A purist hello world app: an IPhone project template without .XIB

• noXIB.zip (18.3 KB)

I have gone through quite a few hello world tutorials for the iPhone, and they always reach the point of saying ' and now some magic occurs. You don't need to worry about this... the .XIB takes care of it '

I don't like this. what if I have a project where I am not going to be using IB? it don't want a large invisible object doing unknown things to my code. that makes me feel uneasy.

So, here is a step-by-step Guide to getting a pure code application template. I am using Xcode 3 -- it should be pretty similar for other versions.

1. create new project -> view based application "NoXIB"
2. delete both .xib files
3. open Info.plist, locate the key: "Main nib file base name:" and delete "MainWindow"
4. fiddle main.m

//
//  main.m
//  noXIB
//
//  Created by pi on 13/08/2010.
//
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
    
    NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
    int retVal = UIApplicationMain(argc, argv, nil, @"noXIBAppDelegate");
    [pool release];
    return retVal;
}

5. can remove the IBOutlet from here:

//
//  noXIBAppDelegate.h
//  noXIB
//
//  Created by pi on 13/08/2010.
//
#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@class noXIBViewController;
@interface noXIBAppDelegate : NSObject <UIApplicationDelegate> {
    UIWindow *window;
    noXIBViewController *viewController;
}
@property (nonatomic, retain) /*IBOutlet*/ UIWindow *window;
@property (nonatomic, retain) /*IBOutlet*/ noXIBViewController *viewController;
@end

6. create the window and the view controller here:

//
//  noXIBAppDelegate.m
//  noXIB
//
//  Created by pi on 13/08/2010.
//
#import "noXIBAppDelegate.h"
#import "noXIBViewController.h"
@implementation noXIBAppDelegate
@synthesize window;
@synthesize viewController;
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions 
{        
    self.window = [[[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]] autorelease];;
    self.viewController = [[[noXIBViewController alloc] init] autorelease];
    // Override point for customization after app launch    
    [window addSubview:viewController.view];
    [window makeKeyAndVisible];
    
    return YES;
}

7. create a view; groups and files pane, right click on NoXIB -> 'classes', add new file, "MyView".
• make sure it is a subclass of UIView.
• override its drawRect so that it draws a red rectangle:

//
//  MyView.m
//  noXIB
//
//  Created by pi on 13/08/2010.
//
#import "MyView.h"
@implementation MyView
:
// Only override drawRect: if you perform custom drawing.
// An empty implementation adversely affects performance during animation.
- (void)drawRect:(CGRect)rect {
    // Drawing code
    // Get the graphics context and clear it
    CGContextRef ctx = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext();
    CGContextClearRect(ctx, rect);
    
    //  draw a red rectangle
    CGContextSetRGBFillColor(ctx, 255, 0, 0, 1);
    CGContextFillRect(ctx, CGRectMake(10, 10, 50, 50));
}

8. make the view controller load this view

//
//  noXIBViewController.m
//  noXIB
//
//  Created by pi on 13/08/2010.
//
#import "noXIBViewController.h"
#import "MyView.h"
@implementation noXIBViewController
// Implement loadView to create a view hierarchy programmatically, without using a nib.
- (void)loadView {
    [super loadView];
    CGRect frame = CGRectMake(10, 10, 300, 300); // 320 x 460
    
    MyView* myV = [ [ [MyView alloc] initWithFrame:frame] autorelease];
    
    myV.clipsToBounds = YES;
    [[self view] addSubview: myV];
}
:
:

Bingo! No XIB!