Can I programmatically fire the "switch to number pad" button on iPhone keyboard

Question

I want to find a way to programmatically fire the selector that causes the iPhone keyboard to switch from letters to numbers. I am aware that I can switch the keyboard type, but I want to know if there is a way to do this without switching the keyboard type.

Answer 1

You cannot switch keyplanes (alphabetic keyplane to numeric keyplane to symbol keyplane) programatically, at least not in any way that is publicly supported. As you mentioned, you can change the keyboard type or appearance of the text input traits of the first responder, but this is different than switching between the different keyplanes, which only the user should be able to do.

Answer 2

If only the user should be able to do this, then why does the Contacts app automatically switch to the numeric keyplane when entering the zipcode (which is exactly what I want to do in my app btw)?

Answer 3

Have a look at this:

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    static NSString * cellIdentifier = @"CellIdentifier";
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier];
    if(cell == nil)
    {
        cell = [ [ [UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:cellIdentifier] autorelease];
        cell.textLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:14.0f];
        cell.textLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
    }

    UITextField * textField = [ [ UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(55.0f, 10.0f, 230.0f, 31.0f)];
    textField.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

    textField.delegate = self;
c this care fully   ///////////if(indexPath.row == 0)
c this care fully   //  textField.keyboardType = UIKeyboardTypeDefault;
c this care fully   //else
c this care fully   //  textField.keyboardType = UIKeyboardTypePhonePad;
    textField.autocorrectionType = UITextAutocorrectionTypeNo;
    [cell.contentView addSubview:textField];

    if(indexPath.row == 0)
    {
        self.sender = textField;
        cell.textLabel.text = @"From:";
    }
    else 
    {
        self.mobileNumber = textField; 
        cell.textLabel.text = @"To:";
    }
    [textField release];
    if(indexPath.row == 1)
    {
        UIButton * contactsButton = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeContactAdd];
        [contactsButton addTarget:self action:@selector(addContact:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
        cell.accessoryView = contactsButton;

    }
    cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;
    return cell;

}

Check where I commented "c this care fully"

This will help you to switch keyboards programmatically.

Answer 4

Just a workaround: When you want to change the keyplane of an active keyboard like from alphabet to number pad while editing an UITextField, first set the new value to the keyboardType property of the textfield, next send a resignFirstResponder, finally a becomeFirstResponder message to the textfield. E.g. textfield.keyboardType = UIKeyboardTypeNumberPad; [textField resignFirstResponder]; [textField becomeFirstResponder]; Hope it helps ;-D