Embedding a UITableView as a container view within

Question

I would like to add a textfield and send button that sticks to the bottom of uitableview similar to a chat app. I have come across comments on embedding a UITableView as a container view within a UIViewController.

However, they seem to lack an example on how to achieve this. More specifically details including where to add a textfield/button and move textfield up when keyboard appears, etc. Thanks!

Answer 1

A very simple chat model code, you can take a look:

#import "ViewController.h"

@interface ViewController ()

@property UIView* containerView;

@end

@implementation ViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.

_containerView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:[UIScreen mainScreen].bounds];

UITableView* tableView = [[UITableView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.width, [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height-30)];
UITextField* tfInput = [[UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, tableView.frame.size.height, [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.width-50, 30)];
tfInput.backgroundColor = [UIColor grayColor];
UIButton* btnSend = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(tfInput.frame.size.width, tfInput.frame.origin.y, 50, 30)];
[btnSend setTitle:@"Send" forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[btnSend setTitleColor:[UIColor blueColor] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[btnSend addTarget:self action:@selector(btnClicked) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

[_containerView addSubview:tableView];
[_containerView addSubview:tfInput];
[_containerView addSubview:btnSend];
[self.view addSubview:_containerView];

[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(keyboardWillShow:) name:UIKeyboardWillShowNotification object:nil];
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(keyboardWillHide:) name:UIKeyboardWillHideNotification object:nil];
}

- (void)keyboardWillShow:(NSNotification *)notification {
NSDictionary *userInfo = [notification userInfo];
NSValue* aValue = [userInfo objectForKey:UIKeyboardFrameEndUserInfoKey];
float keyboardHeight = [aValue CGRectValue].size.height;
//Resize the container
_containerView.frame = CGRectMake(0,  - keyboardHeight, [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.width, [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds.size.height);
}

-(void)btnClicked{
[self.view endEditing:YES];
}

- (void)keyboardWillHide:(NSNotification *)notification {
_containerView.frame = [UIScreen mainScreen].bounds;
}

- (void)didReceiveMemoryWarning {
[super didReceiveMemoryWarning];
// Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

@end

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This is a screenshot for using storyboard:

Answer 2

follow the steps using the storyboard

1) drag a uiviewcontroller from the object library.
2) drag and drop the textfield and button and place it at the position you want
3) drag and drop a container view.
4) delete the default uiviewcontroller comes with the container view
5) drag a uitableviewcontroller and make a segue and the segue should be embedsegue.

and for keyboard handling you can go with IQKeyboardManager library https://github.com/hackiftekhar/IQKeyboardManager