file so it's read-writable from outside.
here's some pseudo code
class MyViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
var myTitle: NSString?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
}
// objC part
MyViewController *myViewController = [[MyViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"MyViewController" bundle:nil];
myViewController.myTitle = #""; // not available
Now if i make myTitle a public var, i get this error
Declaring a public var for an internal class
So I make MyViewController a public class.
Now i get bunch of errors
Method 'tableView(_:numberOfRowsInSection:)' must be declared public
because it matches a requirement in public protocol
'UITableViewDataSource'
You could make a protocol to save and access data across view controllers. Here's one way to do it.
// Make a custom protocol delegate with a method to store the variable. In this case I'll store a boolean.
protocol storeViewControllerBVariableDelegate {
func storeVariable(data: Bool?)
}
// In your view controller A, assign your custom protocol delegate to it and add the new delegate method.
class viewControllerA: UIViewController, storeViewControllerBVariableDelegate {
func storeVariable(data: Bool?) {
self.variableName = data
}
}
// In your view controller A's prepare for segue, assign the stored variable to view controller B if you wanted to pass it forward and backward between view controllers.
override func prepareForSegue(segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: AnyObject?) {
let viewControllerB = segue.destinationViewController as! viewControllerB
viewControllerB.variableName = variableName
}
// In your view controller B, initialize a variable and assign it to the delegate.
class viewControllerB: UIViewController {
var variableName: Bool!
var delegate: storeViewControllerBVariableDelegate?
// However you want to save the variable in view controller B, you can do so in an IBAction, viewDidLoad, etc.
#IBAction func saveVariable(sender: UIButton) {
delegate?.storeVariable(self.variableName)
}
}
Here are two solutions that I can think of for passing variables between view controllers
Global Option
ViewController2.swift
import UIKit
var globalVariable = String()
class ViewController1: UIViewConroller {
}
ViewController2.swift
class ViewController2: UIViewController {
overload func viewDidLoad() {
globalVariable = "some string data"
}
}
you can now access that variable globally.
Segue Option
I think a better way to handle sending data back and forth between View Controllers is by using delegates and the prepareForSegue function which is covered in depth here.
You declare your prepareForSegue function like so:
View Controller 1
override func prepareForSegue(segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: AnyObject?) {
if(segue.identifier == "yourIdentifierInStoryboard") {
var yourNextViewController = (segue.destinationViewController as yourNextViewControllerClass)
yourNextViewController.value = yourValue
ViewController 2
class yourNextViewControllerClass {
var value:Int! // or whatever
The you can call it programmatically
self.performSegueWithIdentifier("yourIdentifierInStoryboard", sender: self)
If you want to set values back from your second View Controller, you can use a delegate Method, to respect the original author of this content I'll redirect you to his post:
Read the rest from the original post.
I have a class Document (subclass of NSDocument) with a property (called documentString) which, when changed, should call it's delegate. In my case, the delegate is a ViewController. Though the delegate is being set in the ViewController, it appears to be nil and the function with which the ViewController should respond is not being called
This is the property whose change should be reported to the delegate(always prints "no").
var documentString: String {
didSet {
if self.delegate != nil {
self.delegate?.documentContentDidChange()
} else {
println("no")
}
}
}
This is the ViewController.
class ViewController: NSViewController, DocumentDelegate {
#IBOutlet var codeView: NSTextView!
var code: Document = Document()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.code.delegate = self
self.updateUI()
}
func documentContentDidChange() {
self.updateUI()
}
func updateUI() {
self.codeView.string = self.code.documentString
}
}
What am I doing wrong?
EDIT: I added println("no1") after self.code.delegate = self. no gets printed before no1. So it means that delegate is not being set when documentString is changed. But then, updateUI should work properly with codeView displaying the text in documentString. However, codeView remains blank.
How does one go about making a delegate, i.e. NSUserNotificationCenterDelegate in swift?
Here's a little help on delegates between two view controllers:
Step 1: Make a protocol in the UIViewController that you will be removing/will be sending the data.
protocol FooTwoViewControllerDelegate:class {
func myVCDidFinish(_ controller: FooTwoViewController, text: String)
}
Step2: Declare the delegate in the sending class (i.e. UIViewcontroller)
class FooTwoViewController: UIViewController {
weak var delegate: FooTwoViewControllerDelegate?
[snip...]
}
Step3: Use the delegate in a class method to send the data to the receiving method, which is any method that adopts the protocol.
