Question

Is it possible to set the text field for a UITextField for multiple objects from within a loop using setValue:forKey:? I am a little confused if I should be somehow specifying “text” in the property name, or if I am missing something else?

// INTERFACE
@property(nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITextField *textFieldBit_01;
@property(nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITextField *textFieldBit_02;
@property(nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITextField *textFieldBit_03;
@property(nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITextField *textFieldBit_04;
@property(nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet UITextField *textFieldBit_05;

.

// IMPLEMENT
@synthesize textFieldBit_01;
@synthesize textFieldBit_02;
@synthesize textFieldBit_03;
@synthesize textFieldBit_04;
@synthesize textFieldBit_05;

for(unsigned int counter=1; counter<=5; counter++) {
    NSString *propertyName = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"textFieldBit_%02d.text",counter];
    NSString *propertyValue = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"%d", counter];

    [self setValue:propertyValue forKey:propertyName];
    [propertyName release];
    [propertyValue release];
}

EDIT_001

Maybe I should try and clarify my question a little: I am essentially trying to set the text on one of 5 UITextFields each time round a loop. I could use an “if” or “switch” but that looks a little like overkill. I thought maybe setValue:forKey: would let me do it by building a unique key during each iteration and using a single call.

if(counter == 1) [textFieldBit_01 setText:@"%02d", 1];
if(counter == 2) [textFieldBit_02 setText:@"%02d", 2];
if(counter == 3) [textFieldBit_03 setText:@"%02d", 3];
if(counter == 4) [textFieldBit_04 setText:@"%02d", 4];
if(counter == 5) [textFieldBit_05 setText:@"%02d", 5];

EDIT_002

NSString *propertyName = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"labelBit_%02d.text",counter];
NSString *propertyValue = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:@"%d", geoTag];      
[self setValue:propertyValue forKeyPath:propertyName];

Thank you for the answer, I now understand where I was going wrong, what I was using was setValue:forKey: when in a situation where I needed to access “labelBit_01.text” I should have been using setValue:forKeyPath:

gary

Answer 1

Try

[self setValue:propertyValue forKeyPath:[propertyName stringByAppendingString:@".text"]];

What this ends up giving you is this:

self.textFieldBit_01.text = @"01";