How to create UILabel programmatically using Swift? - ios

Question

How do I create a UILabel programmatically using Swift in Xcode 6?
I have started with a new "Single View Application" in Xcode 6 and selected Swift for this project. I have my files AppDelegate.swift and ViewController.swift and I'm not sure what to do from here.

Answer 1

Creating a UILabel programmatically in Swift 3+:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 21))
label.center = CGPoint(x: 160, y: 285)
label.textAlignment = .center
label.text = "I'm a test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)
}

Answer 2

Here is the correct code for Swift 3, with comments for instructional purposes:
override func viewDidLoad()
{
super.viewDidLoad()
// CGRectMake has been deprecated - and should be let, not var
let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 21))
// you will probably want to set the font (remember to use Dynamic Type!)
label.font = UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: .footnote)
// and set the text color too - remember good contrast
label.textColor = .black
// may not be necessary (e.g., if the width & height match the superview)
// if you do need to center, CGPointMake has been deprecated, so use this
label.center = CGPoint(x: 160, y: 284)
// this changed in Swift 3 (much better, no?)
label.textAlignment = .center
label.text = "I am a test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)
}

Answer 3

Just to add onto the already great answers, you might want to add multiple labels in your project so doing all of this (setting size, style etc) will be a pain. To solve this, you can create a separate UILabel class.
import UIKit
class MyLabel: UILabel {
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
initializeLabel()
}
override init(frame: CGRect) {
super.init(frame: frame)
initializeLabel()
}
func initializeLabel() {
self.textAlignment = .left
self.font = UIFont(name: "Halvetica", size: 17)
self.textColor = UIColor.white
}
}
To use it, do the following
import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController {
var myLabel: MyLabel()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
myLabel = MyLabel(frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width / 2, y: self.view.frame.size.height / 2, width: 100, height: 20))
self.view.addSubView(myLabel)
}
}

Answer 4

Swift 4.X and Xcode 10
let lbl = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 10, y: 50, width: 230, height: 21))
lbl.textAlignment = .center //For center alignment
lbl.text = "This is my label fdsjhfg sjdg dfgdfgdfjgdjfhg jdfjgdfgdf end..."
lbl.textColor = .white
lbl.backgroundColor = .lightGray//If required
lbl.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 17)
//To display multiple lines in label
lbl.numberOfLines = 0 //If you want to display only 2 lines replace 0(Zero) with 2.
lbl.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping //Word Wrap
// OR
lbl.lineBreakMode = .byCharWrapping //Charactor Wrap
lbl.sizeToFit()//If required
yourView.addSubview(lbl)
If you have multiple labels in your class use extension to add properties.
//Label 1
let lbl1 = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 10, y: 50, width: 230, height: 21))
lbl1.text = "This is my label fdsjhfg sjdg dfgdfgdfjgdjfhg jdfjgdfgdf end..."
lbl1.myLabel()//Call this function from extension to all your labels
view.addSubview(lbl1)
//Label 2
let lbl2 = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 10, y: 150, width: 230, height: 21))
lbl2.text = "This is my label fdsjhfg sjdg dfgdfgdfjgdjfhg jdfjgdfgdf end..."
lbl2.myLabel()//Call this function from extension to all your labels
view.addSubview(lbl2)
extension UILabel {
func myLabel() {
textAlignment = .center
textColor = .white
backgroundColor = .lightGray
font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 17)
numberOfLines = 0
lineBreakMode = .byCharWrapping
sizeToFit()
}
}

Answer 5

Create UILabel view outside viewDidLoad class and then add that view to your main view in viewDidLoad method.
lazy var myLabel: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
label.text = "This is label view."
label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 12)
return label
}()
And then add that view in viewDidLoad()
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.addSubview(myLabel)
// Set its constraint to display it on screen
myLabel.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200).isActive = true
myLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
myLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor).isActive = true
}

Answer 6

You can create a label using the code below. Updated.
let yourLabel: UILabel = UILabel()
yourLabel.frame = CGRect(x: 50, y: 150, width: 200, height: 21)
yourLabel.backgroundColor = UIColor.orange
yourLabel.textColor = UIColor.black
yourLabel.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.center
yourLabel.text = "test label"
self.view.addSubview(yourLabel)

Answer 7

Another answer in Swift 3:
let myLabel = UILabel()
myLabel.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100)
myLabel.center = CGPoint(x: 0, y: 0)
myLabel.textAlignment = .center
myLabel.text = "myLabel!!!!!"
self.view.addSubview(myLabel)

Answer 8

Create label in swift 4
let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.origin.x, y: self.view.frame.origin.y, width: self.view.frame.size.width, height: 50))
label.textAlignment = .center
label.text = "Hello this my label"
//To set the color
label.backgroundColor = UIColor.white
label.textColor = UIColor.black
//To set the font Dynamic
label.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Regular", size: 20.0)
//To set the system font
label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 20.0)
//To display multiple lines
label.numberOfLines = 0
label.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping //Wrap the word of label
label.lineBreakMode = .byCharWrapping //Wrap the charactor of label
label.sizeToFit()
self.view.addSubview(label)

Answer 9

An alternative using a closure to separate out the code into something a bit neater using Swift 4:
class theViewController: UIViewController {
/** Create the UILabel */
var theLabel: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.lineBreakMode = .byWordWrapping
label.textColor = UIColor.white
label.textAlignment = .left
label.numberOfLines = 3
label.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Bold", size: 22)
return label
}()
override func viewDidLoad() {
/** Add theLabel to the ViewControllers view */
view.addSubview(theLabel)
}
override func viewDidLayoutSubviews() {
/* Set the frame when the layout is changed */
theLabel.frame = CGRect(x: 0,
y: 0,
width: view.frame.width - 30,
height: 24)
}
}
As a note, attributes for theLabel can still be changed whenever using functions in the VC. You're just setting various defaults inside the closure and minimizing clutter in functions like viewDidLoad()

Answer 10

Swift 4.2 and Xcode 10. Somewhere in ViewController:
private lazy var debugInfoLabel: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.textColor = .white
label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
yourView.addSubview(label)
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
label.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: suggestionView.centerXAnchor),
label.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: suggestionView.centerYAnchor, constant: -100),
label.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 120),
label.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 50)])
return label
}()
...
Using:
debugInfoLabel.text = debugInfo

Answer 11

let label = UILabel(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 200, height: 21))
label.center = CGPoint(x: 160, y: 285)
label.textAlignment = .center
label.text = "My label"
self.view.addSubview(label)
Try above code in ViewDidLoad

Answer 12

Swift 4.2 and Xcode 10
Initialize label before viewDidLoad.
lazy var topLeftLabel: UILabel = {
let label = UILabel()
label.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
label.text = "TopLeft"
return label
}()
In viewDidLoad add label to the view and apply constraints.
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
view.addSubview(topLeftLabel)
topLeftLabel.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.leadingAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
topLeftLabel.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.topAnchor, constant: 10).isActive = true
}