Using Guestbook List Screenlet

The steps for using Guestbook List Screenlet are the same as those for using any Screenlet:

  1. Insert the Screenlet in the storyboard scene where you want it to appear. You do this by adding an empty view to the scene, and then setting the Screenlet class as the view’s custom class.

  2. Conform the scene’s view controller class to the Screenlet’s delegate protocol. This lets the view controller respond to the Screenlet’s events.

You’ll follow these steps to use Guestbook List Screenlet in the guestbooks scene. You’ll also take an extra step to trigger the segue to the entries scene when a user selects a guestbook.

Adding Guestbook List Screenlet to the Guestbooks Scene

Follow these steps to add Guestbook List Screenlet to the guestbooks scene:

  1. In your storyboard, first select the guestbooks scene’s view controller. Then drag and drop a plain view (UIView) from the Object Library to the view controller. In the outline view, this new view should be nested under the view controller’s existing view.

    Figure 1: The new view is nested under the view controllers existing view.

    Figure 1: The new view is nested under the view controller's existing view.

  2. Resize the new view to take up all the space below the navigation bar. With the new view selected, open the Add New Constraints menu at the bottom-right of the canvas. In this menu, set Spacing to nearest neighbor to 0 on all sides, and click the Add 4 Constraints button.

    Figure 2: Set the new views Spacing to nearest neighbor constraints to 0 on all sides.

    Figure 2: Set the new view's *Spacing to nearest neighbor* constraints to 0 on all sides.

  3. With the new view still selected, open the Identity inspector and set the view’s custom class to GuestbookListScreenlet. The view now appears as Guestbook List Screenlet in the outline view.

Fantastic! The guestbooks scene now contains Guestbook List Screenlet. Next, you’ll conform the scene’s view controller class to the Screenlet’s delegate.

Conforming to the Screenlet’s Delegate Protocol

Recall that a view controller can respond to a Screenlet’s events by conforming to the Screenlet’s delegate protocol. To respond to Guestbook List Screenlet’s events, GuestbooksViewController (the guestbooks scene’s view controller class) must conform to the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate protocol. You created this delegate when creating the Screenlet. This delegate defines methods for responding to the success or failure to retrieve guestbooks, and the selection of a guestbook in the list.

Follow these steps to conform GuestbooksViewController to the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate protocol:

  1. Import LiferayScreens, and in the class declaration set GuestbooksViewController to adopt the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate protocol. The first few lines of the class should look like this:

    import UIKit
    import LiferayScreens
    
    class GuestbooksViewController: UIViewController, GuestbookListScreenletDelegate {...
    
  2. Implement the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate method screenlet(_:onGuestbookListResponse:). Recall that this method lets you respond to a successful server call. Its arguments include the GuestbookModel objects that result from such a call. Since the Screenlet already displays these objects, you don’t need to do anything in this method:

    func screenlet(screenlet: GuestbookListScreenlet, 
        onGuestbookListResponse guestbooks: [GuestbookModel]) {
    
    }
    
  3. Implement the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate method screenlet(_:onGuestbookListError:). Recall that this method lets you respond to a failed server call. Its arguments include the NSError object that results from such a call. You don’t have to do anything in this method, but it’s a good idea to print the error:

    func screenlet(screenlet: GuestbookListScreenlet, onGuestbookListError error: NSError) {
        print("Failed to retrieve guestbooks: \(error.localizedDescription)")
    }
    
  4. Implement the GuestbookListScreenletDelegate method screenlet(_:onGuestbookSelected:). Recall that this method lets you respond when a user selects a guestbook in the list. It does so by including the selected GuestbookModel object in its arguments. When a user selects a guestbook, the app should transition to the entries scene and display that guestbook’s entries with Entry List Screenlet. To do this, you must trigger the segue to the entries scene by using the method performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:) with the segue’s ID and the selected GuestbookModel. Recall that you assigned the segue’s ID, entriessegue, when you created the segue. Including the selected GuestbookModel lets Entry List Screenlet know which guestbook to display entries from:

    func screenlet(screenlet: GuestbookListScreenlet, 
        onGuestbookSelected guestbook: GuestbookModel) {
    
        performSegue(withIdentifier: "entriessegue", sender: guestbook)
    }
    
  5. Next, you must set the segue’s destination view controller to an EntriesViewController instance, and set that instance’s selectedGuestbook variable to the selected guestbook. This ensures that Entry List Screenlet receives the guestbook you sent in performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:).

    You do this by overriding the prepare(for:sender:) method. This method is called by performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:) before the segue occurs. The prepare(for:sender:) method’s sender parameter receives the guestbook sent by performSegue(withIdentifier:sender:). Currently, prepare(for:sender:) is commented out at the bottom of GuestbooksViewController. Xcode created this method for you when you used the Cocoa Touch Class template to create a view controller class. Uncomment the method, and replace it with this:

    override func prepare(for segue: UIStoryboardSegue, sender: Any?) {
    
        guard segue.identifier ==  "entriessegue",
            let entriesViewController = segue.destination as? EntriesViewController,
            let selectedGuestbook = sender as? GuestbookModel
            else {return}
    
        entriesViewController.selectedGuestbook = selectedGuestbook
    }
    

    The guard statement ensures that the code only runs when the segue ID is entriessegue, the destination view controller is EntriesViewController, and the sender is a GuestbookModel. In other words, the code only runs in preparation for the segue to the entries scene. The code that runs when that condition is met is only one line long:

    entriesViewController.selectedGuestbook = selectedGuestbook
    

    This sets the guestbook received by prepare(for:sender:) to the guestbook in EntriesViewController. As the variable names indicate, this is the guestbook the user selects in Guestbook List Screenlet.

  6. Now you must get a Guestbook List Screenlet reference. You’ll do this by creating an outlet to the Screenlet. Return to your storyboard and enter the Assistant editor to display GuestbooksViewController’s code and the storyboard side by side. With Guestbook List Screenlet selected in the storyboard, Control-drag from the Screenlet to the GuestbooksViewController class, just below the class declaration. Release your mouse button, enter the following information in the dialog that appears, and click Connect:

    • Connection: Outlet
    • Name: screenlet
    • Type: GuestbookListScreenlet
    • Storage: Weak

    Xcode then adds the following code inside the GuestbooksViewController class:

    @IBOutlet weak var screenlet: GuestbookListScreenlet!
    
  7. Use this new screenlet variable to set the view controller as the Screenlet’s delegate. Do this in the viewDidLoad() method by deleting the placeholder comment and inserting this code below the call to super.viewDidLoad():

    self.screenlet.delegate = self
    

Great! The guestbooks scene now contains Guestbook List Screenlet. Next, you’ll use Entry List Screenlet in the entries scene.

« Creating the Entries SceneUsing Entry List Screenlet »
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