#IBAction func saveColor(_ sender: UIBarButtonItem) {
delegate?.myVCDidFinish(self, text: colorLabel.text) //assuming the delegate is assigned otherwise error
}
Step 4: Adopt the protocol in the receiving class
class ViewController: UIViewController, FooTwoViewControllerDelegate {
Step 5: Implement the delegate method
func myVCDidFinish(_ controller: FooTwoViewController, text: String) {
colorLabel.text = "The Color is " + text
controller.navigationController.popViewController(animated: true)
}
Step 6: Set the delegate in the prepareForSegue:
override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
if segue.identifier == "mySegue" {
let vc = segue.destination as! FooTwoViewController
vc.colorString = colorLabel.text
vc.delegate = self
}
}
And that should work. This is of course just code fragments, but should give you the idea. For a long explanation of this code you can go over to my blog entry here:
segues and delegates
If you are interested in what's going on under the hood with a delegate I did write on that here:
under the hood with delegates
Delegates always confused me until I realized that a delegate is just a class that does some work for another class. It's like having someone else there to do all the dirty work for you that you don't want to do yourself.
I wrote a little story to illustrate this. Read it in a Playground if you like.
Once upon a time...
// MARK: Background to the story
// A protocol is like a list of rules that need to be followed.
protocol OlderSiblingDelegate: class {
// The following command (ie, method) must be obeyed by any
// underling (ie, delegate) of the older sibling.
func getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater()
}
// MARK: Characters in the story
class BossyBigBrother {
// I can make whichever little sibling is around at
// the time be my delegate (ie, slave)
weak var delegate: OlderSiblingDelegate?
func tellSomebodyToGetMeSomeWater() {
// The delegate is optional because even though
// I'm thirsty, there might not be anyone nearby
// that I can boss around.
delegate?.getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater()
}
}
// Poor little sisters have to follow (or at least acknowledge)
// their older sibling's rules (ie, protocol)
class PoorLittleSister: OlderSiblingDelegate {
func getYourNiceOlderSiblingAGlassOfWater() {
// Little sis follows the letter of the law (ie, protocol),
// but no one said exactly how she had to respond.
print("Go get it yourself!")
}
}
// MARK: The Story
// Big bro is laying on the couch watching basketball on TV.
let bigBro = BossyBigBrother()
// He has a little sister named Sally.
let sally = PoorLittleSister()
// Sally walks into the room. How convenient! Now big bro
// has someone there to boss around.
bigBro.delegate = sally
// So he tells her to get him some water.
bigBro.tellSomebodyToGetMeSomeWater()
// Unfortunately no one lived happily ever after...
// The end.
In review, there are three key parts to making and using the delegate pattern.
the protocol that defines what the worker needs to do
the boss class that has a delegate variable, which it uses to tell the worker class what to do
the worker class that adopts the protocol and does what is required
Real life
In comparison to our Bossy Big Brother story above, delegates are often used for the following practical applications:
Communication: one class needs to send some information to another class.
Code example 1: sending data from one view controller to another
Code example 2: sending text input from a custom keyboard to a text field
Customization: one class wants to allow another class to customize it.
The great part is that these classes don't need to know anything about each other beforehand except that the delegate class conforms to the required protocol.
I highly recommend reading the following two articles. They helped me understand delegates even better than the documentation did.
What is Delegation? – A Swift Developer’s Guide
How Delegation Works – A Swift Developer’s Guide
One more note
Delegates that reference other classes that they do not own should use the weak keyword to avoid strong reference cycles. See this answer for more details.
It is not that different from obj-c.
First, you have to specify the protocol in your class declaration, like following:
class MyClass: NSUserNotificationCenterDelegate
The implementation will look like following:
// NSUserNotificationCenterDelegate implementation
func userNotificationCenter(center: NSUserNotificationCenter, didDeliverNotification notification: NSUserNotification) {
//implementation
}
func userNotificationCenter(center: NSUserNotificationCenter, didActivateNotification notification: NSUserNotification) {
//implementation
}
func userNotificationCenter(center: NSUserNotificationCenter, shouldPresentNotification notification: NSUserNotification) -> Bool {
//implementation
return true
}
Of course, you have to set the delegate. For example:
NSUserNotificationCenter.defaultUserNotificationCenter().delegate = self;
I got few corrections to post of #MakeAppPie
First at all when you are creating delegate protocol it should conform to Class protocol. Like in example below.
protocol ProtocolDelegate: class {
func myMethod(controller:ViewController, text:String)
}
Second, your delegate should be weak to avoid retain cycle.
class ViewController: UIViewController {
weak var delegate: ProtocolDelegate?
