Question

I’m trying to recreate this UISearchBar (as seen in the Table Search example code):

alt text http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6378/43558113.png

All the examples I’ve seen to do this involve using a xib, however I need to do it programmatically. The problem is changing the tint color also changes the cancel button’s tint:

alt text http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/1375/screenshot20100527at944.png

Any ideas?

Answer 1

Associating the search bar with a UISearchDisplayController magically provides a lot of standard look and behavior such as:

• gray tint without affecting cancel button
• auto showing/hiding of cancel button
• width adjustment around any tableview indexes

In my tableview controller I’ve done the following:

- (void)viewDidLoad {
    [super viewDidLoad];

    // setup searchBar and searchDisplayController

    UISearchBar *searchBar = [[UISearchBar alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
    [searchBar sizeToFit];
    searchBar.delegate = self;
    searchBar.placeholder = @"Search";
    self.tableView.tableHeaderView = searchBar;

    UISearchDisplayController *searchDC = [[UISearchDisplayController alloc] initWithSearchBar:searchBar contentsController:self];

    // The above assigns self.searchDisplayController, but without retaining.
    // Force the read-only property to be set and retained. 
    [self performSelector:@selector(setSearchDisplayController:) withObject:searchDC];

    searchDC.delegate = self;
    searchDC.searchResultsDataSource = self;
    searchDC.searchResultsDelegate = self;

    [searchBar release];
    [searchDC release];
}