UIStackView container view height based on subviews - ios

Question

Here is my simple example. I have 1 vertical stack view with 1 subview. I want that subviews height to be based on the intrinsic height of the label within it, so that I can maintain a dynamic height for the entire stack view. How can this be done? Thanks

Answer 1

I think you did it right. But here is the keys:
Don't set height for stackView.
Set label top, bottom, left, trailing constraint to view.
Run. It should be okay on simulator.
If you found label's height seems not wrapping (neither both on storyboard or simulator), then change label's Vertical Content Hugging Priority to 750.

Answer 2

Try this code:
class DyanmicTextLabelViewController: UIViewController {
private var didAddConstraint = false
private let label: UILabel = {
let view = UILabel()
view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.setContentHuggingPriority(.required, for: .vertical)
view.setContentCompressionResistancePriority(.required, for: .vertical)
view.text = "Layout anchors let you create constraints in an easy-to-read, compact format. They expose a number of methods for creating different types of constraints, as shown in Listing 13-1."
view.numberOfLines = 0
return view
}()
private lazy var container: UIView = {
let view = UIView()
view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.addSubview(label)
view.backgroundColor = .red
return view
}()
private lazy var stackview : UIStackView = {
let view = UIStackView()
view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.axis = .horizontal
view.distribution = .fill
view.addArrangedSubview(container)
return view
}()
override func loadView() {
super.loadView()
view.addSubview(stackview)
view.setNeedsUpdateConstraints()
view.backgroundColor = .white
}
override func updateViewConstraints() {
super.updateViewConstraints()
if didAddConstraint == false {
didAddConstraint = true
// stackview constraints
stackview.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leftAnchor).isActive = true
let topAnchor = stackview.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.topAnchor)
topAnchor.constant = 20
topAnchor.isActive = true
stackview.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.rightAnchor).isActive = true
// label constraint
// example for giving label a left padding
let labelLeft = label.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.leftAnchor)
labelLeft.constant = 16.0
labelLeft.isActive = true
label.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.topAnchor).isActive = true
label.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.rightAnchor).isActive = true
label.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
}
}
}
The important part here is the initialization of stackview, label & constraint set on label
label initialization
private let label: UILabel = {
let view = UILabel()
view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.setContentHuggingPriority(.required, for: .vertical)
view.setContentCompressionResistancePriority(.required, for: .vertical)
view.text = "Layout anchors let you create constraints in an easy-to-read, compact format. They expose a number of methods for creating different types of constraints, as shown in Listing 13-1."
view.numberOfLines = 0
return view
}()
stackview initialization
private lazy var stackview : UIStackView = {
let view = UIStackView()
view.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
view.axis = .horizontal
view.distribution = .fill
view.addArrangedSubview(container)
return view
}()
label constraint
// label constraint
// example for giving label a left padding
let labelLeft = label.leftAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.leftAnchor)
labelLeft.constant = 16.0
labelLeft.isActive = true
label.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.topAnchor).isActive = true
label.rightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.rightAnchor).isActive = true
label.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: container.bottomAnchor).isActive = true
This settings could be easily translated to storyboard.