When is it most appropriate to update UITableView height NSLayoutConstraint - ios

TL;DR: When UITableView contentSize is correct?
To update my table height constraint I am using the following function:
func adjustHeightOfTableview()
{
self.myTableView.layoutIfNeeded()
let newHeight = self.myTableView.contentSize.height
self.tableHeightConstraint.constant = newHeight
self.view.setNeedsUpdateConstraints()
}
I tried these 2 solutions:
Calling adjustHeightOfTableview in viewDidLayoutSubviews
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews()
{
super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()
self.adjustHeightOfTableview()
}
Result: The table did not appear at all on the screen. I guess it is because content size is 0 when viewDidLayoutSubviews called first time. Since table height is set to 0, no cell will be created and viewDidLayoutSubviews is not called again
Calling adjustHeightOfTableview after table reload (I have extention for that)
extension UITableView
{
func reloadData(completion: ()->()) {
UIView.animateWithDuration(0, animations: { self.reloadData() })
{ _ in completion() }
}
}
//in my class:
self.relatedTableView.reloadData()
{
self.adjustHeightOfTableview()
}
Result: table was to heigh. Wrong contentSize??
Bottom line: How and where it is best to update UITableView height NSLayoutConstraint?

Found it! The answer was here: Height adjusted UITableView using Auto Layout
The height constraint needed to be low priority and it worked.
I've updated the constraint both after reloading table and in viewDidLayoutSubviews as described in the question

Related

Animate subview AutoLayout constraint changes

Numerous tutorials on animating AutoLayout constraints suggest to update constant property of a constraint and then call layoutIfNeeded() in animation block.
My situation is a bit tricky.
I have a view that houses 3 subviews. The height of this superview is not fixed - it is calculated as a sum of heights of its subviews.
On some event, I ask one of those 3 subviews to toggle its height (it changes between 0 and 30, i.e. I want to smoothly hide and show it).
The code is similar to this:
// In superview
subview1.isVisibleInContext = !subview1.isVisibleInContext
// In subview
class MySubview: UIView {
#IBOutlet var heightConstraint: NSLayoutConstraint!
var isVisibleInContext = false {
didSet {
updateHeight()
}
}
func toggleHeight() {
let newHeight = isVisibleInContext ? 30 : 0
layoutIfNeeded()
heightConstraint.constant = newHeight
UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.8) {
self.layoutIfNeeded()
}
}
}
Unfortunately, this does not work as I expect.
I can see the smooth change of the height of my subview, but the height of my superview is recalculated immediately after I set the new value for my subview height constraint.
I want to see the height of the superview gradually increasing/decreasing as on of its subviews grows or decreases.
Please someone point me in the right direction. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks a lot!
The animation block should be in the UIView that contains the 3 MySubviews. Inside the MySubview class you only update the height constraint's constant:
In Subview
func toggleHeight() {
let newHeight = isVisibleInContext ? 30 : 0
heightConstraint.constant = newHeight
}
Then in the UIView that contains the 3 MySubviews you animate the change:
In Superview
func toggleHeight(with subview: MySubview) {
subview.toggleHeight()
UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.8) {
self.view.layoutIfNeeded()
}
}
The first thing, that was incorrect in my approach was executing self.layoutIfNeeded(). Having investigated the issue I learned out that I had to execute it on the superivew, like this:
self.superview?.layoutIfNeeded()
That also didn't work out for a reason. The main issue in this case was that the view, which had 3 subviews inside was itself a subview of view. So to make it work I had to use the following code:
self.superview?.superview?.layoutIfNeeded()
Definitely not good that subview has to know the hierarchy of views, however it works.

Autolayout: How to compress a complex popover

If you like to try the source code (which you are very welcome to do), have a look at my Bitbucket repository.
I have a popover dialogue that shows a list of settings. These settings a listed inside multiple UITableViews. The UITableViews shall not be scrollable, for the overall settings view already is. Furthermore, the popover dialogue shall take as much screen vertically as it needs but shall be horizontally compressed.
Thus, I conceived the following structure:
UIView => MySettingsViewController
- UIScrollView
- UIView (Content View)
- Container View1
- UITableView (embedded) => MyTableViewController
- Container View2
- UITableView (embedded)
The structure is assembled via Interface Builder and Autolayout is used for the sizing.
