How to add padding-left on a UILabel created programmatically?

Question

I know this is a noob question but ...I have these labels on a tableview, but the text is completely squished to the left. I want to add a bit of padding. How do I go about it?

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section  {

    UIView* customView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(10,0,300,60)] autorelease];

    UILabel *headerLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero] autorelease];

    headerLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithHexString:[[_months objectAtIndex:section] objectForKey:@"color"]];
    headerLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:18];
    headerLabel.frame = CGRectMake(0,0,400,30);
    headerLabel.text =  [[_months objectAtIndex:section] objectForKey:@"name"];

    headerLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];


    [customView addSubview:headerLabel];

    return customView;
}

any help is much appreciated! Thanks!

Answer 1

you can simple add white space at the begin of you text;

[NSString stringWithFormat:@"  %@",text];

It is 'evil' way to add 'padding', but it may help.

Answer 2

For a full list of available solutions, see this answer: UILabel text margin

---

The most flexible approach to add padding to UILabel is to subclass UILabel and add an edgeInsets property. You then set the desired insets and the label will be drawn accordingly.

OSLabel.h

#import <UIKit/UIKit.h>

@interface OSLabel : UILabel

@property (nonatomic, assign) UIEdgeInsets edgeInsets;

@end

OSLabel.m

#import "OSLabel.h"

@implementation OSLabel

- (id)initWithFrame:(CGRect)frame{
    self = [super initWithFrame:frame];
    if (self) {
        self.edgeInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(0, 0, 0, 0);
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)drawTextInRect:(CGRect)rect {
    [super drawTextInRect:UIEdgeInsetsInsetRect(rect, self.edgeInsets)];
}

@end

Answer 3

You can create a subclass of UILabel and override intrinsicContentSize and - (CGSize)sizeThatFits:(CGSize)size:

- (CGSize) intrinsicContentSize
{
    CGSize parentSize = [super intrinsicContentSize];
    parentSize.width += 2*PADDING_VALUE;
    return parentSize;
}

- (CGSize)sizeThatFits:(CGSize)size
{
    CGSize parentSize = [super sizeThatFits:size];
    parentSize.width += 2*PADDING_VALUE;
    return parentSize;
}

Answer 4

I found a better way to do this:

-  (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section  {

    CGRect frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, 320, 25);
    UIView *customView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:frame];
    UILabel *sectionTitle = [[UILabel alloc] init];
    [customView addSubview:sectionTitle]; 
    customView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];

    frame.origin.x = 10; //move the frame over..this adds the padding!
    frame.size.width = self.view.bounds.size.width - frame.origin.x;

    sectionTitle.frame = frame;
    sectionTitle.text = @"text";
    sectionTitle.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:17];
    sectionTitle.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
    sectionTitle.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

    [sectionTitle release];

    tableView.allowsSelection = NO;

    return [customView autorelease];

}

Answer 5

You could use a UITextView instead. I did this in Cocoa but I'm pretty sure it translates to UITextView:

    NSTextView *headerLabel = [[[NSTextView alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(20.0, 20.0, 400.0, 20.0)] autorelease];
[headerLabel setBackgroundColor: [NSColor redColor]];
[headerLabel setString: @"Testing Stuff"];
[headerLabel setTextColor:  [NSColor whiteColor]];

NSSize txtPadding; 
txtPadding.width = 20.0;
txtPadding.height = 0.0;
[headerLabel setTextContainerInset:txtPadding];

[[mainWin contentView] addSubview:headerLabel];

Answer 6

Set the backgroundColor on the customView also

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section {
    CGRect frame = tableView.bounds;
    frame.size.height = HEADER_HEIGHT;
    UIView* customView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:frame] autorelease];
    customView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];    

    UILabel *headerLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectInset(frame, LABEL_PADDING, 0)] autorelease];     
    // Orientation support   
    headerLabel.autoresizingMask = UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleWidth | UIViewAutoresizingFlexibleHeight;    
    headerLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
    headerLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:18];
    headerLabel.text = @"My Text Label";        
    headerLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

    [customView addSubview:headerLabel];

    return customView;    
}

Try not to hardcode magic numbers: (add these to top of file)

#define HEADER_HEIGHT 60.0f
#define LABEL_PADDING 10.0f

Should give this

Answer 7

Try the following & play around with the padding etc.

- (UIView *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView viewForHeaderInSection:(NSInteger)section  {

    CGFloat headerHeight = 60, padding = 10;

    UIView* customView = [[[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0,0,320,headerHeight)] autorelease];
    customView.backgroundColor = [UIColor colorWithHexString:[[_months objectAtIndex:section] objectForKey:@"color"]];

    CGRect frame = CGRectMake(padding,padding,320 - 2*padding,headerHeight-2*padding);

    UILabel *headerLabel = [[[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:frame] autorelease];

    headerLabel.font = [UIFont boldSystemFontOfSize:18];
    headerLabel.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
    headerLabel.text =  [[_months objectAtIndex:section] objectForKey:@"name"];

    headerLabel.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

    [customView addSubview:headerLabel];

    return customView;
}

Answer 8

True, it's a bit inexact and hackish, but you could always add a space in front of the month name like this:

headerLabel.text = [NSString stringWithFormat:@" %@",
                    [[_months objectAtIndex:section] objectForKey:@"name"]];