Question

I have a UIView class which I add to my main UIViewController and I need to check the orientation of the device (iPad) at the launch of the app, in the viewDidLoad method. However because the class is a UIView (not UIViewController) I can’t use methods such as willAnimateRotationToInterfaceOrientation.

So I attempted to use this in my UIView class:

if (([[UIDevice currentDevice] orientation] == UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeLeft) ||
    ([[UIDevice currentDevice] orientation] == UIDeviceOrientationLandscapeRight)) {

However, testing with some breakpoints, whatever the orientation is, the of statement is never called, its skips right passed it. So what do you suggest I do to overcome this issue?

I need to somehow detect the orientation from the UIView class.

Thanks.

Answer 1

Where are you placing the check? The location could easily explain why it’s not being called. To get rotation info, you could register for a notification, or have your view controller call a method in your view. Sample code for the latter:

// ViewController.m
- (void)willRotateToInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)toInterfaceOrientation duration:(NSTimeInterval)duration {
    [self.customView willRotateToOrientation:toInterfaceOrientation];
}

// CustomView.m
- (void)willRotateToOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)newOrientation {
    // Handle rotation
}

The view controller method is one you override; the view’s method should be declared in a header.

Update:
Alternatively, you can find out the rotation in the controller’s `viewWillAppear’:

// ViewController.m
- (void)viewWillAppear {
    [self.customView willRotateToOrientation:[[UIDevice currentDevice] orientation];
}

The method in your view will be called accordingly.