I have both the Scroll View, the Content View (I started with just one) and the Container View to their respective superviews (or layout guides). I constrained the size of the content view in the following manner:
contentView.width == (topmost) UIView.width
contentView.height == 200 // removed at build time
Additionally, I set the size of the table view to its content size, because otherwise the popover appears to be empty:
class MyTableViewController: UITableViewController {
override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidAppear(animated)
// this is Cartography syntax - the intention should be clear
layout(view, replace: ConstraintGroup()) { [unowned self] view in
view.width == self.tableView.contentSize.width
view.height == self.tableView.contentSize.height
}
view.setNeedsLayout()
}
}
The settings popover is filled with content, but its size is not quite right:
To fix this, I tried the following approach which does not work:
class MySettingsViewController: UIViewController {
override var preferredContentSize: CGSize {
get {
let compressedSize = view.systemLayoutSizeFittingSize(UILayoutFittingCompressedSize)
// this is always (0, 0) because the subviews are not resized, yet
return compressedSize
}
set {
super.preferredContentSize = newValue
}
}
}
To conclude: The compression does not work.
So I just fixed the problem myself as you can see when looking at the Bitbucket repository.
The layout is now fixed both in MyTableViewController and MySettingsViewController. The former one now looks like this:
class MyTableViewController: UITableViewController {
var heightConstraint: NSLayoutConstraint?
var tableViewEdgesConstraints: [NSLayoutConstraint]?
override func viewWillAppear(animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
if let container = tableView.superview where tableViewEdgesConstraints == nil {
layout(tableView, container, replace: ConstraintGroup()) { [unowned self] tableView, container in
self.tableViewEdgesConstraints = tableView.edges == inset(container.edges, 0)
}
}
}
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()
if let heightConstraint = heightConstraint {
if Int(heightConstraint.constant) != Int(tableView.contentSize.height) {
heightConstraint.constant = self.tableView.contentSize.height
}
} else {
layout(view, replace: ConstraintGroup()) { [unowned self] view in
if (self.tableView.contentSize.height > 0) {
self.heightConstraint = view.height == self.tableView.contentSize.height
}
}
}
}
}
So basically, I constraint the height of the table to its content's height and change the constraint if the content's height changes. This is done as soon as the table is laid out. Furthermore, the nested table view is pinned by its edges to the edges of the container view. I think that this is mandatory because I could not find out how to constrain two views of different scenes right in Interface Builder.
In MySettingsViewController the scrollview's size is set to the size of the content view's frame (which is accessible via an outlet) as soon as this size is known. Furthermore, to make the popover compress, the preferredContentSize of the settings controller is adapted accordingly, when the height changes (if you omit the condition you might get yourself in a layout endless loop. Furthermore I did 3 things to make it possible to have a navigation controller wrapped around MySettingsViewController:
The width of the popover is set to a fixed value (otherwise it would sometimes expand to the full width).
The presentedViewController's preferredContentSize needs to be set equally.
I had to set the insets of the scrollView to 0 to avoid an ugly vertical offset - this solution is sub-optimal because it breaks the scroll view experience a bit. But it works.
Here is the code:
class MySettingsViewController: UIViewController {
#IBOutlet weak var contentView: UIView!
#IBOutlet weak var scrollView: UIScrollView!
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
super.viewDidLayoutSubviews()
scrollView.contentSize = contentView.frame.size
if (preferredContentSize.height != scrollView.contentSize.height) {
let newSize = CGSize(width: 400, height: scrollView.contentSize.height)
preferredContentSize = newSize
presentingViewController?.presentedViewController?.preferredContentSize = newSize
scrollView.contentInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(0, 0, 0, 0)
}
}
}
And this is the result:

UITextView is not scrolled to top when loaded

When I have text that does not fill the UITextView, it is scrolled to the top working as intended. When there is more text than will fit on screen, the UITextView is scrolled to the middle of the text, rather than the top.
Here are some potentially relevant details:
In viewDidLoad to give some padding on top and bottom of UITextView:
self.mainTextView.textContainerInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(90, 0, 70, 0);
The UITextView uses auto layout to anchor it 20px from top, bottom and each side of the screen (done in IB) to allow for different screen sizes and orientations.
I can still scroll it with my finger once its loaded.
EDIT
I found that removing the auto layout constraints and then fixing the width only seems to fix the issue, but only for that screen width.
add the following function to your view controller class...
