[Swift 5] Processing to close the keyboard on UITableView

Introduction

When I placed TextField or TextView in the cell of TableView, I had a little trouble in closing the keyboard when tapping other parts, so I will post it as a memorandum.

Operating environment

【Xcode】Version 12.0.1 【Swift】Version 5.3

Implementation code

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {
    
    @IBOutlet weak var tableView: UITableView!
    
    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        
        tableView.delegate = self
        tableView.dataSource = self
        
        //Generate an instance for tap recognition
        let tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(
            target: self,
            action: #selector(dismissKeyboard))
        tapGesture.cancelsTouchesInView = false
        //Add to View
        view.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)
    }
    //Keyboard and closing process
    @objc public func dismissKeyboard() {
        view.endEditing(true)
    }

}

extension ViewController: UITableViewDelegate, UITableViewDataSource {
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, numberOfRowsInSection section: Int) -> Int {
        return 1
    }
    
    func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
        let cell: UITableViewCell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "Cell", for: indexPath as IndexPath)
        return cell
    }
    
}

class TableViewCell: UITableViewCell {
    
    @IBOutlet weak var textField: UITextField!
    
    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()
        textField.delegate = self
    }

    override func setSelected(_ selected: Bool, animated: Bool) {
        super.setSelected(selected, animated: animated)
    }

}

extension TableViewCell: UITextFieldDelegate {
    func textFieldShouldReturn(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool {
        textField.resignFirstResponder()
        return true
    }
}

Implementation details

First, I tried to get the touch event with the following function prepared in Swift and close the keyboard, but the process was not called. It seems that ʻUIScrollView and ʻUITableView cannot get touch events by default.

override func touchesBegan(_ touches: Set<UITouch>, with event: UIEvent?) {
    self.view.endEditing(true)
}

The above method didn't work, so the solution is to use ʻUITapGestureRecognizer` to recognize the tap. Changed to close the keyboard.

//Generate an instance for tap recognition
let tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(
    target: self,
    action: #selector(dismissKeyboard))
view.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)

//Keyboard and closing process
@objc public func dismissKeyboard() {
    view.endEditing(true)
}

ʻIf UITapGestureRecognizeris set, Tap to other views will not be recognized. The reason seems to be thatcancelsTouchesInView is true` by default, and it can be solved by adding the following code.

tapGesture.cancelsTouchesInView = false

In my opinion, I faced this issue when implementing the registration screen of the original app, except for TextView and TextField, which are in focus while the keyboard is displayed. I think it's okay not to touch it.

reference

• If UITapGestureRecognizer is set, Tap to other views will not be recognized