Handling an empty UITableView. Print a friendly message

Question

I have a UITableView that in some cases it is legal to be empty. So instead of showing the background image of the app, I would prefer to print a friendly message in the scr

Answer 1

I recommend the following library: DZNEmptyDataSet

The easiest way to add it in your project is to use it with Cocaopods like so: pod 'DZNEmptyDataSet'

In your TableViewController add the following import statement (Swift):

import DZNEmptyDataSet

Then make sure your class conforms to the DNZEmptyDataSetSource and DZNEmptyDataSetDelegate like so:

class MyTableViewController: UITableViewController, DZNEmptyDataSetSource, DZNEmptyDataSetDelegate

In your viewDidLoad add the following lines of code:

tableView.emptyDataSetSource = self
tableView.emptyDataSetDelegate = self
tableView.tableFooterView = UIView()

Now all you have to do to show the emptystate is:

//Add title for empty dataset
func titleForEmptyDataSet(scrollView: UIScrollView!) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Welcome"
    let attrs = [NSFontAttributeName: UIFont.preferredFontForTextStyle(UIFontTextStyleHeadline)]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

//Add description/subtitle on empty dataset
func descriptionForEmptyDataSet(scrollView: UIScrollView!) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Tap the button below to add your first grokkleglob."
    let attrs = [NSFontAttributeName: UIFont.preferredFontForTextStyle(UIFontTextStyleBody)]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

//Add your image
func imageForEmptyDataSet(scrollView: UIScrollView!) -> UIImage! {
    return UIImage(named: "MYIMAGE")
}

//Add your button 
func buttonTitleForEmptyDataSet(scrollView: UIScrollView!, forState state: UIControlState) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Add Grokkleglob"
    let attrs = [NSFontAttributeName: UIFont.preferredFontForTextStyle(UIFontTextStyleCallout)]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

//Add action for button
func emptyDataSetDidTapButton(scrollView: UIScrollView!) {
    let ac = UIAlertController(title: "Button tapped!", message: nil, preferredStyle: .Alert)
    ac.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Hurray", style: .Default, handler: nil))
    presentViewController(ac, animated: true, completion: nil)
}

These methods aren't mandatory, it's also possible to just show the empty state without a button etc.

For Swift 4

// MARK: - Deal with the empty data set
// Add title for empty dataset
func title(forEmptyDataSet _: UIScrollView!) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Welcome"
    let attrs = [NSAttributedStringKey.font: UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: UIFontTextStyle.headline)]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

// Add description/subtitle on empty dataset
func description(forEmptyDataSet _: UIScrollView!) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Tap the button below to add your first grokkleglob."
    let attrs = [NSAttributedStringKey.font: UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: UIFontTextStyle.body)]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

// Add your image
func image(forEmptyDataSet _: UIScrollView!) -> UIImage! {
    return UIImage(named: "MYIMAGE")
}

// Add your button
func buttonTitle(forEmptyDataSet _: UIScrollView!, for _: UIControlState) -> NSAttributedString! {
    let str = "Add Grokkleglob"
    let attrs = [NSAttributedStringKey.font: UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: UIFontTextStyle.callout), NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.white]
    return NSAttributedString(string: str, attributes: attrs)
}

// Add action for button
func emptyDataSetDidTapButton(_: UIScrollView!) {
    let ac = UIAlertController(title: "Button tapped!", message: nil, preferredStyle: .alert)
    ac.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Hurray", style: .default, handler: nil))
    present(ac, animated: true, completion: nil)
}