- Ios app interface builder how to#
- Ios app interface builder code#
- Ios app interface builder simulator#
Storyboards can hold as many scenes as you need, and even link them together visually via segues.įor example, a simple recipe application might have one scene that consists of a list of recipes the user can choose from. The collection of objects for a specific display is called a scene. The objects could be interface elements-buttons, toggle switches, and so forth-but might also be other noninterface objects that you will need to use. Your work in Interface Builder results in an XML file called a storyboard, containing a hierarchy of objects for each unique screen that your application is going to display. The Anatomy of an Interface Builder Storyboard
As you’ll learn a bit later this hour, changing how your application works with the objects you create in Interface Builder is, quite literally, a matter of connecting or reconnecting the dots as you see fit. Want to change how a feature of your app is triggered? Just change the connection.
Ios app interface builder code#
Instead of autogenerating interface code or tying source listings directly to interface elements, IB builds live objects that connect to your application code through simple links called connections. This, unfortunately, means that if you want to change your interface or swap functionality from one UI element to another, you have to move the code as well. Any tweaks require the code to be edited by hand (hardly an acceptable situation).Īnother tactic is to maintain the interface definition symbolically but attach the code that implements functionality directly to interface elements. One of the most common implementations is to enable the user to “draw” an interface but, behind the scenes, create all the code that generates that interface. Over the years, there have been many different approaches to graphical interface builders. Imagine how long it would take to build interfaces with text, buttons, images, and dozens of other controls, and think of all the code you’d need to wade through just to make small changes. textColor = [ UIColor colorWithPatternImage: For example, in Hour 2, “Introduction to Xcode and the iOS Simulator,” you entered this listing into Xcode to make your iDevice display the text Hello Xcode in the corner of the screen: UILabel *myMessage Using Xcode and the Cocoa toolset, you can program iOS interfaces by hand-instantiating interface objects, defining where they appear on the screen, setting any attributes for the object, and finally, making them visible.
Ios app interface builder simulator#
In Hour 6, “Model-View-Controller Application Design,” you combine what you’ve learned about Xcode projects, the code editor, Interface Builder, and iOS Simulator for the first time. This hour focuses on navigating Interface Builder and will be key to your success in the rest of the book. Without Interface Builder, creating the most basic interactive applications would be an exercise in frustration. An understanding of IB and its use is as fundamentally important to iOS development as Objective-C. This is a bit of an oversimplification of a tool that previously existed as a standalone application in the Apple Developer Suite. If you read through Apple’s developer documentation, you’ll see Interface Builder referred to as an “editor” within Xcode. This translates to fewer bugs, less development time, and easier-to-maintain projects. Let’s get it out of the way up front: Yes, Interface Builder (or IB for short) does help you create interfaces for your applications, but it isn’t a just a drawing tool for GUIs it helps you symbolically build application functionality without writing code.
Interface Builder provides a visual approach to application interface design that is fun, intuitive, and deceptively powerful. This hour introduces you to Interface Builder: the remarkable user interface editor integrated into Xcode. Although these are certainly important skills for becoming a successful developer, there’s nothing quite like laying out your first iOS application interface and watching it come to life in your hands. Over the past few hours, you’ve become familiar with the core iOS technologies, Xcode projects, and iOS Simulator.
Ios app interface builder how to#