Get button click inside UITableViewCell

I have a view controller with a table view and a separate nib for the table cell template. The cell template has some buttons. I want to access the button click along with the index of the cell clicked inside the view controller where I have defined the Table view.

So I have ViewController.h and ViewController.m where I have the UITableView and TableTemplate.h, TableTemplate.m and TableTemplate.xib where I have the nib defined. I want the button click event with cell index in ViewController.m.

Any help on how can I do that?

1. In your cellForRowAtIndexPath: method, assign button tag as index:

   cell.yourbutton.tag = indexPath.row;

2. Add target and action for your button as below:

   [cell.yourbutton addTarget:self action:@selector(yourButtonClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

3. Code actions based on index as below in ViewControler:

   -(void)yourButtonClicked:(UIButton*)sender { if (sender.tag == 0) { // Your code here } }

Updates for multiple Section:

You can check this link to detect button click in table view for multiple row and section.

Delegates are the way to go.

As seen with other answers using views might get outdated. Who knows tomorrow there might be another wrapper and may need to use cell superview]superview]superview]superview]. And if you use tags you would end up with n number of if else conditions to identify the cell. To avoid all of that set up delegates. (By doing so you will be creating a re usable cell class. You can use the same cell class as a base class and all you have to do is implement the delegate methods.)

First we need a interface (protocol) which will be used by cell to communicate(delegate) button clicks. (You can create a separate .h file for protocol and include in both table view controller and custom cell classes OR just add it in custom cell class which will anyway get included in table view controller)

@protocol CellDelegate <NSObject>
- (void)didClickOnCellAtIndex:(NSInteger)cellIndex withData:(id)data;
@end

Include this protocol in custom cell and table view controller. And make sure table view controller confirms to this protocol.

In custom cell create two properties :

@property (weak, nonatomic) id<CellDelegate>delegate;
@property (assign, nonatomic) NSInteger cellIndex;

In UIButton IBAction delegate click : (Same can be done for any action in custom cell class which needs to be delegated back to view controller)

- (IBAction)buttonClicked:(UIButton *)sender {
    if (self.delegate && [self.delegate respondsToSelector:@selector(didClickOnCellAtIndex:withData:)]) {
        [self.delegate didClickOnCellAtIndex:_cellIndex withData:@"any other cell data/property"];
    }
}

In table view controller cellForRowAtIndexPath after dequeing the cell, set the above properties.

cell.delegate = self;
cell.cellIndex = indexPath.row; // Set indexpath if its a grouped table.

And implement the delegate in table view controller:

- (void)didClickOnCellAtIndex:(NSInteger)cellIndex withData:(id)data
{
    // Do additional actions as required.
    NSLog(@"Cell at Index: %d clicked.\n Data received : %@", cellIndex, data);
}

This would be the ideal approach to get custom cell button actions in table view controller.

Instead of playing with tags, I took different approach. Made delegate for my subclass of UITableViewCell(OptionButtonsCell) and added an indexPath var. From my button in storyboard I connected @IBAction to the OptionButtonsCell and there I send delegate method with the right indexPath to anyone interested. In cell for index path I set current indexPath and it works :)

Let the code speak for itself:

Swift 3 Xcode 8

OptionButtonsTableViewCell.swift

import UIKit
protocol OptionButtonsDelegate{
    func closeFriendsTapped(at index:IndexPath)
}
class OptionButtonsTableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
    var delegate:OptionButtonsDelegate!
    @IBOutlet weak var closeFriendsBtn: UIButton!
    var indexPath:IndexPath!
    @IBAction func closeFriendsAction(_ sender: UIButton) {
        self.delegate?.closeFriendsTapped(at: indexPath)
    }
}

MyTableViewController.swift

class MyTableViewController: UIViewController, UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource, OptionButtonsDelegate {...