Swift 3
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
self.mainTextView.setContentOffset(.zero, animated: false)
}
Swift 2.1
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
self.mainTextView.setContentOffset(CGPointZero, animated: false)
}
Objective C
- (void)viewDidLayoutSubviews {
[self.mainTextView setContentOffset:CGPointZero animated:NO];
}
UITextView is a subclass of UIScrollView, so you can use its methods. If all you want to do is ensure that it's scrolled to the top, then wherever the text is added try:
[self.mainTextView setContentOffset:CGPointZero animated:NO];
EDIT: AutoLayout with any kind of scrollview gets wonky fast. That setting a fixed width solves it isn't surprising. If it doesn't work in -viewDidLayoutSubviews then that is odd. Setting a layout constraint manually may work. First create the constraints in IB:
#property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet NSLayoutConstraint *textViewWidthConstraint;
#property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet NSLayoutConstraint *textViewHeightConstraint;
then in the ViewController
-(void)updateViewConstraints {
self.textViewWidthConstraint.constant = self.view.frame.size.width - 40.0f;
self.textViewHeightConstraint.constant = self.view.frame.size.height - 40.0f;
[super updateViewConstraints];
}
May still be necessary to setContentOffset in -viewDidLayoutSubviews.
(Another method would be to create a layout constraint for "'equal' widths" and "'equal' heights" between the textView and its superView, with a constant of "-40". It's only 'equal' if the constant is zero, otherwise it adjusts by the constant. But because you can only add this constraint to a view that constraints both views, you can't do this in IB.)
You may ask yourself, if I have to do this, what's the point of AutoLayout? I've studied AutoLayout in depth, and that is an excellent question.
Swift
self.textView.scrollRangeToVisible(NSMakeRange(0, 0))
Objective-C
[self.textView scrollRangeToVisible:(NSMakeRange(0, 0))];
i had same issue! Reset to suggested constrains and just put (y offset)
#IBOutlet weak var textContent: UITextView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
textContent.scrollsToTop = true
var contentHeight = textContent.contentSize.height
var offSet = textContent.contentOffset.x
var contentOffset = contentHeight - offSet
textContent.contentOffset = CGPointMake(0, -contentOffset)
}
For iOS9 and later the textview even on viewWillAppear: is coming with CGRect(0,0,1000,1000). In order for this to work you have to call in viewWillAppear:
[self.view setNeedsLayout];
[self.view layoutIfNeeded];
// * Your code here
After that the textview will have correct CGRect data and you can perform any scrolling operation you may need.
The problem with putting code in viewDidLayoutSubviews and viewWillLayoutSubviews is that these methods are called a lot (during device rotation, resizing views etc ...). If you're reading something from text view, and you rotate the device, you expect that the part of the content you're viewing stays on screen. You do not expect that it scrolls back to top.
Instead of scrolling the content to top, try to keep text view's scrollEnabled property set to NO (false), and turn it back on in viewDidAppear.
If you don't wanna mess with constraints:
override func updateViewConstraints() {
super.updateViewConstraints()
}
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
self.textLabel.setContentOffset(CGPointZero, animated: false)
}
This is an interesting bug. In our project, this is only occurring on devices with an iPhone 5-size screen. It appears that the textview contentOffset changes at some point during the view controller lifecycle. In viewDidLoad and viewWillAppear the textview's contentOffset is 0,0, and by viewDidAppear it's changed. You can see it happening in viewWillLayoutSubviews. Constraints appear to be set up correctly.
This will ensure you don't call a scrolling method unless it's needed:
if textView.contentOffset.y > 0 {
textView.contentOffset = CGPoint(x: 0, y: 0)
// Or use scrollRectToVisible, scrollRangeToVisible, etc.
}
Swift
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
textView.isScrollEnabled = false
}
override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidAppear(animated)
textView.isScrollEnabled = true
}
For me this works in a different way, I tried all things mentioned above but none of the worked in func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool). Which eventually makes textView scrolled up, and in func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) it would scroll after screen appeared.
Below worked for me but got some constraint related issue with keyboard up and down.
