Add UILabel as subview of UITextField on top - ios

Question

I am in the process of implementing a UILabel as a subview of a UITextField which will be shown right above the UITextField itself. The UITextField has a rounded border and what I would like to achieve is the UILabel to be shown over the border.
Everything currently works as expected, but the UILabel is drawn behind the border of the UITextField. I want it to go "over" (above) the border so the white backgroundColor would be shown above part of the border and make the text more easily readible.
var priceTextField: CustomTextField = {
let priceTextField = CustomTextField()
priceTextField.layer.cornerRadius = 10.0
priceTextField.layer.borderWidth = 1.0
priceTextField.layer.borderColor = UIColor.darkGray.cgColor
priceTextField.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
priceTextField.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 15)
priceTextField.textColor = .black
priceTextField.text = "0"
priceTextField.suffix = "EUR"
priceTextField.suffixTextColor = .darkGray
priceTextField.suffixSpacing = 2.0
priceTextField.textAlignment = .center
priceTextField.labelText = "Price"
return priceTextField
}()
In my CustomTextField class (subclass of UITextField):
public var labelText: String?
var topLabel: UILabel = {
let topLabel = UILabel()
topLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
topLabel.textAlignment = .center
topLabel.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
topLabel.textColor = .lightGray
topLabel.backgroundColor = .white
topLabel.numberOfLines = 1
return topLabel
}()
func setupLabel() {
self.addSubview(topLabel)
topLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.topAnchor).isActive = true
topLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.leadingAnchor, constant: 20).isActive = true
topLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.trailingAnchor, constant: -20).isActive = true
topLabel.text = labelText
}
I call setupLabel() at the end of the draw(_ rect: CGRect) method of UITextField (because I work with this to show the EUR sign always behind the entered value).
I have tried to play around with bringSubviewToFront and changing the zPosition of the layer of the UILabel, without success.
It now looks like this:
How can I bring the text "above" the border on the top?
EDIT: Tried Sh_Khan's solution, but it's still hidden behind the border.
import Foundation
import UIKit
public class CustomTextView: UIView, UITextFieldDelegate {
public var labelText: String?
var customTextField: CustomTextField = {
let customTextField = CustomTextField()
customTextField.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
customTextField.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 15)
customTextField.textColor = .black
customTextField.textAlignment = .center
customTextField.text = "0"
customTextField.suffix = "EUR"
customTextField.suffixTextColor = .lightGray
customTextField.suffixSpacing = 2.0
return customTextField
}()
var topLabel: UILabel = {
let topLabel = UILabel()
topLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
topLabel.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
topLabel.textColor = .darkGray
topLabel.numberOfLines = 1
topLabel.backgroundColor = .red
topLabel.textAlignment = .center
return topLabel
}()
override public init(frame: CGRect) {
super.init(frame: frame)
setupBorders()
}
public override func layoutSubviews() {
setupViews()
}
func setupBorders() {
self.layer.cornerRadius = 10.0
self.layer.borderColor = UIColor.lightGray.cgColor
self.layer.borderWidth = 1.0
}
func setupViews() {
addSubview(topLabel)
// insertSubview(topLabel, aboveSubview: customTextField)
insertSubview(customTextField, belowSubview: topLabel)
customTextField.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor).isActive = true
customTextField.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor).isActive = true
customTextField.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor).isActive = true
customTextField.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: bottomAnchor).isActive = true
topLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: topAnchor).isActive = true
topLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: leadingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
topLabel.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: trailingAnchor, constant: -10).isActive = true
topLabel.text = labelText
}
public required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
setupViews()
}
}

Answer 1

You can try to organize it by creating a UIView subclass , so everything appear properly in it's order of adding
class CustomView: UIView {
var priceTextField: CustomTextField = {
let priceTextField = CustomTextField()
priceTextField.layer.cornerRadius = 10.0
priceTextField.layer.borderWidth = 1.0
priceTextField.layer.borderColor = UIColor.darkGray.cgColor
priceTextField.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
priceTextField.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 15)
priceTextField.textColor = .black
priceTextField.text = "0"
priceTextField.suffix = "EUR"
priceTextField.suffixTextColor = .darkGray
priceTextField.suffixSpacing = 2.0
priceTextField.textAlignment = .center
priceTextField.labelText = "Price"
return priceTextField
}()
var topLabel: UILabel = {
let topLabel = UILabel()
topLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
topLabel.textAlignment = .center
topLabel.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
topLabel.textColor = .lightGray
topLabel.backgroundColor = .white
topLabel.numberOfLines = 1
return topLabel
}()
var lableStr:String?
init(frame: CGRect,lblTex:String) {
super.init(frame: frame)
lableStr = lblTex
createSubviews()
}
override init(frame: CGRect) {
super.init(frame: frame)
createSubviews()
}
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
createSubviews()
}
func createSubviews() {
// all the layout code from above
// add the textfield then the label and set constraints properly
}
}

Answer 2

According to the Apple specification: It is composited above the receiver’s contents and sublayers.
So, the border will always be above all subviews, even if one brings the subview to the front and so on.
So one needs to make a background view to fake the border.
similar to Stackoverflow Question
Example:
Here self is "TextField"
activeborderView is "UiView"
activeborderView.frame = CGRect.init(x: -1, y: -1, width: self.frame.size.width+2, height: self.frame.size.height+2)
activeborderView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
self.addSubview(activeborderView)
activeborderView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.topAnchor, constant:-1).isActive = true // Place our label 10 pts above the text field
activeborderView.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.leftAnchor, constant: -1).isActive=true
activeborderView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: self.frame.size.height+2).isActive=true
activeborderView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: self.frame.size.width+2).isActive=true
activeborderView.layer.borderWidth = 3
activeborderView.layer.borderColor = CustomColor.blue().cgColor
activeborderView.layer.cornerRadius = 5
activeborderView.backgroundColor = .white
self.sendSubviewToBack(activeborderView)
self.setNeedsDisplay()