How to Pass Data From Pop-Over Subview to View Controller with Swift 4

Question

I'm trying to pass the text data from my UITextField (taskNameField) subview that's apart of my taskCreator subview. Not sure how to get my hands on this data outside of the subview so that I can add it to my task array. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

import UIKit

var userTasks: [Task] = []

class PlannerViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDataSource, UICollectionViewDelegate, UITextFieldDelegate {

static let viewHeight = UIScreen.main.bounds.height
static let viewWidth = UIScreen.main.bounds.width

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
}

override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
    super.viewWillAppear(animated)

    let layout: UICollectionViewFlowLayout = UICollectionViewFlowLayout()
    layout.sectionInset = UIEdgeInsets(top: 110, left: 10, bottom: 10, right: 10)
    layout.itemSize = CGSize(width: view.frame.width - 30, height: 60)

    let myCollectionView:UICollectionView = UICollectionView(frame: self.view.frame, collectionViewLayout: layout)
    myCollectionView.dataSource = self
    myCollectionView.delegate = self
    myCollectionView.register(TaskCell.self, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "cellID")
    myCollectionView.backgroundColor = UIColor.darkGray
    self.view.addSubview(myCollectionView)

    let addButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: view.frame.width - 70, y: view.frame.height - 120, width: 50, height: 50))
    addButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
    addButton.setBackgroundImage(#imageLiteral(resourceName: "PlusIcon"), for: UIControlState.normal)
    addButton.layer.cornerRadius = 25
    addButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(addTask), for: .touchUpInside)
    self.view.addSubview(addButton)
}

func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
    return 10
}

internal func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
    let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "cellID", for: indexPath) as! TaskCell
    cell.layer.masksToBounds = true
    cell.layer.cornerRadius = 10
    cell.backgroundColor = UIColor.black
    return cell
}

@IBAction func addTask(sender: UIButton) {
    view.addSubview(taskCreator)
}

@IBAction func saveTask(sender: UIButton) {
    taskCreator.removeFromSuperview()
}

let taskCreator: UIView = {
    let object = UIView()
    object.frame = CGRect(x: 10, y: 50, width: viewWidth - 20, height: viewHeight - 350)
    object.layer.cornerRadius = 10
    object.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGray

    let taskNameField: UITextField = {
        let field = UITextField()
        field.frame = CGRect(x: 20, y: 20, width: object.frame.width - 40, height: 30)
        field.layer.cornerRadius = 5
        field.placeholder = "New Task"
        field.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment(rawValue: 3)!
        field.becomeFirstResponder()
        return field
    }()

    let doneButton: UIButton = {
        let done = UIButton()
        done.frame = CGRect(x: viewWidth / 2 - 55, y: 200, width: 90, height: 30)
        done.layer.cornerRadius = 5
        done.backgroundColor = UIColor.blue
        done.addTarget(self, action: #selector(saveTask), for: .touchUpInside)
        return done
    }()

    object.addSubview(taskNameField)
    object.addSubview(doneButton)

    return object
}()

override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
    super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
    // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
}

}

Answer 1

If you want to get the value of a UITextField it is as simple as this.

var textFieldValue = taskNameField.text

However if you need it immediately after the user has entered something into the text field, then you need to use delegate methods available in the UITextFieldDelegate which your UIViewController has to conform to.

func textFieldDidEndEditing(textField: UITextField) {
    var textFieldValue = textField.text
    // Do something with the value like adding it to a Task object
}

If you need to access your text field outside your view, then you need to declare it outside. Also declare them as lazy so that they are created only when needed.

lazy var doneButton: UIButton = {
    let done = UIButton()
    done.frame = CGRect(x: viewWidth / 2 - 55, y: 200, width: 90, height: 30)
    done.layer.cornerRadius = 5
    done.backgroundColor = UIColor.blue
    done.addTarget(self, action: #selector(saveTask), for: .touchUpInside)
    return done
}()

lazy var taskNameField: UITextField = {
    let field = UITextField()
    field.frame = CGRect(x: 20, y: 20, width: object.frame.width - 40, height: 30)
    field.layer.cornerRadius = 5
    field.placeholder = "New Task"
    field.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment(rawValue: 3)!
    field.becomeFirstResponder()
    return field
}()

lazy var taskCreator: UIView = {
    let object = UIView()
    object.frame = CGRect(x: 10, y: 50, width: viewWidth - 20, height: viewHeight - 350)
    object.layer.cornerRadius = 10
    object.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGray

    object.addSubview(taskNameField)
    object.addSubview(doneButton)

    return object
}()