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
self.textView.setContentOffset(.zero, animated: false)
}
Below worked as expectation:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.textView.scrollsToTop = true
}
override func viewWillAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewWillAppear(animated)
self.view.layoutIfNeeded()
self.textView.setContentOffset(.zero, animated: false)
}
David Rectors answer in Objective C:
#import "TopTextView.h"
#implementation TopTextView
bool scrolled = NO;
- (void) layoutSubviews
{
[super layoutSubviews];
if (!scrolled) {
[self setContentOffset:CGPointMake(0, 0) animated:NO];
scrolled = YES;
}
}
#end
It seems like a terrible idea to handle this issue in code in the view controller because: A. The view controller isn't making any mistake or doing anything wrong, and B, if you have more than one view controller with a wrongly scrolled text view, you end up with redundant code. The solution should be to write code that exists in the text view class. My solution works with Interface Builder where I simply select a custom class for the UITextView and use this class:
import Foundation
import UIKit
class TopTextView: UITextView {
var scrolled = false
override func layoutSubviews() {
super.layoutSubviews()
if scrolled { return }
setContentOffset(.zero, animated: false)
scrolled = true
}
}
This worked for me. I happen to have a view controller with a child view with a UITextView as a child of that view, not with a UITextView as the child of the view controller. I don't know how well this works if the text view is under top or bottom bars but since no edge insets are touched, this should work.
In my case I had to do it like this:
textView.setContentOffset(CGPoint(x: 0, y: -self.textView.adjustedContentInset.top), animated: false)
because the texview was underneath the navigation bar and had an adjusted inset

UICollectionView autosize height

How do I properly resize a UICollectionView so that it fully displays its contents? I have tried many things, including setting its frame, calling reloadData and invalidating the layout:
self.collectionView.contentSize = CGSizeMake(300, 2000);
self.collectionView.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 300, 2000);
[self.collectionView reloadData];
[self.collectionView.collectionViewLayout invalidateLayout];
but none of this has any effect. After pressing the button I still see the initial view, like this:
I have a small demo program where I have a data source producing 100 elements. In Interface Builder I initially set the size of the UICollectionView to a small value so that not all elements fit, after that I press a button after which the code above is executed. I expect the UICollectionView to now show all elements, but it doesn't.
EDIT: The demo program can be found at https://github.com/mjdemilliano/TestUICollectionView.
EDIT2: I have observed that the frame update is lost at some point, because if I press the button again, the current frame is back to the old value. After adding some log statements in the button event handler, the log output is:
before: frame = {{0, 58}, {320, 331}}, contentSize = {320, 1190}
update button pressed
after: frame = {{0, 0}, {300, 2000}}, contentSize = {300, 2000}
before: frame = {{0, 58}, {320, 331}}, contentSize = {320, 1190}
update button pressed
after: frame = {{0, 0}, {300, 2000}}, contentSize = {300, 2000}
I don't understand why the frame change is not kept, what is changing it.
At some point I will replace the hardcoded values by values obtained from the flow layout, but I wanted to rule that out and keep my example as simple as possible.
Context: What I want to do eventually is the following: I have a scrollable view with various controls like labels and images, and a collection view with dynamic content. I want to scroll all that, not just the collection view, therefore I am not using the collection view's own scrolling facilities, which work fine.
I solved this eventually by fixing all Auto Layout issues, fixing the height of the collection view using a constraint. Then, whenever I know the content has changed I update the value of the constraint using the value collectionView.contentSize.height:
self.verticalLayoutConstraint.constant = self.collectionView.collectionViewLayout.collectionViewContentSize.height;
Then the collection view is resized properly and it behaves nicely within the overall scrollview. I have updated the GitHub test project with my changes.
To me, doing this by updating the constraint manually instead of being able to tell iOS: "make the frame height of the collection view as large as needed" does not feel right to me, but it's the best I have come up with so far. Please post a better answer if you have one.
It seems to work nicely with a custom UICollectionView class.
class AutoSizedCollectionView: UICollectionView {
override var contentSize: CGSize {
didSet {
invalidateIntrinsicContentSize()
}
}
override var intrinsicContentSize: CGSize {
layoutIfNeeded()
return CGSize(width: UIView.noIntrinsicMetric, height: contentSize.height)
}
}
Set your custom class in the interface builder:
This way you can also set your collection views intrinsic size to 'placeholder' in interface builder to avoid having to set a height constraint.
I hope this helps someone else.
Here's my implementation in Swift 3:
override func sizeThatFits(_ size: CGSize) -> CGSize {
if (self.superview != nil) {
self.superview?.layoutIfNeeded()
}
return collectionView.contentSize
}
UICollectionViewFlowLayout *flowLayout;
flowLayout = [[UICollectionViewFlowLayout alloc]init];
[flowLayout setScrollDirection:UICollectionViewScrollDirectionVertical];
[flowLayout setMinimumInteritemSpacing:0.0f];
[flowLayout setMinimumLineSpacing:0.0f];
[self.collectionView setPagingEnabled:NO];
[flowLayout setItemSize:CGSizeMake(322.0, 148.0)]; //important to leave no white space between the images
[self.collectionView setCollectionViewLayout:flowLayout];
I found that autolayout in the storyboard is not helping too much. A correct setting for the UICollectionViewFlowLayout for your collectionView is the real help. If you adjust item size with setItemSize, you may get the result you want.
