Show iPhone cut copy paste menu on UILabel

Question

1. Can we enable the cut copy paste menu for a UILabel as it is for a UITextField?

2. If not, and I need to convert my UIL

Answer 1

@benvolioT's github project is very good example for copying. And for paste, customize canPerformAction:withSender:. For more see example CopyPasteTile.

Answer 2

For Swift you have to implement this class:

import UIKit

class CopyableLabel: UILabel {

    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)
        self.sharedInit()
    }

    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)
        self.sharedInit()
    }

    func sharedInit() {
        self.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
        self.addGestureRecognizer(UILongPressGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.showMenu)))
    }

    @objc func showMenu(sender: AnyObject?) {
        self.becomeFirstResponder()

        let menu = UIMenuController.shared

        if !menu.isMenuVisible {
            menu.setTargetRect(bounds, in: self)
            menu.setMenuVisible(true, animated: true)
        }
    }

    override func copy(_ sender: Any?) {
        let board = UIPasteboard.general

        board.string = text

        let menu = UIMenuController.shared

        menu.setMenuVisible(false, animated: true)
    }

    override var canBecomeFirstResponder: Bool {
        return true
    }

    override func canPerformAction(_ action: Selector, withSender sender: Any?) -> Bool {
        return action == #selector(UIResponderStandardEditActions.copy)
    }
}

In your storyboard just subclass the UILabel with CopyableLabel class

Answer 3

I've made an open source UILabel subclass that shows a UIMenuController with a "Copy" option upon long press:

HTCopyableLabel on GitHub

Answer 4

I got the copy & paste menu working on a UILabel, I just had to return YES for canBecomeFirstResponder and later call [label becomeFirstResponder] when the said label was to come on screen. As for returning YES from canBecomeFirstResponder, you can create a custom subclass or patch UILabel using a category:

@implementation UILabel (Clipboard)

- (BOOL) canBecomeFirstResponder
{
    return YES;
}

@end

The category solution feels a bit hackish, but if you know what you’re doing it might be easier than subclassing. I have also put up a sample project on GitHub that shows how to display a simple pasteboard menu on an UILabel.

Answer 5

I've forked zoul's sample project and added support for ARC (and a couple of other features) if anyone's still interested:

https://github.com/zhbrass/UILabel-Clipboard

CopyLabel.h/.m should be what you're looking for

Answer 6

Swift 4 ☻ Xcode 9.2. By using UIMenuController we can do it.

I have created IBDesignable Custom UILabel class which you can assign on storyboard directly

@IBDesignable
class TapAndCopyLabel: UILabel {

    override func awakeFromNib() {
        super.awakeFromNib()
        //1.Here i am Adding UILongPressGestureRecognizer by which copy popup will Appears
        let gestureRecognizer = UILongPressGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(handleLongPressGesture(_:)))
        self.addGestureRecognizer(gestureRecognizer)
        self.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
    }

    // MARK: - UIGestureRecognizer
    @objc func handleLongPressGesture(_ recognizer: UIGestureRecognizer) {
        guard recognizer.state == .recognized else { return }

        if let recognizerView = recognizer.view,
            let recognizerSuperView = recognizerView.superview, recognizerView.becomeFirstResponder()
        {
            let menuController = UIMenuController.shared
            menuController.setTargetRect(recognizerView.frame, in: recognizerSuperView)
            menuController.setMenuVisible(true, animated:true)
        }
    }
    //2.Returns a Boolean value indicating whether this object can become the first responder
    override var canBecomeFirstResponder: Bool {
        return true
    }
    //3.Here we are enabling copy action
    override func canPerformAction(_ action: Selector, withSender sender: Any?) -> Bool {
        return (action == #selector(UIResponderStandardEditActions.copy(_:)))

    }
    // MARK: - UIResponderStandardEditActions
    override func copy(_ sender: Any?) {
        //4.copy current Text to the paste board
        UIPasteboard.general.string = text
    }
}

Output: