How to move to previous TextField when delete button is clicked on built-in keyboard iOS

Question

I am building an iOS app which requires user to input pin which consists of 4 digits. So, I created 4 TextField separately in order to accept one number for each TextField . It is working fine when user inputs each textfield and move forward from textfield to another textfield smoothly.

But the problem is that I want user be able to delete by clicking on clear button icon that provided by iOS built-in keyboard. When user clicks on that icon button it should let textfield move to previous textfield but it does not work for me.

I have found lots of resources online on stackoverflow and it is still not working for me. That is why I created my own question.

This is how my code looks likes! I created textfield programmatically!

self.coverView.addSubview(self.paymentView.firstDigit)
self.coverView.addSubview(self.paymentView.secondDigit)
self.coverView.addSubview(self.paymentView.thirdDigit)
self.coverView.addSubview(self.paymentView.fourthDigit)

self.view.addSubview(self.overlayView)
self.overlayView.snp.makeConstraints { (make) in
    make.top.width.height.centerX.equalTo(self.coverView)
}
self.paymentView.firstDigit.becomeFirstResponder()


self.paymentView.firstDigit.snp.makeConstraints { (make) in
    make.top.equalTo(self.coverView)
    make.width.height.equalTo(21)
    make.leading.equalTo(self.coverView)
}
self.paymentView.secondDigit.snp.makeConstraints { (make) in
    make.top.equalTo(self.coverView)
    make.leading.equalTo(self.paymentView.firstDigit.snp.trailing).offset(8)
    make.width.height.equalTo(21)
}
self.paymentView.thirdDigit.snp.makeConstraints { (make) in
    make.top.equalTo(self.coverView)
    make.leading.equalTo(self.paymentView.secondDigit.snp.trailing).offset(8)
    make.width.height.equalTo(21)
}
self.paymentView.fourthDigit.snp.makeConstraints { (make) in
   make.top.equalTo(self.coverView)
    make.leading.equalTo(self.paymentView.thirdDigit.snp.trailing).offset(8)
    make.width.height.equalTo(21)
}

self.paymentView.firstDigit.delegate = self
self.paymentView.secondDigit.delegate = self
self.paymentView.thirdDigit.delegate = self
self.paymentView.fourthDigit.delegate = self 

The code above included delegate of TextField. And below is how I setup target for each TextField

self.paymentView.firstDigit.addTarget(self, action: #selector(textfieldDidChange(textField:)), for: .editingChanged)
self.paymentView.secondDigit.addTarget(self, action: #selector(textfieldDidChange(textField:)), for: .editingChanged)
self.paymentView.thirdDigit.addTarget(self, action: #selector(textfieldDidChange(textField:)), for: .editingChanged)
self.paymentView.fourthDigit.addTarget(self, action: #selector(textfieldDidChange(textField:)), for: .editingChanged)

And below is the function of textfieldDidChange

 @objc func textfieldDidChange(textField: UITextField) {
        let text = textField.text
        print("This is an amount of text ", text?.count)
        if text?.count == 1 {
            switch textField {
            case self.paymentView.firstDigit:
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.textColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.backgroundColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.secondDigit.becomeFirstResponder()

            case self.paymentView.secondDigit:
                self.paymentView.secondDigit.textColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.thirdDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.secondDigit.backgroundColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary

            case self.paymentView.thirdDigit:
                self.paymentView.thirdDigit.textColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.fourthDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.thirdDigit.backgroundColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary

            case self.paymentView.fourthDigit:
                self.paymentView.fourthDigit.textColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.fourthDigit.backgroundColor = BaseColor.colorPrimary
                self.paymentView.fourthDigit.resignFirstResponder()
                self.view.endEditing(true)
            default:
                break
            }
        }
        if text?.count == 0 {
            switch textField {
            case self.paymentView.firstDigit:
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.backgroundColor = .red
            case self.paymentView.secondDigit:
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.firstDigit.backgroundColor = .red
            case self.paymentView.thirdDigit:
                self.paymentView.secondDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.secondDigit.backgroundColor = .red
            case self.paymentView.fourthDigit:
                self.paymentView.thirdDigit.becomeFirstResponder()
                self.paymentView.thirdDigit.backgroundColor = .red
            default:
                break
            }
        }
    }

The above is how I tried to make textfield move to previous textfield when clear button of built-in keyboard iOS is clicked but it did not move. And the code above I copied from the source How to move cursor from one text field to another automatically in swift ios programmatically?