The simplest method I found is to override sizeThatFits: methods as is:
- (CGSize)sizeThatFits:(CGSize)size
{
if( self.superview )
[self.superview layoutIfNeeded]; // to force evaluate the real layout
return self.collectionViewLayout.collectionViewContentSize;
}
Here's a way to bind the CollectionView's height via it's intrinsic size.
I used it to properly size a CollectionView inside a TableView Cell (with dynamic cells height). and it works perfectly.
First, add this to your UICollectionView subclass:
override var intrinsicContentSize: CGSize {
get {
return self.contentSize
}
}
Then call layoutIfNeeded() after you reload data:
reloadData()
layoutIfNeeded()
You can try out my custom AGCollectionView class
Assign a height constraint of collectionView using a storyboard or programmatically.
- Assign this class to your UICollectionView.
class AGCollectionView: UICollectionView {
fileprivate var heightConstraint: NSLayoutConstraint!
override init(frame: CGRect, collectionViewLayout layout: UICollectionViewLayout) {
super.init(frame: frame, collectionViewLayout: layout)
self.associateConstraints()
}
required public init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
self.associateConstraints()
}
override open func layoutSubviews() {
super.layoutSubviews()
if self.heightConstraint != nil {
self.heightConstraint.constant = floor(self.contentSize.height)
}
else{
self.sizeToFit()
print("Set a heightConstraint set size to fit content")
}
}
func associateConstraints() {
// iterate through height constraints and identify
for constraint: NSLayoutConstraint in constraints {
if constraint.firstAttribute == .height {
if constraint.relation == .equal {
heightConstraint = constraint
}
}
}
}
}
Add IBOutlet for CollectionView Height Constraint
--> Like #IBOutlet weak var collectionViewHeight: NSLayoutConstraint!
Add Below snipped code.
For me it is even simpler I think
-(UICollectionViewCell *)collectionView:(UICollectionView *)collectionView cellForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
//add following code line after adding cells, before Return
...........
.........
scrollView.contentSize = = collectionView.contentSize;
//now scrollView size is equal to collectionView size. No matter how small or big it is.
return cell;
}

Resizing UITableView to fit content

I am creating an app which will have a question in a UILabel and a multiple choice answers displayed in UITableView, each row showing a multiple choice. Questions and answers will vary, so I need this UITableView to be dynamic in height.
I would like to find a sizeToFit work around for the table. Where the table's frame is set to the height of all it's content.
Can anyone advise on how I can achieve this?
Swift 5 and 4.2 solution without KVO, DispatchQueue, or setting constraints yourself.
This solution is based on Gulz's answer.
1) Create a subclass of UITableView:
import UIKit
final class ContentSizedTableView: UITableView {
override var contentSize:CGSize {
didSet {
invalidateIntrinsicContentSize()
}
}
override var intrinsicContentSize: CGSize {
layoutIfNeeded()
return CGSize(width: UIView.noIntrinsicMetric, height: contentSize.height)
}
}
2) Add a UITableView to your layout and set constraints on all sides. Set the class of it to ContentSizedTableView.
3) You should see some errors, because Storyboard doesn't take our subclass' intrinsicContentSize into account. Fix this by opening the size inspector and overriding the intrinsicContentSize to a placeholder value. This is an override for design time. At runtime it will use the override in our ContentSizedTableView class
Update: Changed code for Swift 4.2. If you're using a prior version, use UIViewNoIntrinsicMetric instead of UIView.noIntrinsicMetric
Actually I found the answer myself.
I just create a new CGRect for the tableView.frame with the height of table.contentSize.height
That sets the height of the UITableView to the height of its content.
Since the code modifies the UI, do not forget to run it in the main thread:
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^{
//This code will run in the main thread:
CGRect frame = self.tableView.frame;
frame.size.height = self.tableView.contentSize.height;
self.tableView.frame = frame;
});
Swift Solution
Follow these steps:
Set the height constraint for the table from the storyboard.
Drag the height constraint from the storyboard and create #IBOutlet for it in the view controller file.
#IBOutlet var tableHeight: NSLayoutConstraint!
