retrieving image name on UIButton

[d4apple]

how can i retrieve name that i have already set on a UIButton .. I m not asking how to set image but how to retrieve it . Plz assist

[baja_yu]

Images don't have names. You'll need to keep track of it somewhere else, in an instance variable or possibly subclass UIImage.

[Duncan C]

Originally Posted by d4apple

how can i retrieve name that i have already set on a UIButton .. I m not asking how to set image but how to retrieve it . Plz assist

As baja_yu pointed out, images don't have names. An image can come from a variety of sources. They are not always loaded from a file.

If you are using the UIButton method setImage:forState: to set the button image yourself, with code something like this:

[myButton setImage:
[UIImage imageNamed: @"image.png"]
forState: UIControlStateNormal];

Then you might want to create a custom subclass of UIButton that has a new method, setImageToFileName, and a new string property imageFileName. Something like this:


The header for your custom button class:

@class myButton: UIButton
{
  NSString* imageFileName;
}

@property (nonatomic, readonly) NSString* imageFileName;

- (BOOL) setImageToFileName: (NSString*) newFileName;
@end

The .m file for your custom button class:

//Create a private category of the class that allows 
//us to change the imageFileName

@interface myButton()
@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString* imageFileName;
@end

@implementation myButton


@synthesize imageFileName;

- (BOOL) setImageToFileName: (NSString*) newFileName;
{
  self.imageFileName = newFileName;
  if ([self.imageFileName && [self.imageFileName length] >0)
    [self setImage: 
      [UIImage imageNamed: self.imageFileName]
      forState: UIControlStateNormal];
}

//...
@end

Then, when you use one of these custom buttons, you can use its imageFileName property to figure out the filename that was last used as the button image. Note that the code above would not set up the imageFileName for the initial image that is set in Interface Builder. I don't know of a way to do that, since by the time the program runs, the filename is no longer available. You'd need to set the image filename by calling your setImageToFileName in code in your ViewDidLoad method.

[iSDK]

@DuncanC You left a bracket at the beginning of the if statement that shouldn't be there.

[baja_yu]

Depending on what you are actually doing and where you need these names, it might be good to subclass UIImage by adding the imageName property, instead of the button. That way you can tie a name to the image of a UIImageView and any other place you use images, even arrays of images etc.