Indexed UITableView using first letter objects property. ADBIndexedTableView uses introspection and message forwarding.

Try out the included demo project.

If you'd like to include this component as a pod using CocoaPods, just add the following line to your Podfile: pod "ADBIndexedTableView"

Simple usage:

• copy ADBIndexedTableView and ADBMessageInterceptor classes into your project
• import ADBIndexedTableView.h in your class
• create an ADBIndexedTableView as usually done with UITableView
• set up delegate and dataSource as usual (using Interface Builder or programmatically)
• set indexDataSource and implement objectsFieldForIndexedTableView: method (used for sorting and indexing)

#pragma mark - ADBIndexedTableViewDataSource
- (NSString *)objectsFieldForIndexedTableView:(ADBIndexedTableView *)tableView {
    return objectPropertyAsString;
}

• dataSource tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: implementation can retrieve object for the given indexPath using objectAtIndexPath: method
• implementation of indexedTableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath:usingObject: is required and it will be used only if tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: implementation is not provided by the dataSource.

- (UITableViewCell *)indexedTableView:(ADBIndexedTableView *)tableView
                cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
                          usingObject:(id)object { ... }

• reload the table sending unsorted objects via reloadDataWithObjects: method to let indexedTableView create the data structure. Use reloadData for subsequent reloads.

{
    ... // retrieve objects
    NSArray *objects = @[...] // objects retrieved
    [self.tableView reloadDataWithObjects:objects];
}

License

Licensed under the New BSD License.

Copyright (c) 2013, Alberto De Bortoli All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution. * Neither the name of Alberto De Bortoli nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Alberto De Bortoli BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Resources

Info can be found on my website, and on Twitter.