Load view from an external xib file in storyboard

Question

I want to use a view throughout multiple viewcontrollers in a storyboard. Thus, I thought about designing the view in an external xib so changes are reflected in every viewc

Answer 1

Assuming that you've created an xib that you want to use:

1) Create a custom subclass of UIView (you can go to File -> New -> File... -> Cocoa Touch Class. Make sure "Subclass of:" is "UIView").

2) Add a view that's based on the xib as a subview to this view at initialization.

In Obj-C

-(id)initWithCoder:(NSCoder *)aDecoder{
    if (self = [super initWithCoder:aDecoder]) {
        UIView *xibView = [[[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"YourXIBFilename"
                                                              owner:self
                                                            options:nil] objectAtIndex:0];
        xibView.frame = self.bounds;
        xibView.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;
        [self addSubview: xibView];
    }
    return self;
}

In Swift 2

required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    super.init(coder: aDecoder)
    let xibView = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("YourXIBFilename", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as! UIView
    xibView.frame = self.bounds
    xibView.autoresizingMask = [.FlexibleWidth, .FlexibleHeight]
    self.addSubview(xibView)
}

In Swift 3

required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
    super.init(coder: aDecoder)
    let xibView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("YourXIBFilename", owner: self, options: nil)!.first as! UIView
    xibView.frame = self.bounds
    xibView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
    self.addSubview(xibView)
}

3) Wherever you want to use it in your storyboard, add a UIView as you normally would, select the newly added view, go to the Identity Inspector (the third icon on the upper right that looks like a rectangle with lines in it), and enter your subclass's name in as the "Class" under "Custom Class".