How to reliably subclass UITableViewCell for grouped UITableView?

Question

When writing a customized subclass of UITableViewCell, I find that the results work well for the rectangular cells of a plain-styled UITableView, but do not work at all for the rounded cells in a grouped-styled table.

Is there a way to reliably subclass UITableViewCell to draw cells which work for grouped-style tables? (Without using Interface Builder.)

Answer 1

What problem are you having? In drawRect you are given a rect, and know your total size - just conform to that space. If you are using layoutSubviews, same thing.

Answer 2

I've noticed this problem as well. My workaround has been to just make my table cells smaller (300 width instead of 320). It's not a great solution, but it works well.

I don't believe you can get rid of the table view insets on an individual basis when in "grouped" mode. I could be wrong though!

Answer 3

I used to have lots of problems with UITableViewCell subclasses, but then I just stopped subclassing. Adding subviews to the contentView property of a UITableViewCell seems to accomplish the same thing in any instance that I've run across, so I just do that inside my UITableViewController.

Here's an example that has a title and value:

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView*)tableView 
      cellForRowAtIndexPath: (NSIndexPath*)indexPath 
{    
    static NSString* CellIdentifier = @"AccountDetailsCell";
    UILabel* mainLabel = nil;
    UILabel* valueLabel = nil;
    const CGFloat kAccountDetailFontSize = 14.0;

    UITableViewCell* cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier: CellIdentifier];
    if ( cell == nil ) 
    {
        cell = [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle: UITableViewCellStyleDefault 
               reuseIdentifier: CellIdentifier] autorelease];
     cell.accessoryType = UITableViewCellAccessoryDisclosureIndicator;
     cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;

     mainLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake( 10.0, 0.0, 150.0, 44.0 )] autorelease];
        mainLabel.tag = MAINLABEL_TAG;
        mainLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize: kAccountDetailFontSize];
        mainLabel.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentLeft;
        mainLabel.textColor = [UIColor darkGrayColor];
        mainLabel.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleRightMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;
     mainLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
        [cell.contentView addSubview: mainLabel];

     valueLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame: CGRectMake( 150.0, 0.0, 150.0, 44.0 )] autorelease];
        valueLabel.tag = VALUELABEL_TAG;
        valueLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize: kAccountDetailFontSize];
        valueLabel.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentRight;
        valueLabel.textColor = [UIColor darkTextColor];
        valueLabel.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleLeftMargin | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;
     valueLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
        [cell.contentView addSubview: valueLabel];
    }
    else
    {
     mainLabel = (UILabel*)[cell.contentView viewWithTag: MAINLABEL_TAG];
     valueLabel = (UILabel*)[cell.contentView viewWithTag: VALUELABEL_TAG];
    }

    mainLabel.text = (NSString*)kCellTitles[indexPath.section][indexPath.row];
    valueLabel.text = [self tableView: tableView valueLabelTextForRowAtIndexPath: indexPath];

    return cell;
}