Count of Array (within an Array) to determin UIView width - ios

Question

I am trying to figure out how to get the count of an array within an array (do not know the technical term).
I am creating groups of UIViews, and I would like the width of these groups to change dynamically depending on the number of UIViews that are within the group.
The only way I know how to do this (potentially) is to find the count of by blockTitles (group), but I am having issues pulling this count from within my palletViewConstraint() function.
Looking for help with this solution or recommendations for better solutions.
Cheers!
func mainViews(inputView: UIView){
<...>
//POPULATING PALLET WITH BLOCKS
let blockTitles1 = ["1", "2", "3", "4", "5"]
let blockTitles2 = ["6", "7", "8", "9", "10"]
let blockTitles3 = ["11", "12", "13", "14", "15"]
let blockTitles4 = ["16", "17", "18", "19", "20"]
let blockTitles5 = ["21", "22", "23", "24", "25"]
var group1 = createBlockGroup(blockTitles1)
var group2 = createBlockGroup(blockTitles2)
var group3 = createBlockGroup(blockTitles3)
var group4 = createBlockGroup(blockTitles4)
var group5 = createBlockGroup(blockTitles5)
palletView.addSubview(group1)
palletView.addSubview(group2)
palletView.addSubview(group3)
palletView.addSubview(group4)
palletView.addSubview(group5)
palletViewConstraint(palletView, groups: [group1, group2, group3, group4, group5], blockTitles: [blockTitles1, blockTitles2, blockTitles3, blockTitles4, blockTitles5])
}
func createBlock(title: String) -> UIView{
let block = UIView()
block.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
block.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
let blockLabel = UILabel()
blockLabel.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 100)
blockLabel.text = title
blockLabel.textColor = UIColor.darkGrayColor()
blockLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
block.addSubview(blockLabel)
return block
}
func createBlockGroup(blockTitles: [String]) -> UIView {
var blocks = [UIView]()
let blockGroups = UIView()
blockGroups.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 100)
blockGroups.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor()
for blockTitle in blockTitles{
let block = createBlock(blockTitle)
blocks.append(block)
blockGroups.addSubview(block)
}
blockConstraint(blocks, mainView: blockGroups)
return blockGroups
}
func blockConstraint(blocks: [UIView], mainView: UIView){
<...>
}
func palletViewConstraint(inputView: UIView, groups: [UIView], blockTitles: [[String]]){
print(blockTitles.count)
}
func mainViewConstraints(inputView: UIView, pallet: UIScrollView, canvas: UIView){
<...>
}
}

Answer 1

You can access the count of an array within an array by using
mainArr[0].count
This will get the count of the first array in the mainArr.
I would recommend subclassing UIView and using a convenience initializer to set the frame to a value divided by the number of views (which can be accessed by a delegate pattern).
Here is an example of UIView subclass that I have set up to dynamically adjust a grid of subviews. The whole project can be found on my github page: https://github.com/cmako10/UI-View-Groups
Here is the subclass:
class GroupView: UIView {
var rows: Int!
var columns: Int!
var size: CGSize!
var origin: CGPoint!
enum TypeToAdd: String {
case row = "Row"
case column = "Column"
}
enum AlterAction: String {
case add = "Add"
case delete = "Delete"
}
convenience init(origin: CGPoint, size: CGSize, columns: Int, rows: Int) {
self.init(frame: CGRect(origin: origin, size: size))
self.size = size
self.origin = origin
self.rows = rows
self.columns = columns
}
override func drawRect(rect: CGRect) {
frame.size.width = size.width
frame.size.height = size.height
super.drawRect(rect)
for view in self.subviews {
view.removeFromSuperview()
}
let width = size.width / CGFloat(columns)
let height = size.height / CGFloat(rows)
let subviewSize = CGSize(width: width, height: height)
for y in 0..<rows {
for x in 0..<columns {
let newView = UIView(frame: CGRect(origin: CGPoint(x: (CGFloat(x) * width), y: (CGFloat(y) * height)), size: subviewSize))
let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(origin: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 0), size: subviewSize))
label.adjustsFontSizeToFitWidth = true
label.textAlignment = .Center
label.font = UIFont.systemFontOfSize(15, weight: 10.0)
label.textColor = UIColor.blackColor()
label.center = CGPoint(x: newView.frame.midX, y: newView.frame.midY)
label.text = "[\(x), \(y)]"
newView.addSubview(label)
if y % 2 == 0 {
if x % 2 == 0 {
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
} else {
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor.blueColor()
}
} else {
if x % 2 == 0 {
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor.blueColor()
} else {
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor.lightGrayColor()
}
}
addSubview(newView)
}
}
}
func alter(type: TypeToAdd, action: AlterAction){
switch type {
case .column:
switch action {
case .add:
columns = columns + 1
case .delete:
columns = columns - 1
}
case .row:
switch action {
case .add:
rows = rows + 1
case .delete:
rows = rows - 1
}
}
setNeedsDisplay()
}
}
You should download and examine the Xcode project. The general idea to dynamically update the UIView is to remove all subviews and then re-add the subviews in drawRect and then call setNeedDisplay whenever you need to update the contents of the GroupView.
Edit:
To access the counts of the subarrays of blockTitles I see two possible solutions.
Use a for loop, define a constant at the beginning of the loop to be equal to the count of the subarray at "i", then put the code inside palletViewConstraint after that and reference the count constant as needed.
Define a variable to hold the count values (an array of Ints) at the start of palletViewConstraint use the high-level function map to append all the blockTitle counts to the previously defined variable, use a for loop and the defined count array to run the rest of your palletViewConstraint.
Examples:
Example 1:
func palletViewConstraint(inputView: UIView, groups: [UIView], blockTitles: [[String]]){
//Do this so the count is not recalculated each for loop
let blockTitlesCount = blockTitles.count
for i in blockTitlesCount {
let subArrCount = blockTitles[i].count
//The rest of your palletViewConstraint Code that references subArrCount
}
}
Example 2:
func palletViewConstraint(inputView: UIView, groups: [UIView], blockTitles: [[String]]){
var countArr = [Int]()
arr.map { (subArr) in
countArr.append(subArr.count)
}
for count in countArr {
//Your code referencing the count of each subArr
}
}
If you need elaboration please ask!