Adding AdMob view just above a tab bar controller

[hstaniloff]

Hello;
My main app uses a Tab Bar Controller in the MainWindow.xib.
I understand the mechanics of adding the AdMob stuff to a generic view, but I'm having a difficult time glueing the concepts in my head enough to add it just above the Tab Bar controller. I want the ads there so that they are present as the user moves about my app.
Or should I incorporate the ads on each of the seperate view controllers that the tab bar controller controls?
Thanks.

[rarindeed]

You can either add the TBC view to a superview that also has the AdMob view or have a separate AdMob view in each child VC.

[hstaniloff]

Originally Posted by rarindeed

You can either add the TBC view to a superview that also has the AdMob view or have a separate AdMob view in each child VC.

Yup. I got it.
Thanks!!!!!

[swizzy]

Originally Posted by hstaniloff

Yup. I got it.
Thanks!!!!!

Hi, I have the exact same problem, can you please share the steps that fixed it?

[hstaniloff]

Originally Posted by swizzy

Hi, I have the exact same problem, can you please share the steps that fixed it?

In my opinion, putting ads at the very top or the very bottom breaks the look and feel of the iPhone interface. I just don't like the way it looks. Take a peek at weather.com app and you'll see what I mean.
Since almost all of my view controllers are tables, I decided to display the ads in a TableViewHeader. It looks good and the user can scroll it away if the display is big enough - I sort of like that behavior.
So here's what I did to implement it:
In my view controller's viewDidLoad I have the following:

if (tableHeaderView == nil) {
	CGRect frameRectangle = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 320.0f, 48.0f);
	tableHeaderView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:frameRectangle];
	tableHeaderView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0.208 green:0.435 blue:0.659 alpha:1];
        self.tableView.tableHeaderView = tableHeaderView;
    }

// Request an ad
adMobAd = [AdMobView requestAdWithDelegate:self];
[adMobAd retain]; // this will be released when it loads (or fails to load)

tableHeaderView is defined as a UIView in my .h file. Then, I do the following assignment in the AdMob callback didReceiveAd;

- (void)didReceiveAd:(AdMobView *)adView {
	NSLog(@"AdMob: Did receive ad");
		
	[self.tableView.tableHeaderView addSubview:adMobAd];
	[refreshTimer invalidate];
	refreshTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:AD_REFRESH_PERIOD target:self selector:@selector(refreshAd:) userInfo:nil repeats:YES];
}

So that's how I implemented AdMob ads in my app. Hope that helps!
/H

[tsansone]

Originally Posted by hstaniloff

In my opinion, putting ads at the very top or the very bottom breaks the look and feel of the iPhone interface. I just don't like the way it looks. Take a peek at weather.com app and you'll see what I mean.
Since almost all of my view controllers are tables, I decided to display the ads in a TableViewHeader. It looks good and the user can scroll it away if the display is big enough - I sort of like that behavior.
So here's what I did to implement it:
In my view controller's viewDidLoad I have the following:

if (tableHeaderView == nil) {
	CGRect frameRectangle = CGRectMake(0.0f, 0.0f, 320.0f, 48.0f);
	tableHeaderView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:frameRectangle];
	tableHeaderView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:0.208 green:0.435 blue:0.659 alpha:1];
        self.tableView.tableHeaderView = tableHeaderView;
    }

// Request an ad
adMobAd = [AdMobView requestAdWithDelegate:self];
[adMobAd retain]; // this will be released when it loads (or fails to load)

tableHeaderView is defined as a UIView in my .h file. Then, I do the following assignment in the AdMob callback didReceiveAd;

- (void)didReceiveAd:(AdMobView *)adView {
	NSLog(@"AdMob: Did receive ad");
		
	[self.tableView.tableHeaderView addSubview:adMobAd];
	[refreshTimer invalidate];
	refreshTimer = [NSTimer scheduledTimerWithTimeInterval:AD_REFRESH_PERIOD target:self selector:@selector(refreshAd:) userInfo:nil repeats:YES];
}

So that's how I implemented AdMob ads in my app. Hope that helps!
/H

Hello, I am very new at developing for the iphone but have managed to get the AdMob code working in my normal views. But a portion of my app is in Tables. When I add the code to the tables it does work but the first record is always cut off. I tried using your method from above, but I think some steps were left out.

I am getting the following errors after using your code:

error: 'adMobAd' undeclared (first used in this function)
error: 'AdMobView' undeclared (first used in this function)
error: request for member 'tableView' in something not a structure or union.

Any help would be appreciated.. Baby steps would help too

Thanks

[hstaniloff]

Originally Posted by tsansone

Hello, I am very new at developing for the iphone but have managed to get the AdMob code working in my normal views. But a portion of my app is in Tables. When I add the code to the tables it does work but the first record is always cut off. I tried using your method from above, but I think some steps were left out.

I am getting the following errors after using your code:

error: 'adMobAd' undeclared (first used in this function)
error: 'AdMobView' undeclared (first used in this function)
error: request for member 'tableView' in something not a structure or union.

Any help would be appreciated.. Baby steps would help too

Thanks

It looks like you didn't declare anything in your .h file!
Something like this might help:

#define AD_REFRESH_PERIOD 60.0 // display fresh ads once per minute

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
#import "AdMobDelegateProtocol.h";
@class AdMobView;

@interface AdViewController : UIViewController<AdMobDelegate> {

  AdMobView *adMobAd;  // the actual ad; self.view is a placeholder to indicate where the ad should be placed; intentially _not_ an IBOutlet
  NSTimer *refreshTimer; // timer to get fresh ads

}

- (void)refreshAd:(NSTimer *)timer;

@end

Take a look at the AdMob sample app that comes with their SDK. That will help a lot.

