Get array of all UITextFields

Question

How can I get an array of all UITextFields in a view controller?

EDIT: I do not want to hardcode the textfields into an array. I actually want to get the list inside the delegate of all the fields from the caller of that delegate.

Please note that the delegate does not contain references to the textfields, it's the other way around and there's no way to find the fields from the delegate alone. developer.apple.com/library/ios/#documentation/uikit/reference/… — Tim
– Tim, Commented Jan 17, 2012 at 19:46

Tim · Accepted Answer · 2014-02-13 05:37:19Z

17

Recursive implementation to search all subviews' subviews: (this way you catch textfields embedded in uiscrollview, etc)

-(NSArray*)findAllTextFieldsInView:(UIView*)view{
    NSMutableArray* textfieldarray = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];
    for(id x in [view subviews]){
        if([x isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]])
            [textfieldarray addObject:x];

        if([x respondsToSelector:@selector(subviews)]){
            // if it has subviews, loop through those, too
            [textfieldarray addObjectsFromArray:[self findAllTextFieldsInView:x]];
        }
    }
    return textfieldarray;
}

-(void)myMethod{
   NSArray* allTextFields = [self findAllTextFieldsInView:[self view]];
   // ...
 }

edited Feb 13, 2014 at 5:37

answered Jan 13, 2012 at 22:06

Tim

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11 Comments

Paul.s Over a year ago

Isn't this if([x respondsToSelector:@selector(subviews)]){ redundant as -subviews returns @property(nonatomic, readonly, copy) NSArray *subviews. Therefore any item in that array will be of type UIView or a subclass or UIView, which responds to @selector(subviews)

Tim Over a year ago

I'm just very shaky about throwing messages to objects for which I don't even know the class - what if some bonehead subclassed UIView in such a way that subviews contains non-UIView-inherited objects, and thus objects that don't respond to @selector(subviews)?

Paul.s Over a year ago

It doesn't really make sense to override the method and add non UIView's - if a user does they would most likely be clever enough to know why they are doing it and any risks that it may involve. At least that's what one would hope ;)

Tim Over a year ago

@jostster This solution doesn't require you hardcode an array. Any UITextField which is added to a view either through addSubview or Interface Builder automatically has the subviews array.

Bot Over a year ago

@Tim I am using your code with a few alterations. Basically I put findAllTextFieldsInView in my TextFieldDelegate class and in my views calling that on load. I will need to set a variable in TextFieldDelegate from the view to the controller so when the delegate calls findAllTextFieldsInView it will parse the controller. How can I do this? My controllers can be either a UIViewController or UITableViewController.

|

Paul.s · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-13 22:37:43Z

3

If you know you need an NSArray containing all the UITextField's then why not add them to an array?

NSMutableArray *textFields = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

UITextField *textField = [[UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:myFrame];

[textFields addObject:textField]; // <- repeat for each UITextField

If you are using a nib then use an IBOutletCollection

@property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutletCollection(UITextField) NSArray *textFields;

Then connect all the UITextField's to that array

answered Jan 13, 2012 at 22:37

Paul.s

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4 Comments

Bot Over a year ago

hard coding them into an array is pointless... Defeats the purpose of me wanting to get an array of all textfields as I can just create it manually...

Paul.s Over a year ago

There is no hardcoding if you add the UITextField's to an NSMutableArray as and when you create them

Bot Over a year ago

I will be creating textfields based off data coming from an API so I won't know what text fields are there. I could just add them programmatically when I create them but I would prefer to just grab a list of fields that already exist instead of depending on a developer to add each field to an array.

Paul.s Over a year ago

Why add them and then in a second pass go and find them? That sounds very inefficient. If you want a reference to the UITextField add it to an array when you create it (and already have the reference).

Himanshu Mahajan · Accepted Answer · 2013-02-21 07:15:03Z

1

-Use following code to get array that contains text values of all UITextField presented on View:

   NSMutableArray *addressArray=[[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

   for(id aSubView in [self.view subviews])
   {
           if([aSubView isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]])
           {
                  UITextField *textField=(UITextField*)aSubView;
                  [addressArray addObject:textField.text];
           }
   }
   NSLog(@"%@", addressArray);

answered Feb 21, 2013 at 7:15

Himanshu Mahajan

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Comments

Nirav Bhatt · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-29 07:56:53Z

1

extension UIView 
{
   class func getAllSubviewsOfType<T: UIView>(view: UIView) -> [T] 
   {
       return view.subviews.flatMap { subView -> [T] in
       var result = UIView.getAllSubviewsOfType(view: subView) as [T]
       if let view = subView as? T {
           result.append(view)
       }
       return result
     }
   }

   func getAllSubviewsWithType<T: UIView>() -> [T] {
       return UIView.getAllSubviewsOfType(view: self.view) as [T]
   }
}

How to use with Text Fields:

let textFields = self.view.getAllSubviewsWithType() as [UITextField]

answered Jun 29, 2018 at 7:56

Nirav Bhatt

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Comments

Jeremy · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-13 22:02:29Z

-1

You can loop through the controller's view's subviews.

Here's a rough example:

NSMutableArray *arrOfTextFields = [NSMutableArray array];
for (id subView in self.view.subviews)
{
    if ([subView isKindOfClass:[UITextField class]])
       [arrOfTextFields addObject:subView]; 
}

answered Jan 13, 2012 at 22:02

Jeremy

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1 Comment

Philippe Sabourin Over a year ago

This will not catch the UITextFields embedded in other views.

Cyprian · Accepted Answer · 2012-01-13 22:41:33Z

-1

EDIT Recursion without global variable (Just for Tim)

-(NSArray*)performUIElementSearchForClass:(Class)targetClass onView:(UIView*)root{

    NSMutableArray *searchCollection = [[[NSMutableArray alloc] init] autorelease];

    for(UIView *subview in root.subviews){

        if ([subView isKindOfClass:targetClass])  
            [searchCollection addObject:subview];

        if(subview.subviews.count > 0)
            [searchCollection addObjectsFromArray:[self performUIElementSearchForClass:targetClass onView:subview]];

    }

    return searchCollection;
}

edited Jan 13, 2012 at 22:41

answered Jan 13, 2012 at 22:03

Cyprian

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3 Comments

Tim Over a year ago

I find myself often typing like this on SO: NSMutableArray ]alloc] init ]autorelease XCode spoils me so :P

Philippe Sabourin Over a year ago

This will not catch the UITextFields embedded in other views.

Tim Over a year ago

Recursion, but using a global variable? UNHOLY!

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