What you are trying to do (even if I don’t see a reason for this) can be accomplished using delegation pattern. Basically, you will tell your delegate (the scene, or whatever you set as a delegate) to do something for you, and you will do that directly from within the button’s touchesBegan method. Also, you will pass the button’s name to a scene.
To make this happen, first you have to define a protocol called ButtonDelegate. That protocol defines a requirement which states that any conforming class has to implement a method called printButtonsName(_:):
protocol ButtonDelegate:class {
func printButtonsName(name:String?)
}
This is the method which will be implemented in your GameSceneclass, but called from within button’s touchesBegan. Also, this method will be used to pass a button’s name to its delegate (scene), so you will always know which button is tapped.
Next thing is button class itself. Button might look like this:
class Button : SKSpriteNode{
weak var delegate:ButtonDelegate?
init(name:String){
super.init(texture: nil, color: .purpleColor(), size: CGSize(width: 50, height: 50))
self.name = name
self.userInteractionEnabled = true
}
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
fatalError("init(coder:) has not been implemented")
}
override func touchesBegan(touches: Set<UITouch>, withEvent event: UIEvent?) {
delegate?.printButtonsName(self.name)
}
}
The important thing here is userInteractionEnabled = true, which means that button will accept touches. Another important thing is a delegate property. As already mentioned, buttons will have the scene set as their delegate. Setting a scene as delegate of buttons will be done later when we create some buttons… To make this easier for you, think of a delegate as a worker who works for his boss 🙂 The boss (a button) tells his worker (a scene) to do something for him (to prints his name).
Okay, so lets make sure that scene conforms to a ButtonDelegate protocol…Why is this important? It is important because the worker (scene) must follow the orders of his boss (a button). By conforming to this protocol, the worker is making a contract with his boss where confirming that he knows how to do his job and will follow his orders 🙂
class GameScene: SKScene, ButtonDelegate {
override func didMoveToView(view: SKView) {
let play = Button(name:"play")
play.delegate = self
let stop = Button(name:"stop")
stop.delegate = self
play.position = CGPoint(x: frame.midX - 50.0, y: frame.midY)
stop.position = CGPoint(x: frame.midX + 50.0, y: frame.midY)
addChild(play)
addChild(stop)
}
func printButtonsName(name: String?) {
if let buttonName = name {
print("Pressed button : \(buttonName) ")
}
//Use switch here to take appropriate actions based on button's name (if you like)
}
}
And that’s it. When you tap the play button, the touchesBegan on a button itself will be called, then the button will tell its delegate to print its name using the method defined inside of scene class.