Width and Height Equal to its superView using autolayout programmatically?

Question

I've been looking for a lot of snippets in the net and I still can't find the answer to my problem. My question is I have a scrollView(SV) and I want to add a button inside scrollView(SV) programmatically with same width and height of its superview which is scrollView(SV) so that when user rotate the device button will have the same frame of scrollView(SV). how to do the NSLayout/NSLayoutConstraint? thanks

Answer 1

I'm not sure if this is the most efficient way to do it, but it works..

UIButton *button = [UIButton buttonWithType:UIButtonTypeCustom];
button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = NO;
// initialize


[coverForScrolView addSubview:button];

NSLayoutConstraint *width =[NSLayoutConstraint
                                    constraintWithItem:button
                                    attribute:NSLayoutAttributeWidth
                                    relatedBy:0
                                    toItem:coverForScrolView
                                    attribute:NSLayoutAttributeWidth
                                    multiplier:1.0
                                    constant:0];
NSLayoutConstraint *height =[NSLayoutConstraint
                                     constraintWithItem:button
                                     attribute:NSLayoutAttributeHeight
                                     relatedBy:0
                                     toItem:coverForScrolView
                                     attribute:NSLayoutAttributeHeight
                                     multiplier:1.0
                                     constant:0];
NSLayoutConstraint *top = [NSLayoutConstraint
                                   constraintWithItem:button
                                   attribute:NSLayoutAttributeTop
                                   relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                   toItem:coverForScrolView
                                   attribute:NSLayoutAttributeTop
                                   multiplier:1.0f
                                   constant:0.f];
NSLayoutConstraint *leading = [NSLayoutConstraint
                                       constraintWithItem:button
                                       attribute:NSLayoutAttributeLeading
                                       relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                       toItem:coverForScrolView
                                       attribute:NSLayoutAttributeLeading
                                       multiplier:1.0f
                                       constant:0.f];
[coverForScrolView addConstraint:width];
[coverForScrolView addConstraint:height];
[coverForScrolView addConstraint:top];
[coverForScrolView addConstraint:leading];

Answer 2

If someone is looking for a Swift solution – I would create a Swift extension for UIView which will help you each time you want to bind a subviews frame to its superviews bounds:

Swift 2:

extension UIView {

    /// Adds constraints to this `UIView` instances `superview` object to make sure this always has the same size as the superview.
    /// Please note that this has no effect if its `superview` is `nil` – add this `UIView` instance as a subview before calling this.
    func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
            return
        }

        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraintsWithVisualFormat("H:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .DirectionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraintsWithVisualFormat("V:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .DirectionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
    }

}

Swift 3:

extension UIView {

    /// Adds constraints to this `UIView` instances `superview` object to make sure this always has the same size as the superview.
    /// Please note that this has no effect if its `superview` is `nil` – add this `UIView` instance as a subview before calling this.
    func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
            return
        }

        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "H:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "V:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
    }
}

Swift 4.2:

extension UIView {

    /// Adds constraints to this `UIView` instances `superview` object to make sure this always has the same size as the superview.
    /// Please note that this has no effect if its `superview` is `nil` – add this `UIView` instance as a subview before calling this.
    func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
            return
        }

        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        self.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.topAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
        self.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.bottomAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
        self.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.leadingAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
        self.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.trailingAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true

    }
}

Then simply call it like this:

// after adding as a subview, e.g. `view.addSubview(subview)`
subview.bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()

Answer 3

This link can help you,follow the instructions : http://www.raywenderlich.com/20881/beginning-auto-layout-part-1-of-2

EDIT :

use following code snippet, where subview is your subivew.

[subview setTranslatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints:NO];
[self.view addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint
                           constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"H:|-0-[subview]-0-|"
                           options:NSLayoutFormatDirectionLeadingToTrailing
                           metrics:nil
                           views:NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(subview)]];
[self.view addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint
                           constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"V:|-0-[subview]-0-|"
                           options:NSLayoutFormatDirectionLeadingToTrailing
                           metrics:nil
                           views:NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(subview)]];

Answer 4

addConstraint and removeConstraint methods for UIView are going to be deprecated, so it's worth to use 'constraint creation conveniences':

view.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superView.topAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
view.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superView.bottomAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
view.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superView.leadingAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true
view.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superView.trailingAnchor, constant: 0).isActive = true

Answer 5

Approach #1: Via UIView Extension

Here's a more functional approach in Swift 3+ with a precondition instead of a print (which can perish easily in the console). This one will report programmer errors as failed builds.