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "optionCell") as! OptionButtonsTableViewCell
    cell.delegate = self
    cell.indexPath = indexPath
    return cell   
}

func closeFriendsTapped(at index: IndexPath) {
     print("button tapped at index:\(index)")
}

This should help :-

UITableViewCell* cell = (UITableViewCell*)[sender superview];
NSIndexPath* indexPath = [myTableView indexPathForCell:cell];

Here sender is the UIButton instance that is sending the event. myTableView is the UITableView instance you're dealing with.

Just get the cell reference right and all the work is done.

You may need to remove the buttons from cell's contentView & add them directly to UITableViewCell instance as it's subview.

Or

You can formulate a tag naming scheme for different UIButtons in cell.contentView. Using this tag, later you can know the row & section information as needed.

Following code might Help you.

I have taken UITableView with custom prototype cell class named UITableViewCell inside UIViewController.

So i have ViewController.h, ViewController.m and TableViewCell.h,TableViewCell.m

Here is the code for that:

ViewController.h

@interface ViewController : UIViewController<UITableViewDataSource,UITableViewDelegate>

@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UITableView *tblView;

@end

ViewController.m

@interface ViewController ()

@end

@implementation ViewController

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    
}

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section{
    return (YourNumberOfRows);
}

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
    
    static NSString *cellIdentifier = @"cell";
    
    __weak TableViewCell *cell = (TableViewCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];
    
    if (indexPath.row==0) {
        [cell setDidTapButtonBlock:^(id sender)         {             // Your code here                      }];
    }    
    return cell;
}

Custom cell class :

TableViewCell.h

@interface TableViewCell : UITableViewCell

@property (copy, nonatomic) void (^didTapButtonBlock)(id sender);

@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UILabel *lblTitle;
@property (strong, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIButton *btnAction;

- (void)setDidTapButtonBlock:(void (^)(id sender))didTapButtonBlock;

@end

and

UITableViewCell.m

@implementation TableViewCell

- (void)awakeFromNib {
    // Initialization code
    [self.btnAction addTarget:self action:@selector(didTapButton:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

}

- (void)setSelected:(BOOL)selected animated:(BOOL)animated {
    [super setSelected:selected animated:animated];

    // Configure the view for the selected state
}
- (void)didTapButton:(id)sender {
    if (self.didTapButtonBlock)
    {
        self.didTapButtonBlock(sender);
    }
}

Note: Here I have taken all UIControls using Storyboard.

Hope that can help you...!!!

The reason i like below technique because it also help me to identify the section of table.

Add Button in cell cellForRowAtIndexPath:

 UIButton *selectTaskBtn = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
        [selectTaskBtn setFrame:CGRectMake(15, 5, 30, 30.0)];
        [selectTaskBtn setTag:indexPath.section]; //Not required but may find useful if you need only section or row (indexpath.row) as suggested by MR.Tarun 
    [selectTaskBtn addTarget:self action:@selector(addTask:)   forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchDown];
[cell addsubview: selectTaskBtn];

Event addTask:

-(void)addTask:(UIButton*)btn
{
    CGPoint buttonPosition = [btn convertPoint:CGPointZero toView:self.tableView];
    NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.tableView indexPathForRowAtPoint:buttonPosition];
    if (indexPath != nil)
    {
     int currentIndex = indexPath.row;
     int tableSection = indexPath.section;
    }
}

Hopes this help.

Use Swift closures :

class TheCell: UITableViewCell {

    var tapCallback: (() -> Void)?
	
    @IBAction func didTap(_ sender: Any) {
        tapCallback?()
    }
}

extension TheController: UITableViewDataSource {
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
            let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: TheCell.identifier, for: indexPath) as! TheCell {
            cell.tapCallback = {
				//do stuff
            }
            return cell
    }
}

Tarun's code doesnt work on iOS7, since the UITableViewCell structure changed and now he would get "UITableViewCellScrollView" instead.

This post https://stackoverflow.com/questions/18962771/getting-uitableviewcell-with-superview-in-ios-7 has a good solution creating a loop to find the correct parent view, regardless of any future changes in the structure. It boils down to creating a loop:

    UIView *superView = [sender superview];
    UIView *foundSuperView = nil;

    while (nil != superView && nil == foundSuperView) {
        if ([superView isKindOfClass:[UITableViewCell class]]) {
            foundSuperView = superView;
        } else {
            superView = superView.superview;
        }
    }

The link has code for a more reusable solution, but this should work.

