Question

When customizing an UITableView, how can I know wether the cell is the first, last or only one in the section in the

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath` 

method?

Thanks.

Answer 1

To find out if it is the last row in a section, call tableView:numberOfRowsInSection: on the data source delegate (presumably, it’s self, since you are in a tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath: method). If the value returned from that method equals indexPath.row+1, you are at the last row. If additionally indexPath.row == 0, you are at the only row. If indexPath.row == 0 but tableView:numberOfRowsInSection: returned a number other than 1, you are looking at the first row in a section.

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    NSUInteger count = [self tableView:tableView numberOfRowsInSection:indexPath.section];
    BOOL first = indexPath.row == 0;
    BOOL last = indexPath.row+1 == count;
    if (first && last) {
        NSLog(@"The only cell in section %d", indexPath.section);
    } else if (first) {
        NSLog(@"The first cell in section %d", indexPath.section);
    } else if (last) {
        NSLog(@"The last cell in section %d", indexPath.section);
    } else {
        NSLog(@"Nothing special...");
    }
    // Do the rest of your work
}