How to display a popover programmatically from a uibutton that is also created programmatically (Not using interface builder)

Question

I have a button I have created programmatically within a view controller. Once the button is pressed I want it to to use a method to create the popover programmatically.

The button which is created in the ViewDidLoad in my view controller.m

 UIView *moreFundInfoView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 540, 620)];
[self.view addSubview:moreFundInfoView];
[moreFundInfoView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor RMBColor:@"b"]];

btnContact = [UIButton buttonWithType:(UIButtonTypeRoundedRect)];


[btnContact setFrame:CGRectMake(390, 575, contactButton.width, contactButton.height)];
 btnContact.hidden = NO;
[btnContact setTitle:@"Contact" forState:(UIControlStateNormal)];
[moreFundInfoView addSubview:btnContact];

[btnContact addTarget:self action:@selector(showContactDetails:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

Then I have the method I use when the button is pressed.

-(void) showContactDetails: (id) sender
{
UIViewController *popoverContent = [[UIViewController alloc]init];

UIView *popoverView = [[UIView alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 200, 300)];

[popoverView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor RMBColor:@"b"]];

popoverContent.view = popoverView;

popoverContent.contentSizeForViewInPopover = CGSizeMake(200, 300);

UIPopoverController *contactPopover =[[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:popoverContent];

[contactPopover presentPopoverFromRect:btnContact.frame inView:self.view permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionUp animated:YES ];

[contactPopover setDelegate:self];

}

What am I missing here? Cause it runs fine, but as soon as I click the button the app crashes. I think it is a delegate issue, but I am not sure. Any advice would be appreciated.

Yankeeism

could you give us the crash log ? It would help knowing where the problem is – Heldentenor

@ValentinRocher still a bit of a n00b, but this is the output when it crashes. appname-[UIPopoverController dealloc] reached while popover is still visible./-[UIPopoverController dealloc] reached while popover is still visible. – Yankeeism

Hi I managed to fix it, well, too an extent anyway. I just changed the property of the UIPopoverController to strong and it works, just it's pointing down instead of up, but it displays at least and the app doesn't crash. – Yankeeism

Answer 1

I think this code will help you. You are certainly missing delegate methods

ViewController *viewController = [[ViewController alloc] initWithNibName:@"ViewController" bundle:nil];
UINavigationController *navigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:viewController];
UIPopoverController *popover = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:navigationController];
popover.delegate = self;
popover.popoverContentSize = CGSizeMake(644, 425); //your custom size.
[popover presentPopoverFromRect:button.frame inView:self.view permittedArrowDirections: UIPopoverArrowDirectionLeft | UIPopoverArrowDirectionUp animated:YES];

Just make sure you are not forgetting UIPopover Delegate methods or else application will definitely crash. It is mandatory.

Represent

Use of UINavigationController is totally optional. You can skip creation of its object. Just for information. Have a happy coding. – Represent

Answer 2

 UIViewController *controller = [[UIViewController alloc] init];
 [view removeFromSuperview]; //view is a view which is displayed in a popover
 controller.view = view;
 UIPopoverController *popover = [[UIPopoverController alloc] initWithContentViewController:controller];
 popover.delegate = self;
[popover presentPopoverFromRect:button.frame inView:self.view permittedArrowDirections:UIPopoverArrowDirectionLeft animated:YES];

Wincer

Answer 3

All I had to do was change the property from "retain" to "strong" in the .h file and it works, stopped the app from crashing.

Yankeeism

if doing this fixed your issue, you can accept your own answer. – Cantabile

Answer 4

Yes, changing property for "retain" to "strong" makes you to hold your picker view object. I think the problem with your code was, UIPopoverController object gets deallocated automatically when method finishes. making strong property gets you to strongly point an object.

Pleione