Is completely static UICollectionView possible?

Question

At UITableView, completely static tableView config is possible. You can disconnect UITableView's datasource and put each cell on storyboard(or xib) by using IB.

I tried same thing with UICollectionView. disconnect UICollectionView's datasource. Put each cell on UICollectionView on storyboard. I built it without any errors. But it didin't work. cells were not displayed at all.

Is UICollectionView without datasource possible?

Answer 1

No.

Creating a static UICollectionViewController is not allowed. You must have a data source delegate.

I also want to point out that there is not a static UITableView, but a static UITableViewController. It's a difference.

Answer 2

You can easily create a static UICollectionViewController.

Just create every cell in interface builder, give them re-use identifiers(e.g. "Home_1" "Home_2" "Home_3"), and populate the methods as follows:

class HomeViewController: UICollectionViewController, UICollectionViewDelegateFlowLayout {  
    let cellIdentifiers:[String] = ["Home_1","Home_2","Home_3"]
    let sizes:[CGSize] = [CGSize(width:320, height:260),CGSize(width:320, height:160),CGSize(width:320, height:100)]

    override func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return cellIdentifiers.count
    }
    override func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {
        return collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: cellIdentifiers[indexPath.item], for: indexPath)
    }
    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, layout collectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewLayout, sizeForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGSize {
        return sizes[indexPath.item]
    }
}

Then set the view controller to be of the proper class, and, hey presto, a (basically) static collection. I'm sorry to say but this is BY FAR the best way to support portrait and landscape views when you have groups of controls...