Messagekit: [Question] Embedding MessagesViewController in another view controller's view

[wildseansy]

I am trying to embed messaging UI in the hierarchy of other views in another view controller, so messages can overlay over content.

This is how I add it to the view

class ParentViewController: UIViewController {
  //ConversationViewController is subclass of MessagesViewController
  var conversationVC: ConversationViewController = ConversationViewController()
  //...
  viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        conversationVC.view.frame = self.view.bounds
        self.view.addSubview(conversationVC.view)
        self.addChildViewController(conversationVC)
        conversationVC.didMove(toParentViewController: self)
  }
}

This loads the messages just fine, but I cant get the messageInputBar to display for the life of me. Is MessageKit designed to be able to be embedded in other view controllers?

[SD10]

@wildseansy Inside the viewDidLoad method of your ConversationViewController try calling becomeFirstResponder(). The MessageInputBar is the inputAccessoryView of the controller

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[wildseansy]

I have tried all of these below in ConversationViewController viewDidLoad:

        self.becomeFirstResponder()
        self.view.becomeFirstResponder()
        self.messageInputBar.inputTextView.becomeFirstResponder()

but still can't see the MessageInputBar. It's worth noting the parent view controller doesn't have any text fields, and is pretty simple. Basically just has one button and some text

[joshuaflores]

@wildseansy Try calling self.becomeFirstResponder() in viewWillLayoutSubviews

    override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {
        super.viewWillLayoutSubviews()

        if self.isFirstResponder != true {
            self.becomeFirstResponder()
        }
    }

[wildseansy]

@joshuaflores - this didn't work, however after following this post, I tried this and it worked. Seems a little hacky tho

    override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {
        super.viewWillLayoutSubviews()

        if self.isFirstResponder != true {
            self.perform(
                #selector(becomeFirstResponder),
                with: nil,
                afterDelay: 0.3
            )
        }
    }

[SD10]

@joshuaflores Maybe try the parent view controller instead?

[joshuaflores]

@SD10 @wildseansy the code I posted worked for me, but it did present a few edge cases. Studying the problem some more I think the issue is calling becomeFirstResponder too soon. Really viewWillLayoutSubviews only works because of its position in the life-cycle methods. You should be able to call the same code within viewDidLoad by placing it within a timeout closure.

From my end I simply changed the life-cycle method from 'viewWillLayoutSubviews' toviewDidAppear and it seems to work fine.

    override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
        super.viewWillLayoutSubviews(animated)

        if self.isFirstResponder != true {
            self.becomeFirstResponder()
        }
    }

The only issue now is the inputAccessory not dismissing with the viewController, but that should probably be a different gh issue...

[SD10]

You'll all get better answers if you search on SO for questions related to the inputAccessoryView of a UIViewController. This is not a MessageKit issue but a general iOS question. Just a heads up so you don't constrain yourselves to the scope of GitHub issues

[stale[bot]]

This issue has been marked as stale because it has not had recent activity. It will be closed if no further activity occurs.