Why is resignFirstResponder being called twice in iOS 5.0 but only once in iOS4.2-4.3?

Question

I have a app in the App Store compiled for 4.2 that is acting odd when running under iOS 5.0. I have tracked it down to resignFirstResponder being called twice under iOS 5.0 while it was only being called once under iOS 4.2 & 4.3.

I have a derived a class from UITextField where I override resignFirstResponder. See the sample code below.

Under iOS 4.2 & 4.3 I see the following in the console:

textFieldShouldReturn
resignFirstResponder
textFieldDidEndEditing

Under iOS 5.0 I see the following in the console:

textFieldShouldReturn
resignFirstResponder
resignFirstResponder
textFieldDidEndEditing

Running the code on the device and simulator are giving constant results. Am I missing something or is this a bug?

The iOS 5.0 stack trace

#0  -[BugTextField resignFirstResponder] (self=0x681b530, _cmd=0x3769b41) at /Users/.../BugTextField.m:14
#1  0x006c05a6 in -[UIFieldEditor resignFirstResponder] ()
#2  0x006374e3 in -[UIView(Hierarchy) _willMoveToWindow:] ()
#3  0x006362c2 in __UIViewWillBeRemovedFromSuperview ()
#4  0x006360d7 in -[UIView(Hierarchy) removeFromSuperview] ()
#5  0x006bfff7 in -[UIFieldEditor becomeFieldEditorForView:] ()
#6  0x006ae37b in -[UITextField _resignFirstResponder] ()
#7  0x006eb8d4 in -[UIResponder _finishResignFirstResponder] ()
#8  0x006eba20 in -[UIResponder resignFirstResponder] ()
#9  0x006ae249 in -[UITextField resignFirstResponder] ()
#10 0x00017f68 in -[BugTextField resignFirstResponder] (self=0x681b530, _cmd=0x3769b41) at /Users/.../BugTextField.m:16
#11 0x0001828f in -[BugTextFieldVC textFieldShouldReturn:] (self=0x6829750, _cmd=0x18c5b, textField=0x681b530) at /Users/.../BugTextFieldVC.m:40

BugTextField.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface BugTextField : UITextField

@end

BugTextField.m

#import "BugTextField.h"

@implementation BugTextField

- (BOOL) resignFirstResponder
{
    NSLog(@"resignFirstResponder");

    return [super resignFirstResponder];
}

@end

BugTextFieldVC.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>
@class BugTextField;

@interface BugTextFieldVC : UIViewController <UITextFieldDelegate> {
    BugTextField *bugTextField;
}

@end

BugTextFieldVC.m

#import "BugTextFieldVC.h"
#import "BugTextField.h"

@implementation BugTextFieldVC

- (id) init
{
    if ( !(self = [super init]) )
    {
        return self;
    }

    // One text field with 100 height keyboard
    bugTextField = [[BugTextField alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 10, 300, 30)];
    bugTextField.borderStyle = UITextBorderStyleRoundedRect;
    bugTextField.delegate = self;
    [self.view addSubview:bugTextField];

    return self;
}

- (void) dealloc
{
    [bugTextField release];

    [super dealloc];
}

- (BOOL) textFieldShouldReturn:(UITextField *)textField
{
    NSLog(@"textFieldShouldReturn");

    [textField resignFirstResponder];

    return YES;
}

- (void) textFieldDidEndEditing:(UITextField *)textField
{
    NSLog(@"textFieldDidEndEditing");
}

@end

Answer 1

Below is a work around that works for iOS 4.2, 4.3, and 5.0 It is not rocket science nor sexy, but it will work until I have better understanding of what is going on (Am I doing something wrong or is this a bug?). I am reporting this as a bug to Apple.

BugTextField.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface BugTextField : UITextField {
    // Value used to ensure code in resignFirstResponder is executed by the 
    // first stack frame and not subsequent stack frames in iOS 5.0.
    //
    // In iOS 5.0, one call to resignFirstResponder results in a second call to
    // resignFirstResponder.  In iOS 4.2 & 4.3, one call to resignFirstResponder
    // does not result in subsequent calls to resignFirstResponder.
    NSUInteger resignFirstResponderCallDepth;
}

@end

BugTextField.m

#import "BugTextField.h"

@implementation BugTextField

- (BOOL) resignFirstResponder
{
    if (0 == resignFirstResponderCallDepth++)
    {
        // ---------------------------------------------------------------------
        // Code executed by first stack frame to call resignFirstResponder.
        NSLog(@"resignFirstResponder");
    }

    // -------------------------------------------------------------------------
    // Code executed by every stack frame to call resignFirstResponder.
    BOOL rV = [super resignFirstResponder];

    resignFirstResponderCallDepth--;

    return rV;
}

@end

Answer 2

One solution is to override canResignFirstResponder instead. This will only get called once.

The problem is that this disagrees with the docs -- https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/#DOCUMENTATION/UIKit/Reference/UIResponder_Class/Reference/Reference.html -- so you're probably right: It's a bug.