I have a UIView
added in code at run time.
I want to draw a UIBezierPath
in it, but does this means i have to override the drawRect
for UIView?
Or is there another way of drawing to it on the custom made UIView
?
Here is the code for generating the UIView
:
UIView* shapeView = [[UIView alloc]initWithFrame:CGRectMake(xOrigin,yOrigin+(i*MENU_BLOCK_FRAME_HEIGHT), self.shapeScroll.frame.size.width, MENU_BLOCK_FRAME_HEIGHT)];
shapeView.clipsToBounds = YES;
And here is the function to create and return a UIBezierPath
:
- (UIBezierPath*)createPath
{
UIBezierPath* path = [[UIBezierPath alloc]init];
[path moveToPoint:CGPointMake(100.0, 50.0)];
[path addLineToPoint:CGPointMake(200.0,50.0)];
[path addLineToPoint:CGPointMake(200.0, 200.0)];
[path addLineToPoint:CGPointMake(100.0, 200.0)];
[path closePath];
return path;
}
It wasn't long ago that I didn't even know how to pronounce Bézier, let alone know how to use Bézier paths to make a custom shape. The following is what I have learned. It turns out that they aren't as scary as they seem at first.
These are the main steps:
drawRect
or using a CAShapeLayer
.You could do anything, but as an example I have chosen the shape below. It could be a popup key on a keyboard.
Look back at your shape design and break it down into simpler elements of lines (for straight lines), arcs (for circles and round corners), and curves (for anything else).
Here is what our example design would look like:
We'll arbitrarily start in the bottom left corner and work clockwise. I'll use the grid in the image to get the x and y values for the points. I'll hardcode everything here, but of course you wouldn't do that in a real project.
The basic process is:
UIBezierPath
moveToPoint
addLineToPoint
addArcWithCenter
addCurveToPoint
closePath
Here is the code to make the path in the image above.
func createBezierPath() -> UIBezierPath {
// create a new path
let path = UIBezierPath()
// starting point for the path (bottom left)
path.move(to: CGPoint(x: 2, y: 26))
// *********************
// ***** Left side *****
// *********************
// segment 1: line
path.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 2, y: 15))
// segment 2: curve
path.addCurve(to: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 12), // ending point
controlPoint1: CGPoint(x: 2, y: 14),
controlPoint2: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 14))
// segment 3: line
path.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 0, y: 2))
// *********************
// ****** Top side *****
// *********************
// segment 4: arc
path.addArc(withCenter: CGPoint(x: 2, y: 2), // center point of circle
radius: 2, // this will make it meet our path line
startAngle: CGFloat(M_PI), // π radians = 180 degrees = straight left
endAngle: CGFloat(3*M_PI_2), // 3π/2 radians = 270 degrees = straight up
clockwise: true) // startAngle to endAngle goes in a clockwise direction
// segment 5: line
path.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 8, y: 0))
// segment 6: arc
path.addArc(withCenter: CGPoint(x: 8, y: 2),
radius: 2,
startAngle: CGFloat(3*M_PI_2), // straight up
endAngle: CGFloat(0), // 0 radians = straight right
clockwise: true)
// *********************
// ***** Right side ****
// *********************
// segment 7: line
path.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 10, y: 12))
// segment 8: curve
path.addCurve(to: CGPoint(x: 8, y: 15), // ending point
controlPoint1: CGPoint(x: 10, y: 14),
controlPoint2: CGPoint(x: 8, y: 14))
// segment 9: line
path.addLine(to: CGPoint(x: 8, y: 26))
// *********************
// **** Bottom side ****
// *********************
// segment 10: line
path.close() // draws the final line to close the path
return path
}
Note: Some of the above code can be reduced by adding a line and an arc in a single command (since the arc has an implied starting point). See here for more details.
We can draw the path either in a layer or in drawRect
.
Method 1: Draw path in a layer
Our custom class looks like this. We add our Bezier path to a new CAShapeLayer
when the view is initialized.
import UIKit
class MyCustomView: UIView {
override init(frame: CGRect) {
super.init(frame: frame)
setup()
}
required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: aDecoder)
setup()
}
func setup() {
// Create a CAShapeLayer
let shapeLayer = CAShapeLayer()
// The Bezier path that we made needs to be converted to
// a CGPath before it can be used on a layer.
shapeLayer.path = createBezierPath().cgPath
// apply other properties related to the path
shapeLayer.strokeColor = UIColor.blue.cgColor
shapeLayer.fillColor = UIColor.white.cgColor
shapeLayer.lineWidth = 1.0
shapeLayer.position = CGPoint(x: 10, y: 10)
// add the new layer to our custom view
self.layer.addSublayer(shapeLayer)
}
func createBezierPath() -> UIBezierPath {
// see previous code for creating the Bezier path
}
}
And creating our view in the View Controller like this
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// create a new UIView and add it to the view controller
let myView = MyCustomView()
myView.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 50, height: 50)
myView.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
view.addSubview(myView)
}
We get...
Hmm, that's a little small because I hardcoded all the numbers in. I can scale the path size up, though, like this:
let path = createBezierPath()
let scale = CGAffineTransform(scaleX: 2, y: 2)
path.apply(scale)
shapeLayer.path = path.cgPath
Method 2: Draw path in draw
Using draw
is slower than drawing to the layer, so this is not the recommended method if you don't need it.
Here is the revised code for our custom view:
import UIKit
class MyCustomView: UIView {
override func draw(_ rect: CGRect) {
// create path (see previous code)
let path = createBezierPath()
// fill
let fillColor = UIColor.white
fillColor.setFill()
// stroke
path.lineWidth = 1.0
let strokeColor = UIColor.blue
strokeColor.setStroke()
// Move the path to a new location
path.apply(CGAffineTransform(translationX: 10, y: 10))
// fill and stroke the path (always do these last)
path.fill()
path.stroke()
}
func createBezierPath() -> UIBezierPath {
// see previous code for creating the Bezier path
}
}
which gives us the same result...
I really recommend looking at the following materials. They are what finally made Bézier paths understandable for me. (And taught me how to pronounce it: /ˈbɛ zi eɪ/.)