Resize Custom cell with a UILabel on it based on content text from JSON file

Question

I\'m parsing a JSON string into a custom table view cell. How can I resize the label\'s height to fit the content text and also resize the cell to fit it\'s content.

Th

Answer 1

This Is a full code for resizing the cell's height according to the text length for each indexPath:

The .h file:

#import 

@interface ViewController : UIViewController  {
    IBOutlet UITableView *_tableView;
    UIActivityIndicatorView *_activityIndicatorView;
    NSArray *_movies;
    CGFloat cellTextWidth;
    CGFloat cellHeightExceptText;
}
@property (nonatomic, retain) UIFont *fontForCellText;
@property (nonatomic, retain) UITableView *tableView;
@property (nonatomic, retain) UIActivityIndicatorView *activityIndicatorView;
@property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *movies;

@end

The .m file:

#import "ViewController.h"
#import "AFNetworking.h"
#import "ParseFeedCell.h"

@interface ViewController ()

@end

@implementation ViewController
@synthesize tableView = _tableView, activityIndicatorView = _activityIndicatorView, movies = _movies;
@synthesize fontForCellText;

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.

    NSArray *nib = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"ParseFeedCell" owner:self options:nil];
    ParseFeedCell *cell = [nib objectAtIndex:0];
    fontForCellText = cell.title.font;
    cellTextWidth = cell.title.frame.size.width;
    cellHeightExceptText = cell.frame.size.height - cell.title.frame.size.height;

    [self.navigationController setNavigationBarHidden:YES];

    self.tableView.separatorColor = [UIColor clearColor];

    // Setting Up Activity Indicator View
    self.activityIndicatorView = [[UIActivityIndicatorView alloc] initWithActivityIndicatorStyle:UIActivityIndicatorViewStyleGray];
    self.activityIndicatorView.hidesWhenStopped = YES;
    self.activityIndicatorView.center = self.view.center;
    [self.view addSubview:self.activityIndicatorView];
    [self.activityIndicatorView startAnimating];
    self.tableView.separatorColor = [UIColor clearColor];

    // Initializing Data Source
    //self.movies = [[NSArray alloc] init];

    NSURL *url = [[NSURL alloc] initWithString:@"your-website.com/json_file?name=Name"];
    NSURLRequest *request = [[NSURLRequest alloc] initWithURL:url];

    AFJSONRequestOperation *operation = [AFJSONRequestOperation JSONRequestOperationWithRequest:request success:^(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, id JSON) {
        self.movies = [[NSArray alloc] initWithArray:JSON];
        [self.activityIndicatorView stopAnimating];
        [self.tableView reloadData];

    } failure:^(NSURLRequest *request, NSHTTPURLResponse *response, NSError *error, id JSON) {
        NSLog(@"Request Failed with Error: %@, %@", error, error.userInfo);
    }];

    [operation start];
}

// Table View Data Source Methods
- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    if (self.movies && self.movies.count) {
        return self.movies.count;
    } else {
        return 0;
    }
}

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {
    static NSString *simpleTableIdentifier = @"ParseFeedCell";

    ParseFeedCell *cell = (ParseFeedCell *)[tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:simpleTableIdentifier];
    if (cell == nil)
    {
        NSArray *nib = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"ParseFeedCell" owner:self options:nil];
        cell = [nib objectAtIndex:0];
        cell.selectionStyle = UITableViewCellSelectionStyleNone;

    }

    NSDictionary *movie = [self.movies objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    NSString *strText = [movie objectForKey:@"message"];

    CGRect rect = cell.title.frame;
    rect.size.height = [self getHeightForText:strText];
    cell.title.frame = rect;
    cell.title.text = strText;
    cell.arrow.center = CGPointMake(cell.arrow.frame.origin.x, rect.origin.y + rect.size.height/2);
    cell.published.text = [movie objectForKey:@"published"];
    return cell;
}

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    NSDictionary *movie = [self.movies objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];
    NSString *strText = [movie objectForKey:@"message"];

    CGFloat cellHeight = cellHeightExceptText + [self getHeightForText:strText];

    return cellHeight;
}

- (CGFloat)getHeightForText:(NSString *)strText
{
    CGSize constraintSize = CGSizeMake(cellTextWidth, MAXFLOAT);
    CGSize labelSize = [strText sizeWithFont:fontForCellText constrainedToSize:constraintSize lineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByWordWrapping];
    NSLog(@"labelSize.height = %f",labelSize.height);
    return labelSize.height;
}

Make sure that the Autolayout for your custom cell "ParseFeedCell" is off (Not Checked):

Also change the number of Lines of the text UILabel to 999999 so it's not limited to lines. I am sure that with a bit of research you can find a way to know how many lines the text is and assign the lines to the UILabel programatically.