How to Get Index of Specific UIViewController in UITabBarController

Question

So, switching programatically from one tab in a UITabBarController to another is easy enough...

self.tabBarController?.selectedIndex = 1

...but hard-coding the tab index each time seems pretty inelegant. It would cause problems if the tabs were re-ordered, for example.

Is there a way to retrieve the [first] index of a specific UIViewController , so that the code could be something more like the following?

if let destinationIndex = self.tabBarController?.index(of: ExampleViewController) {
    self.tabBarController?.selectedIndex = destinationIndex
}

Answer 1

You'll want to use the firstIndex(where:) method.

if let destinationIndex = self.tabBarController?.viewControllers.firstIndex(where: { $0 is ExampleViewController }) {
    self.tabBarController?.selectedIndex = destinationIndex
}

Answer 2

For those to whom it applies, this is the answer from @ Craig Siemens , adapted for when the target VC is embedded in a navigation controller:

if let destinationIndex = self.tabBarController?.viewControllers?.firstIndex(where: {
    let navController = $0 as? UINavigationController
    return navController?.viewControllers.first is ExampleViewController
}) {
    self.tabBarController?.selectedIndex = destinationIndex
}

Answer 3

Create an enum for your tabbar items.

If design changes the order, you can change it in the enum without changing anything else.

enum TabbarVCs: Int {
 case home
 case settings
 case profile
}

tabBarController.selectedIndex = TabbarVCs.home.rawValue