Programmatically Build UITableView Sections & Populate Inner Cells

[jakerocheleau]

I have some code right now that can fill in a standard UITableView when set to 'Dynamic Prototypes'. I am loading these programmatically because I have a lot of rows and it gets confusing to detect which row was tapped. Here's the code I have so far:

PHP Code:

- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView 
{
    return 1;
}

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
    return self.villagersListing.count;
}
- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath 
{
    
    if (indexPath.row % 2)
    {
        [cell setBackgroundColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:238.0f/255.0f green:244.0f/255.0f blue:244.0f/255.0f alpha:1.0]];
    }
    else [cell setBackgroundColor:[UIColor colorWithRed:1.0 green:1.0 blue:1.0 alpha:1.0]];
}

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath 
{
    
    static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"cell";
    
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator;
    cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleGray;
    
    NSString *cellValue = [self.villagersListing objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    cell.textLabel.text = cellValue;
    cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:65.0f/255.0f green:65.0f/255.0f blue:65.0f/255.0f alpha:1.0];
    
    return cell;
} 


This pulls data from an NSMutableArray called villagersListing and loads each string value into a UITableView. Towards the top I have numberOfSectionsInTableView set to 1 because I don't actually need any sections.

The problem is that I'm trying to list out a set of fruits/vegetables in a different 'Crops' table view. I need 4 sections - Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter - and each contain a different array of crops. Currently I have this working through manually entering values in Storyboard but I need to find a way to display them through Objective-C.

I'm hoping somebody can help me translate my above code to use a set of Sections instead of just one long list of rows.

Please let me know if I can clarify anything... Here is what my crops table looks like in Storyboard right now:

Spring[TABLE VIEW SECTION]

• Turnip
• Potato
• Cucumber
• Cabbage
• Strawberry

Summer[TABLE VIEW SECTION]

• Onion
• Tomato
• Corn
• Pineapple
• Pumpkin
• Pink Mist Flower

Fall[TABLE VIEW SECTION]

• Carrot
• Eggplant
• Sweet Potato
• Green Pepper
• Breadfruit
• Spinach
• Magic Red Flower

Winter[TABLE VIEW SECTION]

• White Snow Flower

[jakerocheleau]

I forgot to include a screenshot as well - I figure this may help explain things a bit clearer.

On the left is my current Crops table which is running through static cells I manually entered in the Storyboard view. On the right is my dynamically generated list of 'villagers' with all the custom cell styles.



also thanks in advance for any help I do appreciate it

[BrianSlick]

Well, if you need more than one section, then numberOfSections shouldn't be 1. I can't help with storyboard, but for general table view stuff, see the link in my signature.

[Duncan C]

Originally Posted by jakerocheleau

I forgot to include a screenshot as well - I figure this may help explain things a bit clearer.

On the left is my current Crops table which is running through static cells I manually entered in the Storyboard view. On the right is my dynamically generated list of 'villagers' with all the custom cell styles.



also thanks in advance for any help I do appreciate it

A sectioned tableview is basically an array of arrays. Each section is an array that contains an array of the elements in that section.

So, in cellForRowAtIndexPath, use the section number to select the outer array, and the row number to select the entry in that array.

[jakerocheleau]

Thanks I'll try to clarify a bit...

So I deleted all my Storyboard cells and changed the table to Dynamic Prototypes so I can control the cell values through Objective-C. Then I created a new UIView class for this view - it's called CropsListViewController and I added below the code I have so far.

I've set 4 sections each with the same array of vegetables. but the section headers don't actually show up, so it's just a repeating list of these 5 crops four different times.

PHP Code:

#import "CropsListViewController.h"

@implementation CropsListViewController
@synthesize springCropsList;

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
    
    self.springCropsList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
    
    [self.springCropsList addObject:@"Turnip"];
    [self.springCropsList addObject:@"Potato"];
    [self.springCropsList addObject:@"Cucumber"];
    [self.springCropsList addObject:@"Cabbage"];
    [self.springCropsList addObject:@"Strawberry"];
    
    self.navigationItem.title = @"Crops";
}

- (void)viewDidUnload
{
    [super viewDidUnload];
    // Release any retained subviews of the main view.
    // e.g. self.myOutlet = nil;
}

- (NSInteger)numberOfSectionsInTableView:(UITableView *)tableView 
{
    return 4;
}

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section 
{
    return 5;
} 


So how would I go about setting each of the 4 different 'Header' values for the 4 different sections? Is this what you mean by creating an array of arrays, or an NSDictionary?

[BrianSlick]

That is explained in the table view link in my signature. Go read it. Not kidding.

[jakerocheleau]

Originally Posted by BrianSlick

That is explained in the table view link in my signature. Go read it. Not kidding.

Dude that was perfect thanks so much. For anyone else with a similar issue here's the link to the tutorial i followed:

Clinging To Ideas: UITableView How-To: Part 3 - Multiple Sections