Variable UITableViewCell height not working - ios

Question

I'm trying to have a UITableView with variable cell heights. The height should be based on the height of an image fetched from the server. I'm having some difficulties though. This is the code:
- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
static NSString *CellIdentifier = #"Cell";
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
CGFloat height = (0.5*(self.view.frame.size.width-10))+100;
UILabel *heightLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30)];
heightLabel.text = [self.streams[indexPath.row] excerpt];
heightLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue" size:14];
heightLabel.numberOfLines = 3;
[heightLabel sizeToFit];
height = height + heightLabel.frame.size.height;
NSLog(#"Cell height is %f", height);
cell.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:248.0/255.0 green:248.0/255.0 blue:248.0/255.0 alpha:1.0];
cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;
UIView *backgroundView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 10, self.view.frame.size.width-20, cell.frame.size.height-20)];
backgroundView.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
backgroundView.tag = 1;
[cell addSubview:backgroundView];
NSURL *imageLink = [NSURL URLWithString:[self.streams[indexPath.row] image]];
UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 10, self.view.frame.size.width-20, 0.5*(self.view.frame.size.width-10))];
__block UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicator;
__weak UIImageView *weakImageView = imageView;
imageView.tag = 2;
imageView.contentMode = UIViewContentModeScaleAspectFill;
imageView.clipsToBounds = YES;
[cell addSubview:imageView];
UILabel *nameLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(15, imageView.frame.origin.y + imageView.frame.size.height + 10, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30)];
nameLabel.text = [self.streams[indexPath.row] name];
nameLabel.textColor = [UIColor blackColor];
nameLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentLeft;
nameLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue-Medium" size:16];
nameLabel.numberOfLines = 2;
[nameLabel sizeToFit];
nameLabel.tag = 3;
[cell addSubview:nameLabel];
UILabel *descLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(15, nameLabel.frame.origin.y + nameLabel.frame.size.height + 5, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30)];
descLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"Posted by %#", [self.streams[indexPath.row] author]];
descLabel.textColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:193.0/255.0 green:193.0/255.0 blue:193.0/255.0 alpha:1.0];
descLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentLeft;
descLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue-Medium" size:12];
descLabel.numberOfLines = 2;
[descLabel sizeToFit];
descLabel.tag = 5;
[cell addSubview:descLabel];
UILabel *websiteLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(15, descLabel.frame.origin.y + descLabel.frame.size.height + 5, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30)];
websiteLabel.text = [self.streams[indexPath.row] excerpt];
websiteLabel.textColor = [UIColor colorWithRed:119.0/255.0 green:119.0/255.0 blue:119.0/255.0 alpha:1.0];
websiteLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentLeft;
websiteLabel.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue" size:14];
websiteLabel.numberOfLines = 3;
[websiteLabel sizeToFit];
websiteLabel.tag = 4;
[cell addSubview:websiteLabel];
[imageView sd_setImageWithURL: imageLink
placeholderImage:[UIImage imageNamed:#"default.png"]
options:SDWebImageProgressiveDownload
progress:^(NSInteger receivedSize, NSInteger expectedSize) {
if (!activityIndicator) {
[weakImageView addSubview:activityIndicator = [UIActivityIndicatorView.alloc initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray]];
activityIndicator.center = weakImageView.center;
[activityIndicator startAnimating];
}
}
completed:^(UIImage *image, NSError *error, SDImageCacheType cacheType, NSURL *imageURL) {
if (image) {
float newHeight;
#try {
[activityIndicator removeFromSuperview];
activityIndicator = nil;
float oldWidth = image.size.width;
float scaleFactor = imageView.frame.size.width / oldWidth;
newHeight = image.size.height * scaleFactor;
}
#catch (NSException *exception) {
newHeight = 0.5*(self.view.frame.size.width-10);
}
#finally {
imageView.image = image;
imageView.frame = CGRectMake(10, 10, self.view.frame.size.width-20, newHeight);
nameLabel.frame = CGRectMake(15, imageView.frame.origin.y + newHeight + 10, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30);
[nameLabel sizeToFit];
descLabel.frame = CGRectMake(15, nameLabel.frame.origin.y + nameLabel.frame.size.height + 5, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30);
[descLabel sizeToFit];
websiteLabel.frame = CGRectMake(15, descLabel.frame.origin.y + descLabel.frame.size.height + 5, self.view.frame.size.width-35, 30);
[websiteLabel sizeToFit];
UITableViewCell *cell = [self.tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:indexPath];
[self.tableView beginUpdates];
[cell setFrame:CGRectMake(cell.frame.origin.x, cell.frame.origin.y, cell.frame.size.width, newHeight+nameLabel.frame.size.height+descLabel.frame.size.height+websiteLabel.frame.size.height+50)];
[self.tableView endUpdates];
backgroundView.frame = CGRectMake(10, 10, self.view.frame.size.width-20, newHeight+nameLabel.frame.size.height+descLabel.frame.size.height+websiteLabel.frame.size.height+25);
}
}
}];
return cell;
}
- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
return 100.0f;
}
What am I doing wrong? Currently, cells are overlapping....

Answer 1

If your cells has variable height you should set AutomaticDimension
in viewDidLoad set this:
self.tableView.rowHeight = UITableViewAutomaticDimension
self.tableView.estimatedRowHeight = 100
and you can eliminate heightForRowAtIndexPath or set it to automatic
- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
return UITableViewAutomaticDimension; //works only about iOS 8
}