Introduction
This one is a quicky, due to bad time management from my end .. It is simply about showing two view controllers, and we transition between them as the user rotates the device.
Failing
The app that requires this feature has already been developed, and the view hierarchy seemed to rigid to change and refactor, so as an ideal quick solution, I went with …
Change the RootViewController
Trying to change the rootViewController on the window property in AppDelegate seemed to be the best choice. I use this approach in other apps to show a login screen, so I’m familiar with it, as well..
To do this, I simple make the UIDevice generate rotation notifications, then respond to these notifications by changing the rootViewController. Simple enough!
This was a disaster. It was simply impossible to force the new view controller to be created and added with a “forced” orientation.
Switch The Subviews
OK, I give up already. Just make a root “container view controller” that will hold two other view controllers and display either one based on the rotation change. Stupidly enough, this wasn’t straight forward, either.
Thew views I want to switch between only support their respective orientations, meaning the portrait view only supports being shown in portrait, and will break otherwise. Same thing for landscape.
First, I tried to make them strictly show in their respective orientations. Meaning, setting the autoresizingMask to .allZeros. Unfortunately, that made the animation really ugly, as part of the window’s background was showing, since neither view controllers can efficiently cover the background. How about I try the animation?
Sadly, when the container tries switching between the views, they animate as the container animates to the new orientation, showing some really bad looking stuff.
Bottom line, I have to ditch the animations for now, till I find enough time to provide a custom transition.
Teh Codez
Here is the whole test project. Just create a single view app, and throw this in the ViewController class:
class ViewController: UIViewController {
let portraitController = PortraitController()
let landscapeController = LandscapeController()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
portraitController.view.frame = view.bounds
view.addSubview(portraitController.view)
}
override func willRotateToInterfaceOrientation(toInterfaceOrientation: UIInterfaceOrientation, duration: NSTimeInterval) {
UIView.setAnimationsEnabled(false)
if UIInterfaceOrientationIsLandscape(toInterfaceOrientation) {
portraitController.view.removeFromSuperview()
self.landscapeController.view.frame = view.bounds
view.addSubview(landscapeController.view)
}
else {
landscapeController.view.removeFromSuperview()
self.portraitController.view.frame = view.bounds
view.addSubview(portraitController.view)
}
}
override func didRotateFromInterfaceOrientation(fromInterfaceOrientation: UIInterfaceOrientation) {
UIView.setAnimationsEnabled(true)
}
}
class SuperController: UIViewController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.autoresizingMask = .FlexibleHeight | .FlexibleWidth
let label = UILabel(frame: view.bounds)
label.autoresizingMask = .FlexibleHeight | .FlexibleWidth
label.text = "HAAA !!!!"
label.textAlignment = .Center
view.addSubview(label)
}
override func shouldAutorotate() -> Bool {
return false
}
override func viewWillTransitionToSize(size: CGSize, withTransitionCoordinator coordinator: UIViewControllerTransitionCoordinator) {
println("Reached")
}
}
class LandscapeController: SuperController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
}
override func supportedInterfaceOrientations() -> Int {
return UIInterfaceOrientation.LandscapeLeft.rawValue + UIInterfaceOrientation.LandscapeRight.rawValue
}
}
class PortraitController: SuperController {
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.backgroundColor = UIColor.purpleColor()
}
override func supportedInterfaceOrientations() -> Int {
return UIInterfaceOrientation.Portrait.rawValue
}
}
Conclusion
I really have to rush, and the day is almost over … I thought I should blog anyway, even if the quality isn’t that great, at least I keep my streak, and this should be somewhat useful.