How do I validate TextFields in an UIAlertController?

Question

Can anyone tell me how to validate UITextFields inside of a UIAlertController?

I need it to prevent the user from clicking \"Save\" unless

Answer 1

First, you need to add some variables to your class:

private weak var saveAction : UIAlertAction?
private weak var textFieldName : UITextField?
private weak var textFieldEmail : UITextField?
private var validName = false
private var validEmail = false

Then, when you want to configure the alert controller (I only pasted the things that need to be changed):

    alert.addTextFieldWithConfigurationHandler {
        (textFieldName: UITextField!) in
        textFieldName.placeholder = "Enter full name"
        textFieldName.delegate = self
        self.textFieldName = textFieldName
    }
    alert.addTextFieldWithConfigurationHandler {
        (textFieldEmail: UITextField!) in
        textFieldEmail.placeholder = "Enter valid email adress"
        textFieldEmail.keyboardType = .EmailAddress
        textFieldEmail.delegate = self
        self.textFieldEmail = textFieldEmail
    }

    let saveAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Save",
        style: .Default) { (action: UIAlertAction!) -> Void in
        // here you are sure the name and email are correct
        let name = (alert.textFields[0] as! UITextField).text
        let email = (alert.textFields[1] as! UITextField).text
    }

    saveAction.enabled = false
    self.saveAction = saveAction

Finally, you should implement this delegate method:

func textField(textField: UITextField, shouldChangeCharactersInRange range: NSRange, replacementString string: String) -> Bool {

    let newText = NSString(string: textField.text).stringByReplacingCharactersInRange(range, withString: string)

    if textField == self.textFieldName {
        // validate newText for the name requirements
        validName = self.validateName(newText)
    } else if textField == self.textFieldEmail {
        // validate newText for the email requirements
        validEmail = self.validateEmail(newText)
    }

    self.saveAction?.enabled = validEmail && validName

    return true
}