Use Prototype Cell From Another View Controller

Question

I want to use the same table view cell layout in several storyboard scenes. Can I design the prototype cell in one of the scenes and somehow access it (i.e. dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier) in another table view controller?

Answer 1

This is not possible, but you can copy the prototype cell from source table view to destination one inside storyboard and you can easily reuse it.

Answer 2

You can design your prototype cell in a .xib file and import that into multiple UITableViewController subclasses. Just make sure to keep the identifier in synch between your references in code and your prototype cell.

class YourViewController: UITableViewController {

    func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        let nib = UINib(nibName: "your_file_name", bundle: nil)
        tableView.registerNib(nib, forCellWithReuseIdentifier: "your_cell_identifier")
        // ... 
    }

}

Same applies to custom UICollectionViewCell prototypes and their use in UICollectionView subclasses.