I would usually do this with Core Data and NSFetchedResultsController since it has built-in methods for getting sections.
However, I'll answer the question without using Core Data. The code is a little messier but here we go...
First, you have to create an object that will store both the date and the text. The testArray will be an array of these objects, instead of a String array. For example:
class DateTextItem: NSObject {
var text: String = ""
var insertDate: NSDate = NSDate()
}
var testArray = [DateTextItem]()
Then when the saveButton is hit, we'll create and add the DateTextItem object. We'll also add the date to the sectionsInTable if it doesn't already exist.
@IBAction func saveButton(sender: AnyObject) {
let newItem = DateTextItem()
newItem.text = "Test \(testArray.count)"
// this is for development only
// increment the date after 2 records so we can test grouping by date
if testArray.count >= (testArray.count/2) {
let incrementDate = NSTimeInterval(86400*(testArray.count/2))
newItem.insertDate = NSDate(timeIntervalSinceNow:incrementDate)
}
testArray.append(newItem)
// this next bit will create a date string and check if it's in the sectionInTable
let df = NSDateFormatter()
df.dateFormat = "MM/dd/yyyy"
let dateString = df.stringFromDate(newItem.insertDate)
// create sections NSSet so we can use 'containsObject'
let sections: NSSet = NSSet(array: sectionsInTable)
// if sectionsInTable doesn't contain the dateString, then add it
if !sections.containsObject(dateString) {
sectionsInTable.append(dateString)
}
self.tableView.reloadData()
}
Next, I created a function to get the items in a section since we need it in a couple places.
func getSectionItems(section: Int) -> [DateTextItem] {
var sectionItems = [DateTextItem]()
// loop through the testArray to get the items for this sections's date
for item in testArray {
let dateTextItem = item as DateTextItem
let df = NSDateFormatter()
df.dateFormat = "MM/dd/yyyy"
let dateString = df.stringFromDate(dateTextItem.insertDate)
// if the item's date equals the section's date then add it
if dateString == sectionsInTable[section] as NSString {
sectionItems.append(dateTextItem)
}
}
return sectionItems
}
Finally, here is what the Table View Data Source methods look like
// MARK: - Table view data source
override func numberOfSectionsInTableView(tableView: UITableView) -> Int {
return sectionsInTable.count
}
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
return self.getSectionItems(section).count
}
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAtIndexPath indexPath: NSIndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
// Configure the cell...
var cell = UITableViewCell(style: UITableViewCellStyle.Default, reuseIdentifier: "Cell")
// get the items in this section
let sectionItems = self.getSectionItems(indexPath.section)
// get the item for the row in this section
let dateTextItem = sectionItems[indexPath.row]
cell.textLabel.text = dateTextItem.text
return cell
}
// print the date as the section header title
override func tableView(tableView: UITableView, titleForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> String? {
return sectionsInTable[section]
}
