How to add a custom view to a XIB file defined view in monotouch

Question

I'm trying to learn monotouch at the moment, and following the learn monotouch book by Mike BlueStein. Not a bad book, but it's slightly outdated since xcode 4 (i believe) and a newer version on monotouch has come out.

Anyways, in my project I have a controller and a xib file. I also have a custom view (e.g. myview : UIView), that overrides the draw method. I want to show my custom view next to or on top of the view defined in the xib file. How do I do this?

In the controller, If I override the LoadView method, and set the View to an instance of my custom view, then I can see it, but I loose everything defined in the xib file. If I try to add as a sub view, it does not appear at all.

What am I missing? If the question is not clear, please ask me, so I can clarify.

Cheers.

Answer 1

Follow the following steps to use a custom view in a XIB:

First, decorate the view with the RegisterAttribute:

[Register("MyView")]
public class MyView : UIView
{
}

and implement the following constructor:

public MyView(IntPtr handle) : base(handle) {}

This constructor is needed for when the runtime will try to recreate the view after it has been destroyed by a memory warning. After you have created your custom class:

• Open the XIB in Xcode (always by double-clicking on it through MonoDevelop) and add a UIView where you want it.
• In Xcode, set that UIView's class to MyView (or whichever name you passed to the RegisterAttribute):

• Compile-Run.

EDIT:

Do not override LoadView for controllers that are loaded from a XIB. LoadView is meant to create the controller's view when that controller's view is not loaded from a XIB.