Set the maximum character length of a UITextField

Question

How can I set the maximum amount of characters in a UITextField on the iPhone SDK when I load up a UIView?

Answer 1

Swift 3 version //***** This will NOT work with Swift 2.x! *****//

First create a new Swift file : TextFieldMaxLength.swift, and then add the code below:

import UIKit

private var maxLengths = [UITextField: Int]()

extension UITextField {

   @IBInspectable var maxLength: Int {

      get {

          guard let length = maxLengths[self] 
             else {
                return Int.max
      }
      return length
   }
   set {
      maxLengths[self] = newValue
      addTarget(
         self,
         action: #selector(limitLength),
         for: UIControlEvents.editingChanged
      )
   }
}
func limitLength(textField: UITextField) {
    guard let prospectiveText = textField.text,
        prospectiveText.characters.count > maxLength
    else {
        return
    }

   let selection = selectedTextRange
   let maxCharIndex = prospectiveText.index(prospectiveText.startIndex, offsetBy: maxLength)
   text = prospectiveText.substring(to: maxCharIndex)
   selectedTextRange = selection
   }
}

and then you will see in Storyboard a new field (Max Length) when you select any TextField

if you still have more questions check out this link: http://www.globalnerdy.com/2016/05/18/ios-programming-trick-how-to-use-xcode-to-set-a-text-fields-maximum-length-visual-studio-style/

Answer 2

Swift 4

import UIKit

private var kAssociationKeyMaxLength: Int = 0

extension UITextField {
    
    @IBInspectable var maxLength: Int {
        get {
            if let length = objc_getAssociatedObject(self, &kAssociationKeyMaxLength) as? Int {
                return length
            } else {
                return Int.max
            }
        }
        set {
            objc_setAssociatedObject(self, &kAssociationKeyMaxLength, newValue, .OBJC_ASSOCIATION_RETAIN)
            addTarget(self, action: #selector(checkMaxLength), for: .editingChanged)
        }
    }
    
    @objc func checkMaxLength(textField: UITextField) {
        guard let prospectiveText = self.text,
            prospectiveText.count > maxLength
            else {
                return
        }
        
        let selection = selectedTextRange
        
        let indexEndOfText = prospectiveText.index(prospectiveText.startIndex, offsetBy: maxLength)
        let substring = prospectiveText[..<indexEndOfText]
        text = String(substring)
        
        selectedTextRange = selection
    }
}

Edit: memory leak issue fixed.

Answer 3

What about this simple approach. Its working fine for me.

extension UITextField {

    func  charactersLimit(to:Int) {

        if (self.text!.count > to) {
            self.deleteBackward()
        }
    }
}

Then:

someTextField.charactersLimit(to:16)

Answer 4

For Xamarin:

YourTextField.ShouldChangeCharacters = 
delegate(UITextField textField, NSRange range, string replacementString)
        {
            return (range.Location + replacementString.Length) <= 4; // MaxLength == 4
        };

Answer 5

I have implemented a UITextField Extension to add a maxLength property to it.

It's based on Xcode 6 IBInspectables, so you can set the maxLength limit on the Interface builder.

Here is the implementation:

UITextField+MaxLength.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface UITextField_MaxLength : UITextField<UITextFieldDelegate>

@property (nonatomic)IBInspectable int textMaxLength;
@end

UITextField+MaxLength.m

#import "UITextField+MaxLength.h"

@interface UITextField_MaxLength()

@property (nonatomic, assign) id <UITextFieldDelegate> superDelegate;

@end

@implementation UITextField_MaxLength

- (BOOL)textField:(UITextField *) textField shouldChangeCharactersInRange:(NSRange)range replacementString:(NSString *)string {

    //validate the length, only if it's set to a non zero value
    if (self.textMaxLength>0) {
        if(range.length + range.location > textField.text.length)
            return NO;

        if (textField.text.length+string.length - range.length>self.textMaxLength) {
            return NO;
        }
    }

    //if length validation was passed, query the super class to see if the delegate method is implemented there
    if (self.superDelegate && [self.superDelegate respondsToSelector:@selector(textField:shouldChangeCharactersInRange:replacementString:)]) {
        return [self.superDelegate textField:textField shouldChangeCharactersInRange:range replacementString:string];
    }
    else{
        //if the super class does not implement the delegate method, simply return YES as the length validation was passed
        return YES;
    }
}

- (void)setDelegate:(id<UITextFieldDelegate>)delegate {
    if (delegate == self)
        return;
    self.superDelegate = delegate;
    [super setDelegate:self];
}

//forward all non overriden delegate methods
- (id)forwardingTargetForSelector:(SEL)aSelector {
    if ([self.superDelegate  respondsToSelector:aSelector])
        return self.superDelegate;

    return [super forwardingTargetForSelector:aSelector];
}

- (BOOL)respondsToSelector:(SEL)aSelector {
    if ([self.superDelegate respondsToSelector:aSelector])
        return YES;

    return [super respondsToSelector:aSelector];
}
@end

Answer 6

You can't do this directly - UITextField has no maxLength attribute, but you can set the UITextField's delegate, then use:

- (BOOL)textField:(UITextField *)textField shouldChangeCharactersInRange:(NSRange)range replacementString:(NSString *)string