Question

I am writing a section of code where it would be best if I could use a pop up box something like UIAlertView and prompt the user to enter text like a password.
Any pointers on an elegant way of doing this?

Answer 1

The best way that I’ve found to do this is to follow this tutorial: http://junecloud.com/journal/code/displaying-a-password-or-text-entry-prompt-on-the-iphone.html

The code used to achieve this is (taken directly from that great tutorial):

UIAlertView *passwordAlert = [[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Server Password" message:@"\n\n\n"
delegate:self cancelButtonTitle:NSLocalizedString(@"Cancel",nil) otherButtonTitles:NSLocalizedString(@"OK",nil), nil];

UILabel *passwordLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(12,40,260,25)];
passwordLabel.font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:16];
passwordLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
passwordLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
passwordLabel.shadowColor = [UIColor blackColor];
passwordLabel.shadowOffset = CGSizeMake(0,-1);
passwordLabel.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentCenter;
passwordLabel.text = @"Account Name";
[passwordAlert addSubview:passwordLabel];

UIImageView *passwordImage = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:[UIImage imageWithContentsOfFile:[[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:@"passwordfield" ofType:@"png"]]];
passwordImage.frame = CGRectMake(11,79,262,31);
[passwordAlert addSubview:passwordImage];

UITextField *passwordField = [[UITextField alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(16,83,252,25)];
passwordField.font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:18];
passwordField.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
passwordField.secureTextEntry = YES;
passwordField.keyboardAppearance = UIKeyboardAppearanceAlert;
passwordField.delegate = self;
[passwordField becomeFirstResponder];
[passwordAlert addSubview:passwordField];

[passwordAlert setTransform:CGAffineTransformMakeTranslation(0,109)];
[passwordAlert show];
[passwordAlert release];
[passwordField release];
[passwordImage release];
[passwordLabel release];