Custom cell with UITableView inside UICollectionViewCell

Question

I have a custom UICollectionViewCell for a UICollectionView. I have marked this custom class as UITableViewDataSource and UITableViewDelegate in order to put UITableView in each cell of Collection view.

The table view is rendering properly in each cell of collection view but the issue is with the data in those table view header and cells.

Example: I have 10 questions with 5 to 6 options for each question. I have kept number of items in collection view as count of questionList which creates correct number of collection view cells

 override func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, numberOfItemsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return questionList.count
    }

When i create each cell as below:

override func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {

        let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "cell", for: indexPath) as! QuestionCell

        return cell
    }

The custom cell (QuestionCell) is rendering properly but all the custom collection view cells are displaying only the first question with it's options. Question here i have is that how can i link the indexPath.item of each collection view cell with the indexPath of TableView cell inside QuestionCell class.

fileprivate func setUpViews(){
        tableView.delegate = self
        tableView.dataSource = self
        tableView.register(QuestionHeader.self, forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier: headerId)
        tableView.register(OptionCell.self, forCellReuseIdentifier: cellId)
    }

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let header = tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: headerId) as! QuestionHeader

    header.nameLabel.text = questionList[section].questionText

    return header
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {


    return questionList[section].options.count
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: cellId, for: indexPath) as! OptionCell

    cell.nameLabel.text = questionList[indexPath.row].options[indexPath.row].optionText

    return cell
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, heightForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> CGFloat {
    return 50.0
}

Any idea to proceed on this will be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

i think questionList[section].options.count has to change.

you want a put question list in each collection view cell right?

than use collectionView's indexPath as index of questionList not tableView's section

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
    return questionList[section].options.count
}

Answer 2

Should only one question from the questionList be passed to your QuestionCell rather than the entire list? In your QuestionCell, it should look like:

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, viewForHeaderInSection section: Int) -> UIView? {
    let header = tableView.dequeueReusableHeaderFooterView(withIdentifier: headerId) as! QuestionHeader

    header.nameLabel.text = question.questionText

    return header
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {


    return question.options.count
}

func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
    let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: cellId, for: indexPath) as! OptionCell

    cell.nameLabel.text = question.options[indexPath.row].optionText

    return cell
}

Answer 3

I was able to resolve the issue by defining an IndexPath variable in a separate Swift class and setting it's value inside CollectionView's cellForItem function. With this approach, I was able to refer indexPath of each CollectionView cell inside the corresponding TableViewCell.

override func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, cellForItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UICollectionViewCell {

  cellIndex = indexPath.item

    print("Cell index: ",cellIndex)
    if indexPath.item > 0{
        let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell", for: indexPath) as! PageCell
        cell.tableView.reloadData()
        return cell
    }
    else {
        let cell = collectionView.dequeueReusableCell(withReuseIdentifier: "collectionCell", for: indexPath) as! PageCell
        cell.tableView.reloadData()
        return cell
    }

}