At runtime, nibs are loaded and instantiated to create new views. To add user interface elements, drag objects from the utilities area onto the Interface Builder canvas, where you arrange the elements, set their attributes, and establish connections between them and the code in your source files. For more detail on the process of building a user interface and creating and configuring interface builder files, see Xcode Help.
Interface Builder has two major areas: the dock on the left and the canvas on the right. The dock lists the objects contained in the user interface file.
The outline view in the dock shows all the objects nested inside higher-level objects. For xib files, you can display the high-level objects in an icon view instead of the outline view by clicking the Hide and Show Document Outline control on the lower left of the Interface Builder canvas.
In storyboard files, the top level items in the outline view correspond to top level view controllers, or scenes, on the canvas. Storyboard files do not show an icon view when the outline view is hidden. The Interface Builder editor within Xcode makes it simple to design a full user interface without writing any code.
Simply drag and drop windows, buttons, text fields, and other objects onto the design canvas to create a functioning user interface. Because Cocoa and Cocoa Touch are built using the Model-View-Controller pattern, it is easy to independently design your interfaces, separate from their implementations.
User interfaces are actually archived Cocoa or Cocoa Touch objects saved as. Question: Q: Question: Q: how do i open the interface builder for iOS apps this may be a dumb question but i have downloaded xcode4. More Less. Reply I have this question too 5 I have this question too Me too 5 Me too. View answer in context. All replies Drop Down menu. If you have an image view selected, it will have properties like how you want it to scale and the name of the image you want it to display.
For elements like labels or text views, it will display options such as font size, color and text wrapping. For a collection view, it could have properties such as spacing between elements. I use this tab very often professionally. The most important section of this tab is the constraints section.
The constraints are the rules that auto-layout uses to build your UI. Here you can edit them and delete them to your needs. Two other important sections are content hugging priority and content compression resistance priority. Depending on the values set here, the boundaries of your elements will either hug tightly what they contain or resist compression shrinking. If you want your views to hug more tightly, increase their hugging priority and if you want your views to stay expanded, increase their compression resistance priority.
The connections inspector is the last tab in the inspector pane, its used to connect your elements into your code. Here we can see the different referencing outlets that are attached to our Swift code. For certain elements, such as buttons, there are interface builder actions that can also be linked to our code. The next section will discuss the details of interface builder outlets IBOutlets and interface builder actions IBActions.
IBOutlets are a property that references another object. The reference is archived in the interface builder and is reestablished when the nib is loaded. This allows you to work with your views and subviews inside your Swift code. All user interface elements can be added as IBOutlet properties to your Swift code by dragging the outlet from the interface builder into your code:.
IBActions are similar to IBOutlets, except they are methods that are established when the nib is loaded and are linked to a very specific action. Inside these actions you can write code that will executed when this action event is sent.
For example, the most common one I use is to run code when a button is pressed. One of the biggest benefits of using auto-layout is its ability to build user interfaces for different devices and orientations. The interface builder has some tools built-in to make this process easier.
This will open up options for previewing your user interface with different screen sizes and orientations to choose from:. By clicking different devices and orientation you can preview your design live in Xcode. This helps you edit your user interface without having to load it into a real device or a simulator. This an essential part of developing user interfaces in Xcode. Should I use the interface builder or only code?
I recommend using both the interface builder and code to for your app. Most screens can be built incredibly quickly using the interface builder. For transitions between screens or adding specific subviews, I recommend using code in order to keep each screen more modular. Disclosure: This website may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.
Zero To App Store. Set Constraints in the Interface Builder Setting constraints is probably the most important part of using the interface builder. I like to think there are two different kinds of main types of constraints: Size Constraints Size constraints are simple to understand. The icon looks like this: Add new constraints dialog will popup, allowing you to set the width and height constraints.
Example: Adding width and height constraints Select Add 2 or 1 constraints when you are finished. Positional Constraints Positional constraints deal with two or more elements and their relationship to each other. There are a couple of different ways to achieve this: Using the Add New Constraint Opening the Add New Constraints window will allow you to create constraints with set spacing between an elements nearest neighbor.
Add New Alignment Constraint Window Add new alignment constraint works very similarly to the add new constraint window.
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