Swift 2.2

You need to add target for that button.

myButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(ClassName.FunctionName(_:), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)

FunctionName: connected // for example

And of course you need to set tag of that button since you are using it.

myButton.tag = indexPath.row

You can achieve this by subclassing UITableViewCell. Use it in interface builder, drop a button on that cell, connect it via outlet and there you go.

To get the tag in the connected function:

func connected(sender: UIButton) {
    let buttonTag = sender.tag
    // Do any additional setup
}

Swift 3 with a Closure

A nice solution is using a closure in a custom UITableViewCell to callback to the viewController for an action.

In cell:

final class YourCustomCell: UITableViewCell {

    var callbackClosure: (() -> Void)?

    // Configure the cell here
    func configure(object: Object, callbackClosure: (() -> Void)?) {
       self.callbackClosure = callbackClosure
    }


// MARK: - IBAction
extension YourCustomCell {
    @IBAction fileprivate func actionPressed(_ sender: Any) {
        guard let closure = callbackClosure else { return }
        closure()
    }
}

In View Controller: Tableview Delegate

extension YourViewController: UITableViewDelegate {

    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        guard let cell: YourCustomCell = cell as? YourCustomCell else { return }
        cell.configure(object: object, callbackClosure: { [weak self] in
            self?.buttonAction()
        })
     }
 }

fileprivate extension YourViewController {

    func buttonAction() {
        // do your actions here 
    }
}

Its Work For me.

 - (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
     UIButton *Btn_Play = (UIButton *)[cell viewWithTag:101];
     [Btn_Play addTarget:self action:@selector(ButtonClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];
}
-(void)ButtonClicked:(UIButton*)sender {
     CGPoint buttonPosition = [sender convertPoint:CGPointZero toView:self.Tbl_Name];
     NSIndexPath *indexPath = [self.Tbl_Name indexPathForRowAtPoint:buttonPosition];
}

I find it simplest to subclass the button inside your cell (Swift 3):

class MyCellInfoButton: UIButton {
    var indexPath: IndexPath?
}

In your cell class:

class MyCell: UICollectionViewCell {
    @IBOutlet weak var infoButton: MyCellInfoButton!
   ...
}

In the table view's or collection view's data source, when dequeueing the cell, give the button its index path:

cell.infoButton.indexPath = indexPath

So you can just put these code into your table view controller:

@IBAction func handleTapOnCellInfoButton(_ sender: MyCellInfoButton) {
        print(sender.indexPath!) // Do whatever you want with the index path!
}

And don't forget to set the button's class in your Interface Builder and link it to the handleTapOnCellInfoButton function!

---

edited:

Using dependency injection. To set up calling a closure:

class MyCell: UICollectionViewCell {
    var someFunction: (() -> Void)?
    ...
    @IBAction func didTapInfoButton() {
        someFunction?()
    }
}

and inject the closure in the willDisplay method of the collection view's delegate:

 func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, willDisplay cell: UICollectionViewCell, forItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
    (cell as? MyCell)?.someFunction = {
        print(indexPath) // Do something with the indexPath.
    }
}
    

If you want to pass parameter value from cell to UIViewController using closure then

//Your Cell Class
class TheCell: UITableViewCell {

    var callBackBlockWithParam: ((String) -> ()) = {_ in }

//Your Action on button
    @IBAction func didTap(_ sender: Any) {
        callBackBlockWithParam("Your Required Parameter like you can send button as sender or anything just change parameter type. Here I am passing string")
    }
}

//Your Controller
extension TheController: UITableViewDataSource {
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
            let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: TheCell.identifier, for: indexPath) as! TheCell {
            cell.callBackBlockWithParam = { (passedParamter) in 

             //you will get string value from cell class
                print(passedParamter)     
      }
            return cell
    }
}