Then you can change the height for the table dynamicaly using this code:
override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {
super.updateViewConstraints()
self.tableHeight?.constant = self.table.contentSize.height
}
If the last row is cut off, try to call viewWillLayoutSubviews() in willDisplay cell function:
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
self.viewWillLayoutSubviews()
}
I've tried this in iOS 7 and it worked for me
- (void)viewDidLoad
{
[super viewDidLoad];
[self.tableView sizeToFit];
}
Add an observer for the contentSize property on the table view, and adjust the frame size accordingly
[your_tableview addObserver:self forKeyPath:#"contentSize" options:0 context:NULL];
then in the callback:
- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary *)change context:(void *)context
{
CGRect frame = your_tableview.frame;
frame.size = your_tableview.contentSize;
your_tableview.frame = frame;
}
Hope this will help you.
I had a table view inside scroll view and had to calculate tableView's height and resize it accordingly. Those are steps I've taken:
0) add a UIView to your scrollView (probably will work without this step but i did it to avoid any possible conflicts) - this will be a containr view for your table view. If you take this step , then set the views borders right to tableview's ones.
1) create a subclass of UITableView:
class IntrinsicTableView: UITableView {
override var contentSize:CGSize {
didSet {
self.invalidateIntrinsicContentSize()
}
}
override var intrinsicContentSize: CGSize {
self.layoutIfNeeded()
return CGSize(width: UIViewNoIntrinsicMetric, height: contentSize.height)
}
}
2) set class of a table view in Storyboard to IntrinsicTableView: screenshot: http://joxi.ru/a2XEENpsyBWq0A
3) Set the heightConstraint to your table view
4) drag the IBoutlet of your table to your ViewController
5) drag the IBoutlet of your table's height constraint to your ViewController
6) add this method into your ViewController:
override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {
super.updateViewConstraints()
self.yourTableViewsHeightConstraint?.constant = self.yourTableView.intrinsicContentSize.height
}
Hope this helps
Swift 5 Solution
Follow these four steps:
Set the height constraint for the tableview from the storyboard.
Drag the height constraint from the storyboard and create #IBOutlet for it in the view controller file.
#IBOutlet var tableViewHeightConstraint: NSLayoutConstraint!
Add an observer for the contentSize property on the override func viewDidLoad()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
self.tableView.addObserver(self, forKeyPath: "contentSize", options: .new, context: nil)
}
Then you can change the height for the table dynamicaly using this code:
override func observeValue(forKeyPath keyPath: String?, of object: Any?, change: [NSKeyValueChangeKey : Any]?, context: UnsafeMutableRawPointer?) {
if(keyPath == "contentSize"){
if let newvalue = change?[.newKey]
{
DispatchQueue.main.async {
let newsize = newvalue as! CGSize
self.tableViewHeightConstraint.constant = newsize.height
}
}
}
}
In case you don't want to track table view's content size changes yourself, you might find this subclass useful.
protocol ContentFittingTableViewDelegate: UITableViewDelegate {
func tableViewDidUpdateContentSize(_ tableView: UITableView)
}
class ContentFittingTableView: UITableView {
override var contentSize: CGSize {
didSet {
if !constraints.isEmpty {
invalidateIntrinsicContentSize()
} else {
sizeToFit()
}
if contentSize != oldValue {
if let delegate = delegate as? ContentFittingTableViewDelegate {
delegate.tableViewDidUpdateContentSize(self)
}
}
}
}
override var intrinsicContentSize: CGSize {
return contentSize
}
override func sizeThatFits(_ size: CGSize) -> CGSize {
return contentSize
}
}
In case your contentSize is not correct this is because it is based on the estimatedRowHeight (automatic), use this before
tableView.estimatedRowHeight = 0;
source : https://forums.developer.apple.com/thread/81895
I did in a bit different way, Actually my TableView was inside scrollview so i had to give height constraint as 0.
Then at runtime I made following changes,
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
self.viewWillLayoutSubviews()
}
override func viewWillLayoutSubviews() {
super.updateViewConstraints()
DispatchQueue.main.async {
self.tableViewHeightConstraint?.constant = self.myTableView.contentSize.height
self.view.layoutIfNeeded()
}
}
Swift 3, iOS 10.3
Solution 1:
Just put self.tableview.sizeToFit() in cellForRowAt indexPath function. Make sure to set tableview height higher then you need.
