Accessing “text styles” in Interface Builder and/or Storyboards

Question

In one of my apps I have a styles document with methods for different text styles, for example:

+(UIFont*)h1{
    return [UIFont fontWithName:@\"Helvetica\"          


        

Answer 1

OK, so it turns out this is possible to do! Here's how:

1. Add a styles class, where you can put all your style info in one place:

   import UIKit
   
   class MyStyles: NSObject {
     static func fontForStyle(style:String)->UIFont{
       switch style{
       case "p":
         return UIFont.systemFontOfSize(18);
       case "h1":
           return UIFont.boldSystemFontOfSize(36);
       case "h2":
           return UIFont.boldSystemFontOfSize(24);
       default:
           return MyStyle.fontForStyle("p");
       }
     }
   }
   

2. Make a subclass of any objects you'd like to implement the styles, say UILabel, and enter the following code:

   import UIKit
   
   @IBDesignable class MyLabel: UILabel {
     @IBInspectable var style:String="p"{
       didSet{self.font=MyStyle.fontForStyle(style)} 
     }
   }
   

3. Add a UILabel to your view in Interface Builder and set its class to MyLabel. Then in the Attributes Inspector, you'll see a Style field where you can type h1, h2 or whatever, and the label's font will update right away. Want to change all your h1 labels to have a size of 48? Just update MyStyles and you'll see the changes in your XIBs/Storyboards right away.

This is going to be a huge time-saver, I hope some of you find it useful too!