Answer 1

My approach was like this:

import UIKit

class ViewController1: UIViewController, UITextFieldDelegate {

    @IBOutlet weak var text1: UITextField!

    @IBOutlet weak var text2: UITextField!
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        text1.delegate = self
        text2.delegate = self
    }

    func textFieldShouldClear(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool {
        if textField == text1 {
            textField.text = ""
            textField.resignFirstResponder()
            text2.becomeFirstResponder()
        }
        return false
    }

}

Answer 2

I have worked with this just follow these steps and you will get results as per your need:

 @IBOutlet weak var txt4: UITextField!
 @IBOutlet weak var txt3: UITextField!
 @IBOutlet weak var txt2: UITextField!
 @IBOutlet weak var txt1: UITextField!

Add textField Delegate in view controller

In viewDidLoad assign delegate:

  txt1.delegate = self
  txt2.delegate = self
  txt3.delegate = self
  txt4.delegate = self

Then add this code you will get as you want

func textFieldShouldReturn(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool {
            if (textField == txt1) {
               txt2.becomeFirstResponder()
            }else if (textField == txt2) {
               txt3.becomeFirstResponder()
            }else if (textField == txt3) {
               txt4.becomeFirstResponder()
            }else if (textField == txt4) {
             //here

            var str = self.txt1.text! + self.txt2.text! + self.txt3.text! + self.txt4.text!
            str = str.replacingOccurrences(of: " ", with: "")
            self.verify(otp: str)
                     //  self.navigationController?.pushViewController(vc, animated: true)
            }
            return true
        }
    func textFieldDidBeginEditing(_ textField: UITextField) {
        if(textField.text?.count == 0)
        {
            textField.text = " "
        }
    }

    @objc func setNextResponder(textfield : UITextField)
    {
        textfield.becomeFirstResponder()

    }
    func textField(_ textField: UITextField, shouldChangeCharactersIn range: NSRange, replacementString string: String) -> Bool {

        let _char  = string.cString(using: .utf8)
       // const char * _char = [string cStringUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
       // int isBackSpace = strcmp(_char, "\b");
        let isBackSpace = strcmp(_char, "\\b")

        if (isBackSpace == -92) {
            // NSLog(@"Backspace was pressed");



            if (textField == txt4)
            {
                if(textField.text!.count == 2)
                {

                }
                else{
                    self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt3, afterDelay: 0.01)
                   txt3.text = " "
                }
            }
            else if (textField == txt3)
            {
                if(textField.text!.count == 2)
                {

                }
                else{
                    self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt2, afterDelay: 0.01)
                    txt2.text = " "

                }
            }
            else if (textField == txt2)
            {
                if(textField.text!.count == 2)
                {

                }
                else{
                    self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt1, afterDelay: 0.01)
                    txt1.text = " "
                }
            }
            else if (textField == txt1)
            {

                if(textField.text!.count == 2)
                {

                }
                else{
                    textField.resignFirstResponder()

                }

            }
        }
        if (string.count > 1 && !(Scanner.init(string: string).scanInt(nil)))
        {
        return false;
        }

        let oldLength = textField.text!.count
        let replacementLength = string.count
        let rangeLength = range.length
       let newLength = oldLength - rangeLength + replacementLength


        // This 'tabs' to next field when entering digits
        if (newLength == 2) {
            if (textField == txt1)
            {
                self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt2, afterDelay: 0.01)

            }
            else if (textField == txt2)
            {
                self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt3, afterDelay: 0.01)

            }
            else if (textField == txt3)
            {
                self.perform(#selector(setNextResponder), with: txt4, afterDelay: 0.01)

            }
            else if(textField == txt4)
            {
                DispatchQueue.main.asyncAfter(deadline: .now() + 0.5) {
//                let vc = self.storyboard?.instantiateViewController(withIdentifier: "navVC") as! NavigationViewController
//               vc.modalPresentationStyle = .fullScreen
//                    self.present(vc, animated: true, completion: nil)
                    var str = self.txt1.text! + self.txt2.text! + self.txt3.text! + self.txt4.text!
                    str = str.replacingOccurrences(of: " ", with: "")
                    self.verify(otp: str)
                }
            }



        }

        return newLength <= 2;
    }