Question

Hi I am attempting to create a rectangular region (tableView), that when it has no cells will be just a background color. Then when it has cells, the cell background can be different and separators become visible. This idea can be seen in http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/spendings/id473857206?mt=8
in the second screen shot. I can come close by just setting the background color of the table and the cells to different colors, but when there are no cells the table collapses. The screenshot in that link doesn’t show this, but when there are no items, it is just an empty rectangle. How can one maintain the dimensions of the table, even when there are no cells?

Answer 1

You can try setting the separator color to clearColor so that the cells aren’t visible when they’re empty, like:

if([tableView numberOfRowsInSection:0]==0)
{
    tableView.separatorColor = [UIColor clearColor];
}