This is a good solution if you don't have views below tableview. However, if you have, bottom tableview constraint will not be updated (I didn't try to fix it because I came up with solution 2)
Example:
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, cellForRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) -> UITableViewCell {
if let cell = tableView.dequeueReusableCell(withIdentifier: "TestCell", for: indexPath) as? TestCell {
cell.configureCell(data: testArray[indexPath.row])
self.postsTableView.sizeToFit()
return cell
}
return UITableViewCell()
}
Solution 2:
Set tableview height constraint in storyboard and drag it to the ViewController. If you know the average height of your cell and you know how many elements your array contains, you can do something like this:
tableViewHeightConstraint.constant = CGFloat(testArray.count) * 90.0 // Let's say 90 is the average cell height
*EDIT:
After all the solutions I tried and every of them was fixing something, but not completely, this is the answer that explains and fixes this problem completely.
This works for me using Auto Layout, with a table view with only one section.
func getTableViewContentHeight(tableView: UITableView) -> CGFloat {
tableView.bounds = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 300, height: 40)
let rows = tableView.numberOfRows(inSection: 0)
var height = CGFloat(0)
for n in 0...rows - 1 {
height = height + tableView.rectForRow(at: IndexPath(row: n, section: 0)).height
}
return height
}
I call this function when setting up Auto Layout (The sample here uses SnapKit, but you get the idea):
let height = getTableViewContentHeight(tableView: myTableView)
myTableView.snp.makeConstraints {
...
...
$0.height.equalTo(height)
}
I want the UITableView only to be as tall as the combined height of the cells; I loop through the cells and accumulate the total height of the cells. Since the size of the table view is CGRect.zero at this point, I need to set the bounds to be able to respect the Auto Layout rules defined by the cell. I set the size to an arbitrary value that should be large enough. The actual size will be calculated later by the Auto Layout system.
There is a much better way to do it if you use AutoLayout: change the constraint that determines the height. Just calculate the height of your table contents, then find the constraint and change it. Here's an example (assuming that the constraint that determines your table's height is actually a height constraint with relation "Equal"):
override func viewDidAppear(_ animated: Bool) {
super.viewDidAppear(animated)
for constraint in tableView.constraints {
if constraint.firstItem as? UITableView == tableView {
if constraint.firstAttribute == .height {
constraint.constant = tableView.contentSize.height
}
}
}
}
based on
fl034's answer
SWift 5
var tableViewHeight: NSLayoutConstraint?
tableViewHeight = NSLayoutConstraint(item: servicesTableView,
attribute: .height, relatedBy: .equal, toItem: nil, attribute: .notAnAttribute,
multiplier: 0.0, constant: 10)
tableViewHeight?.isActive = true
func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
tableViewHeight?.constant = tableView.contentSize.height
tableView.layoutIfNeeded()
}
Mimo's answer and Anooj VM 's answer both are awesome but there is a small problem if you have a large list, it's possible that the height of the frame will cutoff some of your cells.
So. I have modified the answer a little bit:
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()) {
//This code will run in the main thread:
CGFloat newHeight=self.tableView.contentSize.height;
CGFloat screenHeightPermissible=(self.view.bounds.size.height-self.tableView.frame.origin.y);
if (newHeight>screenHeightPermissible)
{
//so that table view remains scrollable when 'newHeight' exceeds the screen bounds
newHeight=screenHeightPermissible;
}
CGRect frame = self.tableView.frame;
frame.size.height = newHeight;
self.tableView.frame = frame;
}
My Swift 5 implementation is to set the hight constraint of the tableView to the size of its content (contentSize.height). This method assumes you are using auto layout. This code should be placed inside the cellForRowAt tableView method.
tableView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: tableView.contentSize.height).isActive = true
For my case, how I manage is.
give any constant height of table view. create outlet of table view height and then call the following function where ever you relaod the tableView.
private func manageHeight(){
tableViewHeight.constant=CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude
tableView.reloadData()
tableView.layoutIfNeeded()
tableViewHeight.constant=tableView.contentSize.height
}
note: tableView is the outlet for your table view and tableViewHeight is the outlet for tableView height.
As an extension of Anooj VM's answer, I suggest the following to refresh content size only when it changes.
This approach also disable scrolling properly and support larger lists and rotation. There is no need to dispatch_async because contentSize changes are dispatched on main thread.
