Accessing UITabBarController from UIVIewController

Question

I am developing an application based on UITabbar and the view hierarchy as follows.

UITabBarController ----> UINavigationController ----> UIViewController

I need to access the UITabBarController from the UIIVewController . But following properties always returns nil.

self.tabBarController and self.navigationController.tabBarController

Is there a way to access the Tabbarcontroller directly from a child viewController without using the AppDelegate ?

@implementation HomeViewController

- (id)initWithNibName:(NSString *)nibNameOrNil bundle:(NSBundle *)nibBundleOrNil
{
    self = [super initWithNibName:nibNameOrNil bundle:nibBundleOrNil];
    if (self) {
        // Custom initialization
        self.title = @"Home";
        self.navigationItem.title = @"Home";

        self.tabBarItem.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"TabBarHome"];

        UITabBarController *tab = self.tabBarController;
         UITabBarController *tab1 = self.navigationController.tabBarController;
        UITabBarController *tab2 = self.navigationController.presentingViewController;



    }
    return self;
}

it's possible to just use `self.tabBarController` from any `UIViewController` that is embedded in the `UITabBarController`, check @Rashad's answer below — nburk, Feb 06 '15 at 08:36

score 32 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 13 '20 at 14:27

32

With the hierachy that you are using:

enter image description here

I can acces without problem the UITabBarController from the ViewController with:

self.tabBarController

Move your Custom initialization to viewDidLoad or viewDidAppear

Then for shure you can access TabBarController with self.tabBarController

Another way to arrive to your TabBarController is:

UITabBarController *tabBarController = (UITabBarController *)[[[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate] window].rootViewController;

But it is totally unnecessary in your case.

EDIT:

If you are working with Xib, then you has been created a TabBarController programmatically in your AppDelegate. I'm sure you have something like:

self.tabBarController = [[UITabBarController alloc] init];

Then you can call it in your ViewController:

AppDelegate *appDelegate = [[UIApplication sharedApplication] delegate];
UITabBarController *tabBarController = appDelegate.tabBarController;

edited Jul 13 '20 at 14:27

heximal

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answered Apr 02 '14 at 09:47

Gabriel.Massana

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1

You are right moving in to viewDidLoad helped. Any particular reason why we can't access it during the initialization ? – rustylepord Apr 02 '14 at 10:12
This doesn't work on Xcode 7 beta 6. can anyone else confirm this works? – Ace Green Sep 03 '15 at 20:06
This does not work on xCode 9. Something this basic is screwed up :( – Dibzmania Nov 09 '17 at 04:17

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 02 '14 at 10:11

6

You are doing it wrong.

I've an app same as yours. I can access tabbar from viewDidLoad.

Try this:

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];
    [self.tabBarController setSelectedIndex:1];
}

Hope this helps.. :)

answered Apr 02 '14 at 10:11

Rashad

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Accessing UITabBarController from UIVIewController

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