Chapter 7. Creating advanced view controllers

When we started our look at view controllers in chapter 5, we promised that we’d return to the more advanced view controllers that manage several pages of content at once. That’s the purpose of this chapter: to introduce you to the final fundamental building block of the iPhone OS that allows you to build complex multipage applications.

In this chapter, we’ll take an in-depth look at three view controllers: the tab bar controller, the navigation controller, and the split view controller. We’ll also take a briefer look at the flipside controller that appears in one of Xcode’s templates and talk about some modal controllers that you’ll see later in the book.

As in the previous chapter on view controllers, we’ll offer skeletal examples: the main purpose is to provide you with the reusable programming frameworks that will let you use these controllers in your own programs. Let’s kick off the discussion with the tab bar view controller.

7.1. The tab bar view controller

Of the multipage view controllers, the tab bar is the easiest to use because it supports simple navigation between several views. Like all the advanced view controllers, it has a complex underlying structure incorporating several objects that work in tandem.

7.1.1. The anatomy of a tab bar view controller

7.2. The navigation controller

7.3. Using the flipside controller

7.4. The split view controller

7.5. Popover and modal view controllers

7.6. Summary