}
Last, you're safe because your protocol is an optional value. That means its "nil" message will be not send to this property. It's similar to conditional statement with respondToselector in objC but here you have everything in one line:
if ([self.delegate respondsToSelector:#selector(myMethod:text:)]) {
[self.delegate myMethod:self text:#"you Text"];
}
Above you have an obj-C example and below you have Swift example of how it looks.
delegate?.myMethod(self, text:"your Text")
Here's a gist I put together. I was wondering the same and this helped improve my understanding. Open this up in an Xcode Playground to see what's going on.
protocol YelpRequestDelegate {
func getYelpData() -> AnyObject
func processYelpData(data: NSData) -> NSData
}
class YelpAPI {
var delegate: YelpRequestDelegate?
func getData() {
println("data being retrieved...")
let data: AnyObject? = delegate?.getYelpData()
}
func processYelpData(data: NSData) {
println("data being processed...")
let data = delegate?.processYelpData(data)
}
}
class Controller: YelpRequestDelegate {
init() {
var yelpAPI = YelpAPI()
yelpAPI.delegate = self
yelpAPI.getData()
}
func getYelpData() -> AnyObject {
println("getYelpData called")
return NSData()
}
func processYelpData(data: NSData) -> NSData {
println("processYelpData called")
return NSData()
}
}
var controller = Controller()
DELEGATES IN SWIFT 2
I am explaining with example of Delegate with two viewControllers.In this case, SecondVC Object is sending data back to first View Controller.
Class with Protocol Declaration
protocol getDataDelegate {
func getDataFromAnotherVC(temp: String)
}
import UIKit
class SecondVC: UIViewController {
var delegateCustom : getDataDelegate?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
}
override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}
#IBAction func backToMainVC(sender: AnyObject) {
//calling method defined in first View Controller with Object
self.delegateCustom?.getDataFromAnotherVC(temp: "I am sending data from second controller to first view controller.Its my first delegate example. I am done with custom delegates.")
self.navigationController?.popViewControllerAnimated(true)
}
}
In First ViewController Protocol conforming is done here:
class ViewController: UIViewController, getDataDelegate
Protocol method definition in First View Controller(ViewController)
func getDataFromAnotherVC(temp : String)
{
// dataString from SecondVC
lblForData.text = dataString
}
During push the SecondVC from First View Controller (ViewController)
let objectPush = SecondVC()
objectPush.delegateCustom = self
self.navigationController.pushViewController(objectPush, animated: true)
First class:
protocol NetworkServiceDelegate: class {
func didCompleteRequest(result: String)
}
class NetworkService: NSObject {
weak var delegate: NetworkServiceDelegate?
func fetchDataFromURL(url : String) {
delegate?.didCompleteRequest(result: url)
}
}
Second class:
class ViewController: UIViewController, NetworkServiceDelegate {
let network = NetworkService()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
network.delegate = self
network.fetchDataFromURL(url: "Success!")
}
func didCompleteRequest(result: String) {
print(result)
}
}
Very easy step by step (100% working and tested)
step1: Create method on first view controller
func updateProcessStatus(isCompleted : Bool){
if isCompleted{
self.labelStatus.text = "Process is completed"
}else{
self.labelStatus.text = "Process is in progress"
}
}
step2: Set delegate while push to second view controller
#IBAction func buttonAction(_ sender: Any) {
let secondViewController = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "secondViewController") as! secondViewController
secondViewController.delegate = self
self.navigationController?.pushViewController(secondViewController, animated: true)
}
step3: set delegate like
class ViewController: UIViewController,ProcessStatusDelegate {
step4: Create protocol
protocol ProcessStatusDelegate:NSObjectProtocol{
func updateProcessStatus(isCompleted : Bool)
}
step5: take a variable
var delegate:ProcessStatusDelegate?
step6: While go back to previous view controller call delegate method so first view controller notify with data
#IBAction func buttonActionBack(_ sender: Any) {
delegate?.updateProcessStatus(isCompleted: true)
self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
}
#IBAction func buttonProgress(_ sender: Any) {
delegate?.updateProcessStatus(isCompleted: false)
self.navigationController?.popViewController(animated: true)
}
Simple Example:
protocol Work: class {
func doSomething()
}
class Manager {
weak var delegate: Work?
func passAlong() {
delegate?.doSomething()
}
}
class Employee: Work {
func doSomething() {
print("Working on it")
}
}
let manager = Manager()
let developer = Employee()
manager.delegate = developer
manager.passAlong() // PRINTS: Working on it
Delegates are a design pattern that allows one object to send messages to another object when a specific event happens.
Imagine an object A calls an object B to perform an action. Once the action is complete, object A should know that B has completed the task and take necessary action, this can be achieved with the help of delegates!
