MKMap Annotations when clicked show a View controller instead of Popup box

Question

Is it possible to display a View controller with further details of the Map annotation on a new view controller which when popped returns back to the MKMap view with the annotations still on it at that position. I can't seem to find a way in the SDK documentation that seems to indicate that its possible.

Answer 1

Found the answer to my own question if you do the following:

What you can do is use an observer instead so in the

- (MKAnnotationView *)mapView:(MKMapView *)mapView viewForAnnotation:(id <MKAnnotation>)annotation

method you can add the code like this:

 //Add an observer for the selected-property on the MKAnnotationView. Delegate to self.
  [annotationView addObserver:self
            forKeyPath:@"selected"
               options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew
               context:GMAP_ANNOTATION_SELECTED];

  annotationView.annotation = annotation;
  annotationView.canShowCallout = NO;

then create an observer catch which will call the method to render whatever view when the user clicks the annotation on the screen:

- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath
                      ofObject:(id)object
                        change:(NSDictionary *)change
                       context:(void *)context{

  NSString *action = (NSString*)context;


  if([action isEqualToString:GMAP_ANNOTATION_SELECTED]){
    BOOL annotationAppeared = [[change valueForKey:@"new"] boolValue];
    if (annotationAppeared) {
      [self showAnnotation:((AssetAnnotationView*) object).annotation];
    }
    else {
      //NSLog(@"annotation deselected %@", ((AssetAnnotationView*) object).annotation.title);
      //[self hideAnnotation];
    }
  }
}

then have your method which displays a modal view or whatever you want:

- (void)showAnnotation:(AssetAnnotationView*)annotation {

  UINavigationController *aNavController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:self.assetInfoViewController];
    aNavController.navigationBar.barStyle = UIBarStyleBlack;

  [self presentModalViewController:aNavController animated:YES];
  [aNavController release];

}

Unselect in viewWillAppear:

NSArray *selected = [localMapView selectedAnnotations]; for(id annotation in selected) { [localMapView deselectAnnotation:annotation animated:NO]; }

Answer 2

You can also use a tag for every annotation you create. Works for me.