Dynamic label frame from unknown text length

suggest change

Sometimes we have to resize a UILabel based on dynamic content where the text length is unknown. In this example, width of the UILabel is fixed at 280 points and the height is infinite, lets say 9999. Estimating the frame with respect to the text style and maximumLabelSize.

Objective-C

UILabel * label = [[UILabel alloc] init];

NSString *message = @"Some dynamic text for label";

//set the text and style if any.
label.text = message;

label.numberOfLines = 0;

CGSize maximumLabelSize = CGSizeMake(280, 9999); //280:max width of label and 9999-max height of label.

// use font information from the UILabel to calculate the size
CGSize expectedLabelSize = [label sizeThatFits:maximumLabelSize];

//Deprecated in iOS 7.0
//CGSize expectedLabelSize = [message sizeWithFont:label.font constrainedToSize:maximumLabelSize lineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByWordWrapping];

// create a frame that is filled with the UILabel frame data
CGRect newFrame = label.frame;

// resizing the frame to calculated size
newFrame.size.height = expectedLabelSize.height;

// put calculated frame into UILabel frame
label.frame = newFrame;

Swift

var message: String = "Some dynamic text for label"
//set the text and style if any.
label.text = message
label.numberOfLines = 0
var maximumLabelSize: CGSize = CGSize(width: 280, height: 9999)
var expectedLabelSize: CGSize = label.sizeThatFits(maximumLabelSize)
// create a frame that is filled with the UILabel frame data
var newFrame: CGRect = label.frame
// resizing the frame to calculated size
newFrame.size.height = expectedLabelSize.height
// put calculated frame into UILabel frame
label.frame = newFrame

Found a mistake? Have a question or improvement idea? Let me know.

Table Of Contents