UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier example in Objective C (iOS).

UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier

Returns a reusable header or footer view located by its identifier.

- (id)dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier:(NSString *)identifier

Parameters
identifier
A string identifying the header or footer view to be reused. This parameter must not be nil.

Return Value of [UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier]
A UITableViewHeaderFooterView object with the associated identifier or nil if no such object exists in the reusable view queue.

Discussion of [UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier]
For performance reasons, a table view'€™s delegate should generally reuse UITableViewHeaderFooterView objects when it is asked to provide them. A table view maintains a queue or list of UITableViewHeaderFooterView objects that the table view's delegate has marked for reuse. It marks a view for reuse by assigning it a reuse identifier when it creates it (that is, in the initWithReuseIdentifier: method of UITableViewHeaderFooterView).

You can use this method to access specific template header and footer views that you previously created. You can access a view'€™s reuse identifier through its reuseIdentifier property.

UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier example.

If you wanted to have a reusable UITableViewHeaderFooterView without subclassing then you simply change your viewDidLoad to this:

// Register the class for a header view reuse.
[_buttomTableView registerClass:[UITableViewHeaderFooterView class] forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier:@"TableViewSectionHeaderViewIdentifier"];
and then your delegate method to this:

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    return 40.0;
}
- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    static NSString *headerReuseIdentifier = @"TableViewSectionHeaderViewIdentifier";

   // Reuse the instance that was created in viewDidLoad, or make a new one if not enough.
    UITableViewHeaderFooterView *sectionHeaderView = [tableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier:headerReuseIdentifier];
    // Add any optional custom views of your own
    UIView *customView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 50.0, 30.0)];
    [customView setBackgroundColor:[UIColor blueColor]];

    [sectionHeaderView.contentView addSubview:customView];
    sectionHeaderView.textLabel.text = @"Non subclassed header";

    return sectionHeaderView;

}
I hope that was clear enough.

Example of [UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier].

In the viewDidLoad method, I registered the view like this:

[self.tableView registerNib:[UINib nibWithNibName:@"Header1" bundle:nil] forHeaderFooterViewReuseIdentifier:@"header1"];
Then, in the delegate methods:

-(UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    UIView *headerView = [self.tableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier:@"header1"];
    return headerView;
}

-(CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    return 100;
}

End of UITableView dequeueReusableHeaderFooterViewWithIdentifier example article.