Here is a tutorial implementing delegates step by step in swift 3
Tutorial Link
Here is real life delegate scenario
Lets make our own UITextField and UITextFieldDelegate
// THE MYSTERIOUS UITEXTFIELD
protocol UITextFieldDelegate {
func textFieldDidChange(_ textField: UITextField) -> Void
}
class UITextField {
var delegate: UITextFieldDelegate?
private var mText: String?
var text: String? {
get {
return mText
}
}
init(text: String) {
}
init() {
}
func setText(_ text: String) {
mText = text
delegate?.textFieldDidChange(self)
}
}
// HERE IS MY APP
class Main {
let textfield = UITextField()
func viewDidLoad() {
print("viewDidLoad")
textfield.delegate = self
textfield.setText("Hello")
}
}
extension Main: UITextFieldDelegate {
func textFieldDidChange(_ textField: UITextField) {
print(textField.text ?? "No string")
}
}
let main = Main()
main.viewDidLoad()
Here Simple Code Example of Delegate:
//MARK: - Protocol ShowResult
protocol ShowResult: AnyObject {
func show(value: Int)
}
//MARK: - MyOperation Class
class MyOperation {
weak var delegate: ShowResult?
func sum(fNumber: Int, sNumber: Int) {
delegate?.show(value: fNumber + sNumber)
}
}
//MARK: - ViewController Class
class ViewController: UIViewController,ShowResult {
var myOperation: MyOperation?
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
loadMyOperation()
myOperation?.delegate = self
myOperation?.sum(fNumber: 100, sNumber: 20)
}
private func loadMyOperation() {
if myOperation == nil {
myOperation = MyOperation()
}
}
func show(value: Int) {
print("value: \(value)")
}
}
The solutions above seemed a little coupled and at the same time avoid reuse the same protocol in other controllers, that's why I've come with the solution that is more strong typed using generic type-erasure.
#noreturn public func notImplemented(){
fatalError("not implemented yet")
}
public protocol DataChangedProtocol: class{
typealias DataType
func onChange(t:DataType)
}
class AbstractDataChangedWrapper<DataType> : DataChangedProtocol{
func onChange(t: DataType) {
notImplemented()
}
}
class AnyDataChangedWrapper<T: DataChangedProtocol> : AbstractDataChangedWrapper<T.DataType>{
var base: T
init(_ base: T ){
self.base = base
}
override func onChange(t: T.DataType) {
base.onChange(t)
}
}
class AnyDataChangedProtocol<DataType> : DataChangedProtocol{
var base: AbstractDataChangedWrapper<DataType>
init<S: DataChangedProtocol where S.DataType == DataType>(_ s: S){
self.base = AnyDataChangedWrapper(s)
}
func onChange(t: DataType) {
base.onChange(t)
}
}
class Source : DataChangedProtocol {
func onChange(data: String) {
print( "got new value \(data)" )
}
}
class Target {
var delegate: AnyDataChangedProtocol<String>?
func reportChange(data:String ){
delegate?.onChange(data)
}
}
var source = Source()
var target = Target()
target.delegate = AnyDataChangedProtocol(source)
target.reportChange("newValue")
output: got new value newValue
In swift 4.0
Create a delegate on class that need to send some data or provide some functionality to other classes
Like
protocol GetGameStatus {
var score: score { get }
func getPlayerDetails()
}
After that in the class that going to confirm to this delegate
class SnakesAndLadders: GetGameStatus {
func getPlayerDetails() {
}
}
In swift 5
I am a beginner, I think this is easiest way to understand in practical scenario
Note:Any improvisations are most appreciated
protocol APIService {
func onSuccessResponse() -> AnyObject
func onFailureResponse() -> AnyObject
}
class APIHelper{
var delegate : APIService?
func postUsersDataAPI() {
//assuming API communication is success
if(success){
let _: AnyObject? = delegate?.onSuccessResponse()
}else if(failure){
let _: AnyObject? = delegate?.onFailureResponse()
}
}
func getAllUsersAPI() {
//assuming API communication is success
if(success){
let _: AnyObject? = delegate?.onSuccessResponse()
}else if(failure){
let _: AnyObject? = delegate?.onFailureResponse()
}
}
}
class ViewController:UIViewController,APIService {
func onSuccessResponse() -> AnyObject {
print("onSuccessResponse") as AnyObject
}
func onFailureResponse() -> AnyObject {
print("onFailureResponse") as AnyObject
}
#IBAction func clickBtnToPostUserData(_ sender: Any) {
let apiHelper = APIHelper()
apiHelper.delegate = self
apiHelper.postAPI()
}