UITableViewCell with dynamically added UITextField using addSubview - How to get UITextField values when 'return' hit on keyboard

Question

I've created a login screen using a UITableView with one section and two cells. This is how these cells are created. Now I don't know how to retrieve the values from these cells later.

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    NSString *cellIdentifier = @"LoginCellIdentifier";

    UITableViewCell *cell = [self.tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier];

    if (cell == nil) {
        cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:cellIdentifier] autorelease];
        UILabel *leftLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 10, 100, 25)];
        leftLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
        leftLabel.tag = 1;
        [cell.contentView addSubview:leftLabel];
        [leftLabel release];

        UITextField *valueTextField = [[UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(120, 10, 400, 35)];
        valueTextField.tag = 2;
        valueTextField.delegate = self;
        [cell.contentView addSubview:valueTextField];
        [valueTextField release];
    }

    if (indexPath.row == 0) {   // User name
        UILabel *lblText = (UILabel *)[cell.contentView viewWithTag:1];
        lblText.text = @"Username: ";

        UITextField *userNameField = (UITextField *)[cell.contentView viewWithTag:2];
        userNameField.placeholder = @"Enter your username here";        
    }
    else {  // Pass word
        UILabel *lblText = (UILabel *)[cell.contentView viewWithTag:1];
        lblText.text = @"Password: ";

        UITextField *passwordField = (UITextField *)[cell.contentView viewWithTag:2];
        passwordField.placeholder = @"Enter your password here";
        passwordField.secureTextEntry = YES;
    }

    return cell;
}

Precisely, I want to retrieve value when a user hits the return key. So, I want to get the cell's text field values here...

- (BOOL)textFieldShouldReturn:(UITextField *)textField {

    NSLog(@"%@ is the Value", textField.text);
    [textField resignFirstResponder];

    return YES;
}

But, I don't know how to retrieve those text fields' values. I wonder cellForRowAtIndexPath for index path would work in this case or not?

Answer 1

You should use the textFieldDidEndEditing: method as mentioned by @gnuchu but to detect which textfield just finished editing you can use this code:

- (void)textFieldDidEndEditing:(UITextField *)textField {
    UITableViewCell *cell = (UITableViewCell *)[[textField superview] superview];
    UITableView *table = (UITableView *)[cell superview];
    NSIndexPath *textFieldIndexPath = [table indexPathForCell:cell];
    NSLog(@"Row %d just finished editing with the value %@",textFieldIndexPath.row,textField.text);
}

---

The above code should work for you, but using a UITableView for 2 fixed cells is overkill and just adds unncecessary complication to your code. IMO you would be better off just using a standard view with 2 labels and 2 textfields. This could easily be created in Interface Builder or code and would simplify things considerably.