// Add action in cell for row at index path -tableView

cell.buttonName.addTarget(self, action: #selector(ViewController.btnAction(_:)), for: .touchUpInside)

// Button Action

  @objc func btnAction(_ sender: AnyObject) {

        
        
        var position: CGPoint = sender.convert(.zero, to: self.tableView)

        
        let indexPath = self.tableView.indexPathForRow(at: position)
        let cell: UITableViewCell = tableView.cellForRow(at: indexPath!)! as
        UITableViewCell




}

for swift 4:

inside the cellForItemAt ,
   
cell.chekbx.addTarget(self, action: #selector(methodname), for: .touchUpInside)

then outside of cellForItemAt
@objc func methodname()
{
//your function code
}

@Mani answer is good, however tags of views inside cell's contentView often are used for other purposes. You can use cell's tag instead (or cell's contentView tag):

1. In your cellForRowAtIndexPath: method, assign cell's tag as index:

   cell.tag = indexPath.row; // or cell.contentView.tag...

2. Add target and action for your button as below:

   [cell.yourbutton addTarget:self action:@selector(yourButtonClicked:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

3. Create method that returns row of the sender (thanks @Stenio Ferreira):

   • (NSInteger)rowOfSender:(id)sender { UIView *superView = sender.superview; while (superView) { if ([superView isKindOfClass:[UITableViewCell class]]) break; else superView = superView.superview; }

     return superView.tag; }

4. Code actions based on index:

   -(void)yourButtonClicked:(UIButton*)sender { NSInteger index = [self rowOfSender:sender]; // Your code here }

CustomTableCell.h is a UITableViewCell:

@property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIButton *action1Button;
@property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIButton *action2Button;

MyVC.m after imports:

@interface MYTapGestureRecognizer : UITapGestureRecognizer
@property (nonatomic) NSInteger dataint;
@end

Inside "cellForRowAtIndexPath" in MyVC.m:

//CustomTableCell 
CustomTableCell *cell = (CustomTableCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:cellIdentifier forIndexPath:indexPath];

//Set title buttons
[cell.action1Button setTitle:[NSString stringWithString:NSLocalizedString(@"action1", nil)] forState:UIControlStateNormal];
[cell.action2Button setTitle:[NSString stringWithString:NSLocalizedString(@"action2", nil)] forState:UIControlStateNormal];

//Set visibility buttons
[cell.action1Button setHidden:FALSE];
[cell.action2Button setHidden:FALSE];

//Do 1 action
[cell.action1Button addTarget:self action:@selector(do1Action :) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

//Do 2 action
MYTapGestureRecognizer *action2Tap = [[MYTapGestureRecognizer alloc] initWithTarget:self action:@selector(do2Action :)];
cancelTap.numberOfTapsRequired = 1;
cancelTap.dataint = indexPath.row;
[cell.action2Button setUserInteractionEnabled:YES];
[cell.action2Button addGestureRecognizer:action2Tap];

MyVC.m:

-(void)do1Action :(id)sender{
//do some action that is not necessary fr data
}

-(void)do2Action :(UITapGestureRecognizer *)tapRecognizer{
MYTapGestureRecognizer *tap = (MYTapGestureRecognizer *)tapRecognizer;
numberTag = tap.dataint;
FriendRequest *fr = [_list objectAtIndex:numberTag];

//connect with a WS o do some action with fr data

//actualize list in tableView
 [self.myTableView reloadData];
}

cell.show.tag=indexPath.row;
     [cell.show addTarget:self action:@selector(showdata:) forControlEvents:UIControlEventTouchUpInside];

-(IBAction)showdata:(id)sender
{
    UIButton *button = (UIButton *)sender;
    
    UIStoryboard *storyBoard;
    storyBoard = [UIStoryboard storyboardWithName:@"Main" bundle:nil];
    SecondViewController *detailView = [storyBoard instantiateViewControllerWithIdentifier:@"SecondViewController"];
    
    detailView.string=[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",[_array objectAtIndex:button.tag]];
    
    [self presentViewController:detailView animated:YES completion:nil];
    
}