How to set clear background for UITableView Header with opaque body

Question

How do I make the background for a tableHeaderView clear, but keep the rest of the UITableView background opaque? I'm using a transparent tableHeaderView for a paralax effect. The object behind the tableView is a longer than the clear tableHeaderView "window" so I can center the visible data. This works well for longer lists as I can use the tableView as a mask, but when I don't have enough cells in the table the background object displays below the cells. Relevant code: ``` self.tableView.backgroundView = nil; self.tableView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor]; UIView *tableHeaderView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame: CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, 320.0, 250.0)]; tableHeaderView.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor]; self.tableView.tableHeaderView = tableHeaderView; ``` I've tried setting a background color for the tableView, but that makes the whole UITableView opaque (including the tableHeaderView), removing the "window" I have at the top. Any ideas on how I can keep my transparent table…

Accepted Answer

After a couple days I was able to figure it out. The premise of the solution is to add a subview to the backgroundView of your table and change the subview's frame as you scroll.

The relevant code in viewDidLoad:

```
...
// Create the UIView that will become the tableView backgroundView
UIView *tableViewBackground = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:self.tableView.frame];
tableViewBackground.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];

// Create the opaque backgroundView and set the frame so that it starts below the headerView
partialBackgroundView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 250, 320.0, self.view.frame.size.height)];
partialBackgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];

// Add the partial background to the main background view and apply it to the tableView
[tableViewBackground addSubview:solidTableBodyBackgroundView];
self.tableView.backgroundView = tableViewBackground;
...
```

And then as you scroll, you can update the "visible window" in scrollViewDidScroll:

```
- (void)scrollViewDidScroll:(UIScrollView *)scrollView {
    CGFloat scrollOffset = scrollView.contentOffset.y;
    partialBackgroundView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 250 - scrollOffset, 320, self.view.frame.size.height);
    // Other parallax code for scrolling
}
```

There may be better ways of doing this, but I found this to be pretty simple and it worked well.

How to set clear background for UITableView Header with opaque body

Solution

Problem