UITableView reloadData automatically calls resignFirstResponder

Question

I have this UITableView with custom cells that can get only predefined values, therefore I use a UIPickerView as their inputView. All is jolly good until I edit a field and

Answer 1

You can follow this approach, not the best, but it works:

// pass the responder to a temporary (hidden) textField
[_tmpTextField becomeFirstResponder];

// reload data
[_tableView reloadData];

// reloadData is definitely async... 
// so pass the responder back in a timed op
double delayInSeconds = 0.1;
dispatch_time_t popTime = dispatch_time(DISPATCH_TIME_NOW, (int64_t)(delayInSeconds * NSEC_PER_SEC));
dispatch_after(popTime, dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void){
    [_textField becomeFirstResponder];
});

Answer 2

As mentioned by @Eiko, this works for me!

Update the cell in UIPickerViewDelegate's pickerView:didSelectRow:inComponent: method:

- (void) pickerView:(UIPickerView *)pickerView didSelectRow:(NSInteger)row inComponent:(NSInteger)component {
  TableViewCell *cell = (TableViewCell *)[self.tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:pickerView.tag inSection:0]];

  /*
  Update your cell here. 
  */

  // Reload TableViewCell will resign the PickerView, so we need to focus it back.  
  [self.tableView reloadData];
  NSIndexPath* indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForCell:cell];
  NSArray* indexArray = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:indexPath, nil];
  [self.tableView reloadRowsAtIndexPaths:indexArray withRowAnimation:UITableViewRowAnimationNone];
  [cell.textField becomeFirstResponder];
}

Answer 3

If you are facing this issue with a search bar, the following did it for me in iOS 6:

• Instantiate a UISearchBar and add it as a subview to your UITableView at the top.
• Create a dummy first cell in your UITableView so that the search bar only blocks this dummy cell and not your actual cell with data.

Answer 4

I use beginUpdate and endUpdate After end update, get the cell contains the textfield already has focus then make it first responder

    self.tableView.beginUpdates()
    self.tableView.reloadRows(at: [indexPath], with: .automatic)
    self.tableView.endUpdates()
    let newCell = self.tableView.cellForRow(at: indexPath)
    newCell.textField.becomeFirstResponder()

Answer 5

Swift solution:

we can override default canResignFirstResponder by subclassing UITextfiled

class CustomField: UITextField{
    var canResign:Bool = false
    override var canResignFirstResponder: Bool{
        return canResign
    }  
}

all you need to set canResign variable before and after reload statement.

cell.offerInputTextField.canResign = false
tableView.reloadData()
cell.offerInputTextField.canResign = true

don't forget to assign the custom class text field as CustomField.

Answer 6

I met the same problem, none of the answers above worked perfectly (I see the keyboard bouncing up and down, etc.).
Following this SO post I fixed the issue by calling

[tableView beginUpdates];
[tableView endUpdates]; 

this worked for me, table rows get updates and even expand/shrink (if you are changing rows height dynamically) with a nice animation, all without resigning first responder or even starting keyboard dismiss.
This will not scroll your table view to fit any expanded row, so I put the snippet above in dedicated method, f.e.:

- (void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView reloadRowWhileShowingKeyboard:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath 
{  
    [tableView beginUpdates];
    [tableView endUpdates]; 

    [tableView scrollToRowAtIndexPath:indexPath atScrollPosition:UITableViewScrollPositionTop animated:YES];
}