How would I reference the main storyboard in my app programmatically in swift? - xcode

Question

How would I reference the main storyboard in my app programmatically in swift? I looked into the app delegate for a reference but so far I haven't found one.

Answer 1

Oh whoops I found the answer...
In another view controller of the that is connected to a storyboard you can simply use:
self.storyboard?

Answer 2

Or any object can get a storyboard by referencing its name and bundle:
let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "storyboardNameHere", bundle: nil) //if bundle is nil the main bundle will be used

Answer 3

It's easy. When I've come across a similar problem, I wrote a class that can obtain any resources from main bundle.
//Generate name of the main storyboard file, by default: "Main"
var kMainStoryboardName: String {
let info = NSBundle.mainBundle().infoDictionary!
if let value = info["TPMainStoryboardName"] as? String
{
return value
}else{
return "Main"
}
}
public class TPBundleResources
{
class func nib(name: String) -> UINib?
{
let nib = UINib(nibName: name, bundle: NSBundle.mainBundle());
return nib
}
//Main storybord
class func mainStoryboard() -> UIStoryboard
{
return storyboard(kMainStoryboardName)
}
class func storyboard(name: String) -> UIStoryboard
{
let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: name, bundle: NSBundle.mainBundle())
return storyboard
}
//Obtain file from main bundle by name and fileType
class func fileFromBundle(fileName: String?, fileType: String?) -> NSURL?
{
var url: NSURL?
if let path = NSBundle.mainBundle().pathForResource(fileName, ofType: fileType)
{
url = NSURL.fileURLWithPath(path)
}
return url
}
class func plistValue(key:String) -> AnyObject?
{
let info = NSBundle.mainBundle().infoDictionary!
if let value: AnyObject = info[key]
{
return value
}else{
return nil
}
}
}
public extension TPBundleResources
{
//Obtain view controller by name from main storyboard
class func vcWithName(name: String) -> UIViewController?
{
let storyboard = mainStoryboard()
let viewController: AnyObject! = storyboard.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier(name)
return viewController as? UIViewController
}
class func vcWithName(storyboardName:String, name: String) -> UIViewController?
{
let sb = storyboard(storyboardName)
let viewController: AnyObject! = sb.instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier(name)
return viewController as? UIViewController
}
//Obtain view controller by idx from nib
class func viewFromNib(nibName: String, atIdx idx:Int) -> UIView?
{
let view = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed(nibName, owner: nil, options: nil)[idx] as! UIView
return view
}
class func viewFromNib(nibName: String, owner: AnyObject, atIdx idx:Int) -> UIView?
{
let bundle = NSBundle(forClass: owner.dynamicType)
let nib = UINib(nibName: nibName, bundle: bundle)
let view = nib.instantiateWithOwner(owner, options: nil)[idx] as? UIView
return view
}
class func viewFromNibV2(nibName: String, owner: AnyObject, atIdx idx:Int) -> UIView?
{
let view = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed(nibName, owner: owner, options: nil)[idx] as! UIView
return view
}
}
Here are simple examples:
//Get a main storyboard
TPBundleResources.mainStoryboard()
//Get view controller form main storyboard
TPBundleResources.vcWithName("MyViewController")
//Get view from MyView.nib at index 0
TPBundleResources.viewFromNib("MyView", atIdx: 0)
//Get plist value by key
TPBundleResources.plistValue("key")

Answer 4

Even if #ManOfPanda's answer is correct, there are cases where you simply don't have a reference to a UIViewController, so you can grab it from the rootViewController of the UIWindow object from your AppDelegate.
// First import your AppDelegate
import AppDelegate
// ...
// Then get a reference of it.
let appDelegate = UIApplication().shared.delegate as! AppDelegate
// From there, get your UIStoryboard reference from the
// rootViewController in your UIWindow
let rootViewController = appDelegate.window?.rootViewController
let storyboard = rootViewController?.storyboard
You could also, of course, simply create a UIStoryboard by using (as #Mario suggested):
let storyboard = UIStoryboard(name: "storyboard", bundle:nil)
But that will, according to Apple documentation, create a new instance of the Storyboard (even if you already have one working). I always prefer to use an existing instance.
init(name:bundle:)
Creates and returns a storyboard object for the specified storyboard resource file.
init(name: String, bundle storyboardBundleOrNil: Bundle?)
Parameters
name: The name of the storyboard resource file without the filename extension. This method raises an exception if this parameter is nil.
storyboardBundleOrNil: The bundle containing the storyboard file and its related resources. If you specify nil, this method looks in the main bundle of the current application.
Source: Apple documentation

Answer 5

UIStoryboard * mainStoryboard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:#"Main" bundle:nil];