ios - Design UITableView's section header in Interface Builder

Question

I have a xib file with a UITableView for which I want to add a custom section header view using the delegate method tableView:viewForHeaderInSection:. Is there any possibility to design it in Interface Builder and then change some of it's subview's properties programmatically?

My UITableView has more section headers so creating one UIView in Interface Builder and returning it doesn't work, because I'd have to duplicate it, but there isn't any good method of doing it. Archiving and unarchiving it doesn't work for UIImages so UIImageViews would show up blank.

Also, I don't want to create them programmatically because they are too complex and the resulting code would be hard to read and maintain.

Edit 1: Here is my tableView:viewForHeaderInSection: method:

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {

    if ([tableView.dataSource tableView:tableView numberOfRowsInSection:section] == 0) {
        return nil;
    }

    CGSize headerSize = CGSizeMake(self.view.frame.size.width, 100);

    /* wrapper */

    UIView *wrapperView = [UIView viewWithSize:headerSize];

    wrapperView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithHexString:@"2670ce"];

    /* title */

    CGPoint titleMargin = CGPointMake(15, 8);

    UILabel *titleLabel = [UILabel labelWithText:self.categoriesNames[section] andFrame:CGEasyRectMake(titleMargin, CGSizeMake(headerSize.width - titleMargin.x * 2, 20))];

    titleLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    titleLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithStyle:FontStyleRegular andSize:14];

    [wrapperView addSubview:titleLabel];

    /* body wrapper */

    CGPoint bodyWrapperMargin = CGPointMake(10, 8);

    CGPoint bodyWrapperViewOrigin = CGPointMake(bodyWrapperMargin.x, CGRectGetMaxY(titleLabel.frame) + bodyWrapperMargin.y);
    CGSize bodyWrapperViewSize = CGSizeMake(headerSize.width - bodyWrapperMargin.x * 2, headerSize.height - bodyWrapperViewOrigin.y - bodyWrapperMargin.y);

    UIView *bodyWrapperView = [UIView viewWithFrame:CGEasyRectMake(bodyWrapperViewOrigin, bodyWrapperViewSize)];

    [wrapperView addSubview:bodyWrapperView];

    /* image */

    NSInteger imageSize = 56;
    NSString *imageName = [self getCategoryResourceItem:section + 1][@"image"];

    UIImageView *imageView = [UIImageView imageViewWithImage:[UIImage imageNamed:imageName] andFrame:CGEasyRectMake(CGPointZero, CGEqualSizeMake(imageSize))];

    imageView.layer.masksToBounds = YES;
    imageView.layer.cornerRadius = imageSize / 2;

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:imageView];

    /* labels */

    NSInteger labelsWidth = 60;

    UILabel *firstLabel = [UILabel labelWithText:@"first" andFrame:CGRectMake(imageSize + bodyWrapperMargin.x, 0, labelsWidth, 16)];

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:firstLabel];

    UILabel *secondLabel = [UILabel labelWithText:@"second" andFrame:CGRectMake(imageSize + bodyWrapperMargin.x, 20, labelsWidth, 16)];

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:secondLabel];

    UILabel *thirdLabel = [UILabel labelWithText:@"third" andFrame:CGRectMake(imageSize + bodyWrapperMargin.x, 40, labelsWidth, 16)];

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:thirdLabel];

    [@[ firstLabel, secondLabel, thirdLabel ] forEachView:^(UIView *view) {
        UILabel *label = (UILabel *)view;

        label.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
        label.font = [UIFont fontWithStyle:FontStyleLight andSize:11];
    }];

    /* line */

    UIView *lineView = [UIView viewWithFrame:CGRectMake(imageSize + labelsWidth + bodyWrapperMargin.x * 2, bodyWrapperMargin.y, 1, bodyWrapperView.frame.size.height - bodyWrapperMargin.y * 2)];

    lineView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColorWithAlpha:0.2];

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:lineView];

    /* progress */

    CGPoint progressSliderOrigin = CGPointMake(imageSize + labelsWidth + bodyWrapperMargin.x * 3 + 1, bodyWrapperView.frame.size.height / 2 - 15);
    CGSize progressSliderSize = CGSizeMake(bodyWrapperViewSize.width - bodyWrapperMargin.x - progressSliderOrigin.x, 30);

    UISlider *progressSlider = [UISlider viewWithFrame:CGEasyRectMake(progressSliderOrigin, progressSliderSize)];

    progressSlider.value = [self getCategoryProgress];

    [bodyWrapperView addSubview:progressSlider];

    return wrapperView;
}

and I would want it to look something like this:

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {

    if ([tableView.dataSource tableView:tableView numberOfRowsInSection:section] == 0) {
        return nil;
    }

    SectionView *sectionView = ... // get the view that is already designed in the Interface Builder

    sectionView.headerText = self.categoriesNames[section];
    sectionView.headerImage = [self getCategoryResourceItem:section + 1][@"image"];

    sectionView.firstLabelText = @"first";
    sectionView.secondLabelText = @"second";
    sectionView.thirdLabelText = @"third";

    sectionView.progress = [self getCategoryProgress];

    return wrapperView;
}

Edit 2: I'm not using a Storyboard, just .xib files. Also, I don't have an UITableViewController, just an UIViewController in which I added an UITableView.

Answer 1

#Storyboard or XIB. Updated for 2020.

1. Same Storyboard:

    return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "header")
   

   

2. Separate XIB (Additional step: you must register that Nib first):

    tableView.register(UINib(nibName: "XIBSectionHeader", bundle:nil),
                       forCellReuseIdentifier: "xibheader")
   

To load from a Storyboard instead of a XIB, see this Stack Overflow answer.

---

#Using UITableViewCell to create Section Header in IB

Take advantage of the fact that a section header is a regular UIView, and that UITableViewCell is, too, a UIView. In Interface Builder, drag & drop a Table View Cell from the Object Library onto your Table View Prototype Content.

(2020) In modern Xcode, simply increase the "Dynamic Prototypes" number to drop in more cells:

Add an Identifier to the newly added Table View Cell, and customize its appearance to suit your needs. For this example, I used header.

Use dequeueReusableCell:withIdentifier to locate the cell, just like you would any table view cell.

Don't forget it is just a normal cell: but you are going to use it as a header.

For 2020, simply add to ViewDidLoad the four lines of code:

tableView.rowHeight = UITableView.automaticDimension
tableView.estimatedRowHeight = 70   // any reasonable value is fine
tableView.sectionHeaderHeight =  UITableView.automaticDimension
tableView.estimatedSectionHeaderHeight = 70 // any reasonable value is fine

{See for example this for a discussion.}

Your header cell heights are now completely dynamic. It's fine to change the length of the texts, etc, in the headers.

(TiP: Purely regarding the storyboard: simply select...

...in storyboard, so that the storyboard will work correctly. This has absolutely no effect on the final build. Selecting that checkbox has absolutely no effect whatsoever on the final build. It purely exists to make the storyboard work correctly, if the height is dynamic.)

---

In older Xcode, or, if for some reason you do not wish to use dynamic heights:

simply supply heightForHeaderInSection, which is hardcoded as 44 for clarity in this example:

//MARK: UITableViewDelegate
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView?
{
    // This is where you would change section header content
    return tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "header")
}

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> CGFloat
{
    return 44
}

---

###Swift 2 & earlier:

return tableView.dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier("header") as? UIView
self.tableView.registerNib(UINib(nibName: "XIBSectionHeader", bundle:nil),
    forCellReuseIdentifier: "xibheader")

---

? Find this solution on GitHub and additional details on Swift Recipes.