[ios] How do I set up a simple delegate to communicate between two view controllers?

I have two UITableViewControllers and need to pass the value from the child view controller to the parent using a delegate. I know what delegates are and just wanted to see a simple to follow example.

Thank You

This below code just show the very basic use of delegate concept .. you name the variable and class as per your requirement.

First you need to declare a protocol:

Let's call it MyFirstControllerDelegate.h

@protocol MyFirstControllerDelegate
- (void) FunctionOne: (MyDataOne*) dataOne;
- (void) FunctionTwo: (MyDatatwo*) dataTwo;
@end

Import MyFirstControllerDelegate.h file and confirm your FirstController with protocol MyFirstControllerDelegate

#import "MyFirstControllerDelegate.h"

@interface FirstController : UIViewController<MyFirstControllerDelegate>
{

}

@end

In the implementation file, you need to implement both functions of protocol:

@implementation FirstController 


    - (void) FunctionOne: (MyDataOne*) dataOne
      {
          //Put your finction code here
      }
    - (void) FunctionTwo: (MyDatatwo*) dataTwo
      {
          //Put your finction code here
      }

     //Call below function from your code
    -(void) CreateSecondController
     {
             SecondController *mySecondController = [SecondController alloc] initWithSomeData:.];
           //..... push second controller into navigation stack 
            mySecondController.delegate = self ;
            [mySecondController release];
     }

@end

in your SecondController:

@interface SecondController:<UIViewController>
{
   id <MyFirstControllerDelegate> delegate;
}

@property (nonatomic,assign)  id <MyFirstControllerDelegate> delegate;

@end

In the implementation file of SecondController.

@implementation SecondController

@synthesize delegate;
//Call below two function on self.
-(void) SendOneDataToFirstController
{
   [delegate FunctionOne:myDataOne];
}
-(void) SendSecondDataToFirstController
{
   [delegate FunctionTwo:myDataSecond];
}

@end

Here is the wiki article on delegate.

You need to use delegates and protocols. Here is a site with an example http://iosdevelopertips.com/objective-c/the-basics-of-protocols-and-delegates.html

Following solution is very basic and simple approach to send data from VC2 to VC1 using delegate .

PS: This solution is made in Xcode 9.X and Swift 4

Declared a protocol and created a delegate var into ViewControllerB

    import UIKit

    //Declare the Protocol into your SecondVC
    protocol DataDelegate {
        func sendData(data : String)
    }

    class ViewControllerB : UIViewController {

    //Declare the delegate property in your SecondVC
        var delegate : DataDelegate?
        var data : String = "Send data to ViewControllerA."
        override func viewDidLoad() {
            super.viewDidLoad()
        }

        @IBAction func btnSendDataPushed(_ sender: UIButton) {
                // Call the delegate method from SecondVC
                self.delegate?.sendData(data:self.data)
                dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
            }
        }

ViewControllerA confirms the protocol and expected to receive data via delegate method sendData

    import UIKit
        // Conform the  DataDelegate protocol in ViewControllerA
        class ViewControllerA : UIViewController , DataDelegate {
        @IBOutlet weak var dataLabel: UILabel!

        override func viewDidLoad() {
            super.viewDidLoad()
        }

        @IBAction func presentToChild(_ sender: UIButton) {
            let childVC =  UIStoryboard(name: "Main", bundle: nil).instantiateViewController(withIdentifier:"ViewControllerB") as! ViewControllerB
            //Registered delegate
            childVC.delegate = self
            self.present(childVC, animated: true, completion: nil)
        }

        // Implement the delegate method in ViewControllerA
        func sendData(data : String) {
            if data != "" {
                self.dataLabel.text = data
            }
        }
    }