Swift View is not hiding subViews correctly - ios

Question

UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM
Inside my ViewController I have a TableView with CustomCells. The content being presented in those cells is depending on the userInput. I think the best way to explain the problem is to actually show it:
1. adding cells to the tableView:
looking as expected
2. Problem: after dismissing the ViewController and going back to it:
showing views that should actually be hidden in the first cell
By the way, when I open the View-Hirarchy in the Debugger, it is being displayed correctly !
Here is also another video for a better understanding: video
In this case I didn't add an image, but when going back to the viewController it still shows the imageContainerView(shadow) and also the content for the first cell.
Code:
My code is quite complex and messy so I you can follow me here:
setupViews in CustomCell:
I don't think that this is quite helpful, but I also don't think that the setup is the issue here.
func setupViews(){
contentView.addSubview(checkButton)
contentView.addSubview(mainStackView)
// main StackView
mainStackView.addArrangedSubview(label)
mainStackView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.topAnchor).isActive = true
mainStackView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: checkButton.trailingAnchor, constant: 15).isActive = true
mainStackView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.trailingAnchor, constant: -30).isActive = true
mainStackView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
//constrain wish label
labelHeightConatraint = label.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 50)
labelHeightConatraint.priority = .defaultHigh
labelHeightConatraint.isActive = true
// constrain checkButton
checkButton.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.leadingAnchor, constant: 30).isActive = true
checkButton.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: contentView.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
checkButton.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 40).isActive = true
checkButton.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 40).isActive = true
mainStackView.addArrangedSubview(secondaryStackView)
secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint = secondaryStackView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 90)
secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.priority = .defaultHigh
secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.isActive = true
secondaryStackView.addArrangedSubview(imageContainerView)
imageContainerWidthConstraint = imageContainerView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 90)
imageContainerWidthConstraint.priority = .defaultHigh
imageContainerWidthConstraint.isActive = true
imageContainerView.addSubview(shadowLayer)
shadowLayer.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 80).isActive = true
shadowLayer.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 80).isActive = true
shadowLayer.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: imageContainerView.topAnchor).isActive = true
shadowLayer.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: imageContainerView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
imageContainerView.addSubview(wishImage)
wishImage.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 80).isActive = true
wishImage.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 80).isActive = true
wishImage.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: imageContainerView.topAnchor).isActive = true
wishImage.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: imageContainerView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
secondaryStackView.addArrangedSubview(thirdHelperView)
thirdHelperView.addSubview(thirdStackView)
thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint = thirdHelperView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 90)
thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.priority = .defaultHigh
thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.isActive = true
thirdStackView.addArrangedSubview(priceView)
priceView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 30).isActive = true
priceView.addSubview(priceImage)
priceView.addSubview(priceLabel)
thirdStackView.addArrangedSubview(linkView)
linkView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 30).isActive = true
linkView.addSubview(linkImage)
linkView.addSubview(linkTextView)
thirdStackView.addArrangedSubview(noteView)
noteView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 30).isActive = true
noteView.addSubview(noteImage)
noteView.addSubview(noteLabel)
priceImage.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: priceView.topAnchor).isActive = true
priceImage.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: thirdStackView.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
priceImage.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
priceImage.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
priceLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: priceView.topAnchor).isActive = true
priceLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: priceImage.trailingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
priceLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: priceView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
linkImage.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: linkView.topAnchor).isActive = true
linkImage.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: thirdStackView.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
linkImage.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
linkImage.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
linkTextView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: linkView.topAnchor).isActive = true
linkTextView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: linkImage.trailingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
linkTextView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: linkView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
noteImage.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: noteView.topAnchor).isActive = true
noteImage.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: thirdStackView.leadingAnchor).isActive = true
noteImage.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
noteImage.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 20).isActive = true
noteLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: noteView.topAnchor).isActive = true
noteLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: noteImage.trailingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
noteLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: noteView.trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
}
more importantly: cellForRowAt, where I actually hide/show the different views depending on the content. As you can see I actually call .isHidden on the ImageContainerView, priceView, linkView & noteView , if there content is empty ( which it is in the first cell )
override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: WhishCell.reuseID, for: indexPath) as! WhishCell
cell.label.text = ""
cell.linkTextView.text = ""
cell.priceLabel.text = ""
cell.noteLabel.text = ""
cell.wishImage.image = UIImage()
let currentWish = self.wishData[indexPath.row]
cell.label.text = currentWish.name
cell.linkTextView.hyperLink(originalText: "Link öffnen", hyperLink: "Link öffnen", urlString: currentWish.link)
cell.priceLabel.text = currentWish.price
cell.noteLabel.text = currentWish.note
cell.wishImage.image = currentWish.image
cell.setupSuccessAnimation()
cell.noteView.isHidden = false
cell.priceView.isHidden = false
cell.linkView.isHidden = false
cell.imageContainerView.isHidden = false
cell.secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.constant = 0
cell.thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.constant = 0
if currentWish.image == nil || !currentWish.image!.hasContent {
cell.imageContainerView.isHidden = true
print("but its truue: \(cell.imageContainerView.isHidden)")
if currentWish.price != "" {
cell.thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
cell.secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
}
if currentWish.link != "" {
cell.thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
cell.secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
}
if currentWish.note != "" {
cell.thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
cell.secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.constant += 30
}
} else {
cell.secondaryStackViewHeightConstraint.constant = 90
cell.thirdHelperViewHeightConstraint.constant = 90
}
if currentWish.price == "" {
cell.priceView.isHidden = true
}
if currentWish.link == "" {
cell.linkView.isHidden = true
}
if currentWish.note == "" {
cell.noteView.isHidden = true
}
return cell
}
I have no idea why this happens. I don't think something is wrong with the setup as it works if I actually add the cells. It is simply not hiding the views when it actually should. The cellheight is also working as expected. Just the damn hiding...
I know this is a lot but I hope my problem is clear. If you need any thing more just let me know!
Update:
I added two print-statements inside cellForRowAt and is actually printing this:
print("but its truue: \(cell.imageContainerView.isHidden)")
print("but its truue: \(cell.shadowLayer.isHidden)")
but its truue: true
but its truue: false
so it is hiding the imageConatinerView correctly but not shadowLayer even though shadowLayer is a subView of imageContainerView??! Im stuck here...

Answer 1

You can use UIView debugging method to debug your UI.
There are four useful methods to debug:
hasAmbiguousLayout:
exerciseAmbiguityInLayout：
exerciseAmbiguityInLayout：
_autolayoutTrace:
And then you can use Xcode UI Debug to review your UI