iPhone: Add background button to view when UITableView has no cells

Question

I have a UITableViewController, when there is no data to populate the UITableView, I want to add a button, which uses an image. So, rather than the user seeing a tableview with no records, they will see an image that says, "No records have been added, Tap to add one", then they click and we create a new one.

I assumed I would just hide the UITableView, then create the button, but I never see the button. Here I am using:

if ([[fetchedResultsController sections] count] == 0) {
        self.tableView.hidden = YES;
        // Create button w/ image
        UIButton * btn = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeRoundedRect];
        btn.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 50);
        [btn setImage:[UIImage imageNamed:@"no-rides.png"] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
        [self.view addSubview:btn];
    }

Ideas on why I would never see the button? When I show this view, it seems to have a transparent background for a second, then changes white...

Answer 1

In a UITableViewController, self.view could be self.tableView in which case hiding the table would also hide the button. Try using a custom UIViewController and creating either the table or the button as a subview of self.view instead.

Alternately, when there is no data, you can create a single custom cell containing your button and use that instead of normal cells.

Answer 2

I am not sure if it works but you can try this:

1/ If your view controller is not a UITableViewController and it contains a UITableView [self.tableView removeFromSuperView]; then [self.view addSubView];

2/ If your view controller is a UITableViewController, you may need to consider to set the first row to contain the image and text. Then, you can handle the event: tableView:didSelectRowAtIndexPath: and if user click on the first cell, you trigger the method handle the button event

Answer 3

I believe you can add the button to the table footer, as the table footer is shown even when there are no cells. (Note, this is different to a section footer.)

By default the tableFooterView property of the UITableView is nil. So just create your button, and then do:

self.tableView.tableFooterview = btn;