[tsansone]

Ok, I tried putting the code in the header and got nowhere. I appreciate you trying to help me. I am attaching code for my files that need to be modified (I believe). I would appreciate it if you could help with this.

VGTData.h file

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <sqlite3.h>
#import "VGTDataUser.h"
#import "VGTGame.h"
#import "VGTManufacturer.h"
#import "VGTPlatform.h"

@interface VGTData : NSObject
{
    sqlite3 *readonlyDatabase;
    sqlite3 *writableDatabase;
	NSArray *manufacturers;
	BOOL shouldReloadUserHaves;
	BOOL shouldReloadUserWants;
	NSMutableSet *dataUsers;
	NSMutableSet *haveGames[OwnedStateCOUNT];
	NSMutableSet *wantGames[OwnedStateCOUNT];
	NSMutableDictionary *havePlatforms;
	NSMutableDictionary *wantPlatforms;
}

@property (nonatomic, assign) sqlite3 *readonlyDatabase;
@property (nonatomic, assign) sqlite3 *writableDatabase;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *manufacturers;

+ (VGTData *)sharedInstance;
+ (void)appWillTerminate;

- (id)init;
- (void)createFavoritesTables;
- (UIImage *)imageForManufacturer:(VGTManufacturer *)manufacturer;
- (UIImage *)imageForPlatform:(VGTPlatform *)platform;
- (NSArray *)platformsWithText:(NSString *)searchText;
//- (NSArray *)gamesForPlatform:(VGTPlatform *)platform;

- (void)addDataUser:(id <VGTDataUser>)aUser;

- (BOOL)loadDatabaseUpdate:(NSData *)aData;

- (NSDictionary *)havePlatforms;
- (NSDictionary *)wantPlatforms;

- (NSSet *)haveCompleteGames;
- (NSSet *)haveLooseGames;
- (NSSet *)wantCompleteGames;
- (NSSet *)wantLooseGames;

- (OwnedState)haveItStateForGame:(NSString *)primaryKey;
- (OwnedState)wantItStateForGame:(NSString *)primaryKey;

- (void)setHaveState:(OwnedState)newState forGame:(NSString *)primaryKey;
- (void)setWantState:(OwnedState)newState forGame:(NSString *)primaryKey;

- (BOOL)shouldReloadUserHaves;
- (BOOL)shouldReloadUserWants;

- (void)userHavesDidChange;
- (void)userWantsDidChange;

@end

VGTData.m file

#import "VGTData.h"
#import "VGTManufacturer.h"
#import "VGTPlatform.h"
#import "VGTGame.h"
#import "JHSQLiteCocoa.h"
#import <sqlite3.h>

@interface VGTData ()
- (void)initializeDatabase;
- (void)closeDatabase;
@end


@implementation VGTData

VGTData *VGTData__instance = nil;
static sqlite3_stmt *search_statement = NULL;

static sqlite3_stmt *hydrate_have_platforms_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *hydrate_have_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *query_have_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *delete_have_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *insert_have_statement = NULL;

static sqlite3_stmt *hydrate_want_platforms_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *hydrate_want_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *query_want_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *delete_want_statement = NULL;
static sqlite3_stmt *insert_want_statement = NULL;

@synthesize readonlyDatabase;
@synthesize writableDatabase;
@synthesize manufacturers;

+ (VGTData *)sharedInstance
{
	//DLog(@"%s (%@)", __FUNCTION__, VGTData__instance);
	if (VGTData__instance == nil)
	{
		VGTData__instance = [[VGTData alloc] init];
	}
	return VGTData__instance;
}

+ (void)appWillTerminate
{
	[VGTData__instance closeDatabase];
}

- (void)createFavoritesTables
{
	static BOOL did_create_have_table = NO;
	static BOOL did_create_want_table = NO;
	if (did_create_have_table == NO)
	{
		did_create_have_table = YES;
		
		sqlite3_stmt *statement = NULL;
		const char *sql = "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS user_have(gameId TEXT PRIMARY KEY, state INT)";
		int result = sqlite3_prepare_v2(writableDatabase, sql, -1, &statement, NULL);
		//DLog(@"(%d)", result);
		if (result != SQLITE_OK)
		{
			DLog(@"");
			NSAssert1(0, @"Error: failed to prepare statement with message '%s'.", sqlite3_errmsg(writableDatabase));
		}
		int success = sqlite3_step(statement);
		//DLog(@"(%d)", success);
		result = sqlite3_finalize(statement);
		DLog(@"(%d)", result);
	}
	if (did_create_want_table == NO)
	{
		did_create_want_table = YES;
		
		sqlite3_stmt *statement = NULL;
		const char *sql = "CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS user_want(gameId TEXT PRIMARY KEY, state INT)";
		int result = sqlite3_prepare_v2(writableDatabase, sql, -1, &statement, NULL);
		//DLog(@"(%d)", result);
		if (result != SQLITE_OK)
		{
			DLog(@"");
			NSAssert1(0, @"Error: failed to prepare statement with message '%s'.", sqlite3_errmsg(writableDatabase));
		}
		int success = sqlite3_step(statement);
		//DLog(@"(%d)", success);
		result = sqlite3_finalize(statement);
		DLog(@"(%d)", result);
	}
}

- (void)dealloc
{
	[manufacturers release];
	[super dealloc];
}

// There is actually more code then this but I think this is all you will need //

I know this is a lot of code to look into and even perhaps outside the scope of this forum. But I am beginner at this and I am stuck. Thanks

[hstaniloff]

I know this is a lot of code to look into and even perhaps outside the scope of this forum. But I am beginner at this and I am stuck. Thanks

Ok. I see the code that you have here.
You have to have the AdMob SDK downloaded and installed in your Xcode project. Did you do that? Where are you implementing any of the AdMob stuff? [See previous code from last post]