2. Introduction
• Professional software developer for 17 years
• Independent contractor for 10 years
• Mobile development for 6 years
• Started in iOS in 2009, Android in 2010
• Full-time Android in 2012
• Back to both iOS and Android in 2015
3. Interface Builder
• One of the things I’ve enjoyed working with in
iOS
• Ability to see UI and interactions in one place
• Accurate visual representation of static UI
components
5. Annoyances of IB
• Not all properties of UI I want to change are
available in the Attributes Inspector
• Mix of configuration in IB and code
• Difficult to consolidate UI initialization into a
storyboard
6. User Defined Runtime
Attributes
• Introduced in Xcode 4
• Uses KVC to set values defined in Storyboard at
runtime
• Found in Identity Inspector for current view
• Limited to the following data types:
• Boolean
• Number
• String
• Localized
String
• Point
• Size
• Rect
• Color
8. This is GREAT!
• I can now consolidate my UI initialization into the
view in the storyboard scene
• Fewer surprises and gotchas with code
initialization that I forgot about
10. Still not ideal
• The User Defined Runtime Attributes are not
really user-friendly
• Key needs to be typed correctly and doesn’t
work if you have a typo
• My initialization for the UI is still split up between
the User Defined Runtime Attributes in the
Identity Inspector and the regular view attributes
in the Attribute Inspector
11. Wouldn’t it be nice if…
• …we could have User Defined Runtime
Attributes be part of the Attributes Inspector
instead?
• …attributes were modifiable in a name-safe,
type-safe, easy-to-read format?
• …attributes were organized in a user-friendly
manner, even grouped together?
12. Introducing IBInspectable!
• Attribute added to a property in your application
• Allows it to be added to the Attributes Inspector
along with all of the other view attributes
• Interface Builder automatically generates the
appropriate UI for the attribute based on its type
• IBInspectable uses User Defined Runtime
Attributes underneath the covers to store/set
value
13. How to use IBInspectable
• Add IBInspectable/@IBInspectable (Obj-C/Swift)
preceding the property definition
• That’s it! Super simple!
• Can be applied to properties of UIView
subclasses
• Also can be applied using categories/extensions
on existing UIViews and its subclasses
14. Naming/Grouping Properties
for IBInspectable
• Requires proper ordering/naming of properties
in source file
• Property name is converted from camel case to
title case (with spaces) for all words in name 2
characters or longer
• Interface Builder appears to create groupings if
either the first or last part of the property name is
the same
• Adds a divider line between these grouping
16. This is REALLY GREAT!
• Now my view configuration is all consolidated
into the Attributes Inspector for the view
• I can easily see and change the values as
needed
18. I Can’t SEE My Changes
• None of the changes I make to the attributes are
reflected in the actual view at design-time
• I still need to run the app to see how the
attributes change the view at run-time
• Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to be able
to see changes in these attributes reflected in
the view at design-time?
19. Introducing IBDesignable!
• Attribute added to a UIView subclass
• Allows changes made to custom attributes to be
drawn in the view and instantly visible at design-
time
• Helps give a more accurate look at what the UI
will appear like when it is first initialized
20. How to use IBDesignable
• Add IB_DESIGNABLE/@IBDesignable (Obj-C/
Swift) preceding the class definition
• Again, that’s it! Super-simple!
• Can be applied to any UIView-derived subclass
• Since it is applied at a class level, it cannot be
used with category/extension like IBInspectable
can
