UILabel sizeThatFits not working

Question

I'm trying to calculate the height for a UITableViewCell so I've defined a class method that looks like this

+ (CGFloat)heightWithText:(NSString *)text
{
    SizingLabel.text = text;
    [SizingLabel sizeThatFits:CGSizeMake(LABEL_WIDTH, CGFLOAT_MAX)];

    return (TOP_MARGIN + SizingLabel.frame.size.height + BOTTOM_MARGIN);
}

I've defined SizingLabel like this:

+ (void)initialize
{
    SizingLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero];
    SizingLabel.numberOfLines = 0;
    SizingLabel.lineBreakMode = NSLineBreakByWordWrapping;
}

However, if i stick a breakpoint in the -heightWithText: method, i notice that the dimensions of SizingLabel never change and i thus get an incorrect value. Why is that?

Solution 1

+ (CGFloat)heightWithText:(NSString *)text
{
    SizingLabel.text = text;
    CGSize labelSize = [SizingLabel sizeThatFits:CGSizeMake(LABEL_WIDTH, CGFLOAT_MAX)];

    return (TOP_MARGIN + labelSize.height + BOTTOM_MARGIN);
}

Solution 2

As said above, sizeThatFits: (and thus sizeToFit) do not work well with UILabel objects.

You better use the preferred textRectForBounds:limitedToNumberOfLines: method:

+ (CGFloat)heightWithText:(NSString *)text
{
    resizingLabel.text = text;
    CGSize labelSize = [resizingLabel textRectForBounds:CGRectMake(0.0, 0.0, LABEL_WIDTH, CGFLOAT_MAX)
                                 limitedToNumberOfLines:0].size; // No limit

    return (TOP_MARGIN + labelSize.height + BOTTOM_MARGIN);
}

Solution 3

Do this in your Custom Cell Class:

- (id)initWithStyle:(UITableViewCellStyle)style reuseIdentifier:(NSString *)reuseIdentifier
    {
    self = [super initWithStyle:style reuseIdentifier:reuseIdentifier];
    if (self) {
        // Initialization code

        //Message Label
        lbl_name = [[UILabel alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10, 10, 300, 25)];            

        [lbl_name setFont:[UIFont fontWithName:@"Helvetica" size:16.0f]];
        lbl_name.lineBreakMode = UILineBreakModeWordWrap;
        lbl_name.numberOfLines = 0;
        [lbl_name sizeToFit];
        [self.contentView addSubview:lbl_name];

        //Time 
    }
    return self;
}    

-(void)resizeNameLabel:(NSString *)text
{
    CGSize constraint = CGSizeMake(300 , 20000.0f);
    CGSize size = [text sizeWithFont:[UIFont systemFontOfSize:16.0f] constrainedToSize:constraint lineBreakMode:UILineBreakModeWordWrap];
    [lbl_name setFrame:CGRectMake(10, 5, 300, MAX(size.height, 25.0f))];//300 Label Width
    [lbl_name setText:text];
}

Do this in main class..

-(UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:@"cell"];

    if (cell == nil) 
    {
        cell = (CustomCell *)[[CustomCell alloc]initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleValue1 reuseIdentifier:@"cell"];
    }
        [((CustomCell *)cell) resizeNameLabel:text];

    return cell;
}

Just do like this...

Comments

[Jing]

the (NSDictionary) attributes is where you set your text attributes

[Daniel]

Does not work for me, also, you should follow the naming convention and start variable names with lower case (or is SizingLabel supposed to be a class?)

[Rivera]

SizingLabelmust have been an automatic rename problem. Also you or anyone can edit posts ;) As for this not working. What part is the problem? Basically this code only uses the built-in textRectForBounds:limitedToNumberOfLines: which should always work.

[Daniel]

it was returning a size that did not really reflect the size the text would be given. After all, it does not take into account the font. I ended up using NSString boundingRectWithSize:options:attributes:context:.

[Rivera]

It does take into account the UILabel font and parameters. You can set it up all in IB and then have an accurate measure. That is why I prefer it than trying to recreate the label configuration with NSString. As for your problem, is the built-in method returning a wrong value or is it the accompanying adjustments? And the SizingLabel came from the original question.

[Daniel]

If you believe this comment, it seems that it does not work correctly when the attributed string does not contain a NSFontAttributeName.

[OlgaVogue]

Works for UILabel if font is set for the label.

[Kevin]

@OlgaVogue No, it only works sometimes. sizeThatFits is notoriously buggy.

[Darren Ehlers]

I've used sizeThatFits: for years, and it seems to be a bit of voodoo, sometimes works and sometimes just doesn't. Using textRectForBounds is perfect!