UITableView Multiple Selection

Question

How can I add a UITableView into my View-Based Application where the user will tap on more than one cell, and it will become selected, exactly like the Clock app's "New Alarm" setting named "Repeat" (Clock>Alarms> + >Repeat), and how can I get all of the selected cells in an array?

Answer 1

In your implementation of -tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: you would set the table view cell's accessoryType property depending on its current value (so it would toggle on and off with multiple taps). For example:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView didSelectRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)path {
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:path];

    if (cell.accessoryType == UITableViewAccessoryCheckmark) {
        cell.accessoryType = UITableViewAccessoryNone;
    } else {
        cell.accessoryType = UITableViewAccessoryCheckmark;
    }
}

You could either maintain an array of selected states in addition to the cells' own accessory type state, or iterate over the cells in the table view querying for each one's state in order to read out the selected rows.

Answer 2

The clock alarms repeat table view is not multiple selection. Think of it as a lit of checkboxes.

When a cell is selected, the font color and accessory type are changed and the selection fades out. When a checked cell is selected, the font color and accessory type are changed back and the selection fades out.

In your didSelectRowAtIndexPath delegate method, you would set the text color and accessory type for the selected cell, then deselect the cell. You would also record the new state in your data model. That could be as simple as a bit mask representing the selected state, but depends on what data you are displaying.

In your cellForRowAtIndexPath: dataSource method, set the text color and accessory type based on your data model.

Actual multiple selection would be similar. You have to keep track of which cells are selected, and set the selected cell of each state as it is created or shown. When the table view reports that a cell is selected, toggle the selection state in your data model and set the selected state of the cell accordingly.