- (void)viewDidLoad {
[super viewDidLoad];
[self.tableView addObserver:self forKeyPath:#"contentSize" options:NSKeyValueObservingOptionOld|NSKeyValueObservingOptionNew context:NULL];
}
- (void)resizeTableAccordingToContentSize:(CGSize)newContentSize {
CGRect superviewTableFrame = self.tableView.superview.bounds;
CGRect tableFrame = self.tableView.frame;
BOOL shouldScroll = newContentSize.height > superviewTableFrame.size.height;
tableFrame.size = shouldScroll ? superviewTableFrame.size : newContentSize;
[UIView animateWithDuration:0.3
delay:0
options:UIViewAnimationOptionCurveLinear
animations:^{
self.tableView.frame = tableFrame;
} completion: nil];
self.tableView.scrollEnabled = shouldScroll;
}
- (void)observeValueForKeyPath:(NSString *)keyPath ofObject:(id)object change:(NSDictionary<NSString *,id> *)change context:(void *)context {
if ([change[NSKeyValueChangeKindKey] unsignedIntValue] == NSKeyValueChangeSetting &&
[keyPath isEqualToString:#"contentSize"] &&
!CGSizeEqualToSize([change[NSKeyValueChangeOldKey] CGSizeValue], [change[NSKeyValueChangeNewKey] CGSizeValue])) {
[self resizeTableAccordingToContentSize:[change[NSKeyValueChangeNewKey] CGSizeValue]];
}
}
- (void)didRotateFromInterfaceOrientation:(UIInterfaceOrientation)fromInterfaceOrientation {
[super didRotateFromInterfaceOrientation:fromInterfaceOrientation];
[self resizeTableAccordingToContentSize:self.tableView.contentSize]; }
- (void)dealloc {
[self.tableView removeObserver:self forKeyPath:#"contentSize"];
}
objc version of Musa almatri
(void)viewWillLayoutSubviews
{
[super updateViewConstraints];
CGFloat desiredHeight = self.tableView.contentSize.height;
// clamp desired height, if needed, and, in that case, leave scroll Enabled
self.tableHeight.constant = desiredHeight;
self.tableView.scrollEnabled = NO;
}
You can try Out this Custom AGTableView
To Set a TableView Height Constraint Using storyboard or programmatically. (This class automatically fetch a height constraint and set content view height to yourtableview height).
class AGTableView: UITableView {
fileprivate var heightConstraint: NSLayoutConstraint!
override init(frame: CGRect, style: UITableViewStyle) {
super.init(frame: frame, style: style)
self.associateConstraints()
}
required public init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
self.associateConstraints()
}
override open func layoutSubviews() {
super.layoutSubviews()
if self.heightConstraint != nil {
self.heightConstraint.constant = self.contentSize.height
}
else{
self.sizeToFit()
print("Set a heightConstraint to Resizing UITableView to fit content")
}
}
func associateConstraints() {
// iterate through height constraints and identify
for constraint: NSLayoutConstraint in constraints {
if constraint.firstAttribute == .height {
if constraint.relation == .equal {
heightConstraint = constraint
}
}
}
}
}
Note If any problem to set a Height then yourTableView.layoutSubviews().
Based on answer of fl034. But for Xamarin.iOS users:
[Register("ContentSizedTableView")]
public class ContentSizedTableView : UITableView
{
public ContentSizedTableView(IntPtr handle) : base(handle)
{
}
public override CGSize ContentSize { get => base.ContentSize; set { base.ContentSize = value; InvalidateIntrinsicContentSize(); } }
public override CGSize IntrinsicContentSize
{
get
{
this.LayoutIfNeeded();
return new CGSize(width: NoIntrinsicMetric, height: ContentSize.Height);
}
}
}
I am using a UIView extension , approach is close to #ChrisB approach above
extension UIView {
func updateHeight(_ height:NSLayoutConstraint)
{
let newSize = CGSize(width: self.frame.size.width, height: CGFloat(MAXFLOAT))
let fitSize : CGSize = self.sizeThatFits(newSize)
height.constant = fitSize.height
}
}
implementation : :
#IBOutlet weak var myTableView: UITableView!
#IBOutlet weak var myTableVieweHeight: NSLayoutConstraint!
//(call it whenever tableView is updated inside/outside delegate methods)
myTableView.updateHeight(myTableVieweHeigh)
Bonus : Can be used on any other UIViews eg:your own dynamic label
If you want your table to be dynamic, you will need to use a solution based on the table contents as detailed above. If you simply want to display a smaller table, you can use a container view and embed a UITableViewController in it - the UITableView will be resized according to the container size.
This avoids a lot of calculations and calls to layout.
Mu solution for this in swift 3: Call this method in viewDidAppear
func UITableView_Auto_Height(_ t : UITableView)
{
var frame: CGRect = t.frame;
frame.size.height = t.contentSize.height;
t.frame = frame;
}

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