Detecting which UIButton was pressed in a UITableV

Question

I have a UITableView with 5 UITableViewCells. Each cell contains a UIButton which is set up as follows:

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
     NSString *identifier = @"identifier";
     UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:identifier];
     if (cell == nil) {
         cell = [[UITableView alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:identifier];
         [cell autorelelase];

         UIButton *button = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 5, 40, 20)];
         [button addTarget:self action:@selector(buttonPressedAction:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
         [button setTag:1];
         [cell.contentView addSubview:button];

         [button release];
     }

     UIButton *button = (UIButton *)[cell viewWithTag:1];
     [button setTitle:@"Edit" forState:UIControlStateNormal];

     return cell;
}

My question is this: in the buttonPressedAction: method, how do I know which button has been pressed. I've considered using tags but I'm not sure this is the best route. I'd like to be able to somehow tag the indexPath onto the control.

- (void)buttonPressedAction:(id)sender
{
    UIButton *button = (UIButton *)sender;
    // how do I know which button sent this message?
    // processing button press for this row requires an indexPath. 
}

What's the standard way of doing this?

Edit:

I've kinda solved it by doing the following. I would still like to have an opinion whether this is the standard way of doing it or is there a better way?

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
     NSString *identifier = @"identifier";
     UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:identifier];
     if (cell == nil) {
         cell = [[UITableView alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:identifier];
         [cell autorelelase];

         UIButton *button = [[UIButton alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 5, 40, 20)];
         [button addTarget:self action:@selector(buttonPressedAction:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
         [cell.contentView addSubview:button];

         [button release];
     }

     UIButton *button = (UIButton *)[cell.contentView.subviews objectAtIndex:0];
     [button setTag:indexPath.row];
     [button setTitle:@"Edit" forState:UIControlStateNormal];

     return cell;
}

- (void)buttonPressedAction:(id)sender
{
    UIButton *button = (UIButton *)sender;
    int row = button.tag;
}

What's important to note is that I can't set the tag in the creation of the cell since the cell might be dequeued instead. It feels very dirty. There must be a better way.

Answer 1

Here's how I do it. Simple and concise:

- (IBAction)buttonTappedAction:(id)sender
{
    CGPoint buttonPosition = [sender convertPoint:CGPointZero
                                           toView:self.tableView];
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForRowAtPoint:buttonPosition];
    ...

Answer 2

I would use the tag property like you said, setting the tag like so:

[button setTag:indexPath.row];

then getting the tag inside of the buttonPressedAction like so:

((UIButton *)sender).tag

Or

UIButton *button = (UIButton *)sender; 
button.tag;

Answer 3

// how do I know which button sent this message?
// processing button press for this row requires an indexPath.

Pretty straightforward actually:

- (void)buttonPressedAction:(id)sender
{
    UIButton *button = (UIButton *)sender;
    CGPoint rowButtonCenterInTableView = [[rowButton superview] convertPoint:rowButton.center toView:self.tableView];
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForRowAtPoint:rowButtonCenterInTableView];
    MyTableViewItem *rowItem = [self.itemsArray objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    // Now you're good to go.. do what the intention of the button is, but with
    // the context of the "row item" that the button belongs to
    [self performFooWithItem:rowItem];
}

Working well for me :P

if you want to adjust your target-action setup, you can include the event parameter in the method, and then use the touches of that event to resolve the coordinates of the touch. The coordinates still need to be resolved in the touch view bounds, but that may seem easier for some people.

Answer 4

Found a nice solution to this problem elsewhere, no messing around with tags on the button:

- (void)buttonPressedAction:(id)sender {

NSSet *touches = [event allTouches];
UITouch *touch = [touches anyObject];
CGPoint currentTouchPosition = [touch locationInView:self.tableView];
NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForRowAtPoint: currentTouchPosition];

do stuff with the indexPath...
}

Answer 5

To do (@Vladimir)'s answer is Swift:

var buttonPosition = sender.convertPoint(CGPointZero, toView: self.tableView)
var indexPath = self.tableView.indexPathForRowAtPoint(buttonPosition)!

Although checking for indexPath != nil gives me the finger..."NSIndexPath is not a subtype of NSString"

Answer 6

A better way would be to subclass your button and add a indexPath property to it.

//Implement a subclass for UIButton.

@interface NewButton:UIButton
@property(nonatomic, strong) NSIndexPath *indexPath;


Make your button of type NewButton in the XIB or in the code whereever you are initializing them.

Then in the cellForRowAtIndexPath put the following line of code.

button.indexPath = indexPath;

return cell; //As usual



Now in your IBAction

-(IBAction)buttonClicked:(id)sender{
   NewButton *button = (NewButton *)sender;

//Now access the indexPath by buttons property..

   NSIndexPath *indexPath = button.indexPath; //:)
}