Add this extension to your project:

extension UIView {
    /// Adds constraints to the superview so that this view has same size and position.
    /// Note: This fails the build if the `superview` is `nil` – add it as a subview before calling this.
    func bindEdgesToSuperview() {
        guard let superview = superview else {
            preconditionFailure("`superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindEdgesToSuperview()` to fix this.")
        }
        translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        ["H:|-0-[subview]-0-|", "V:|-0-[subview]-0-|"].forEach { visualFormat in
            superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: visualFormat, options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
        }
    }
}

Now simply call it like this:

// after adding as a subview, e.g. `view.addSubview(subview)`
subview.bindEdgesToSuperview()

Note that the above method is already integrated into my HandyUIKit framework which also adds some more handy UI helpers into your project.

---

Approach #2: Using a Framework

If you work a lot with programmatic constraints in your project then I recommend you to checkout SnapKit. It makes working with constraints a lot easier and less error-prone.

Follow the installation instructions in the docs to include SnapKit into your project. Then import it at the top of your Swift file:

import SnapKit

Now you can achieve the same thing with just this:

subview.snp.makeConstraints { make in
    make.edges.equalToSuperview()
}

Answer 6

Swift 3:

import UIKit

extension UIView {

    func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
            return
        }

        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "H:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "V:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
    }

}

Answer 7

Swift 4 using NSLayoutConstraint:

footerBoardImageView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
let widthConstraint  = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourview, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.width, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: superview, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.width, multiplier: 1, constant: 0)
let heightConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: yourview, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.height, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: superview, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.height, multiplier: 1, constant: 0)
superview.addConstraints([widthConstraint, heightConstraint])

Answer 8

I've picked the best elements from the other answers:

extension UIView {
  /// Adds constraints to this `UIView` instances `superview` object to make sure this always has the same size as the superview.
  /// Please note that this has no effect if its `superview` is `nil` – add this `UIView` instance as a subview before calling this.
  func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
    guard let superview = self.superview else {
      print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
      return
    }

    self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false

    NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
      self.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.topAnchor),
      self.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.bottomAnchor),
      self.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.leadingAnchor),
      self.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.trailingAnchor)
    ])
  }
}

You can use it like this, for example in your custom UIView:

let myView = UIView()
myView.backgroundColor = UIColor.red

self.addSubview(myView)
myView.bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()

Answer 9

As a supplemental answer, and one for those not opposed to including third party libraries, the PureLayout library provides a method to do just this. Once the library is installed, it's as simple as

myView.autoPinEdgesToSuperviewEdges()

There are other libraries which can provide similar functionality as well depending on taste, eg. Masonry, Cartography.

Answer 10

As a follow up to @Dschee's solution, here is swift 3.0 syntax: (Please note: this is not my solution, I have just fixed it for Swift 3.0)

extension UIView {

    /// Adds constraints to this `UIView` instances `superview` object to make sure this always has the same size as the superview.
    /// Please note that this has no effect if its `superview` is `nil` – add this `UIView` instance as a subview before calling this.
    func bindFrameToSuperviewBounds() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            print("Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(view: UIView)` before calling `bindFrameToSuperviewBounds()` to fix this.")
            return
        }

        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "H:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
    superview.addConstraints(NSLayoutConstraint.constraints(withVisualFormat: "V:|-0-[subview]-0-|", options: .directionLeadingToTrailing, metrics: nil, views: ["subview": self]))
}

Answer 11

I needed to cover the superview completely. The other ones wouldn't do that during orientation changes. So I wrote a new one which does - using an arbitrary size multiplier of 20. Feel free to change to your needs. Also note this one in fact makes the subview a lot bigger than the superview which might be different from requirements.

extension UIView {
    func coverSuperview() {
        guard let superview = self.superview else {
            assert(false, "Error! `superview` was nil – call `addSubview(_ view: UIView)` before calling `\(#function)` to fix this.")
            return
        }
        self.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
        let multiplier = CGFloat(20.0)
        NSLayoutConstraint.activate([
            self.heightAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.heightAnchor, multiplier: multiplier),
            self.widthAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.widthAnchor, multiplier: multiplier),
            self.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.centerXAnchor),
            self.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.centerYAnchor),
            ])
    }
}