Swift 3 Create UILabel programmatically and add NSLayoutConstraints

Question

Hello I am trying to create a label programmatically and add NSLayoutConstraints so that it is centered in the superview regardless of screen size and orientation etc. I have looked but just can't find an example to follow. Here is what I have:

let codedLabel:UILabel = UILabel()
codedLabel.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 200, height: 200)
codedLabel.textAlignment = .center
codedLabel.text = alertText
codedLabel.numberOfLines=1
codedLabel.textColor=UIColor.red
codedLabel.font=UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 22)
codedLabel.backgroundColor=UIColor.lightGray

let heightConstraint:NSLayoutConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: codedLabel, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.height, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: nil, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1, constant: 200)

let widthConstraint:NSLayoutConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: codedLabel, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.width, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: nil, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1, constant: 200)

codedLabel.addConstraints([heightConstraint, widthConstraint])

let verticalConstraint:NSLayoutConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: codedLabel, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerY, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: self.contentView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerY, multiplier: 1, constant: 0)

let horizontalConstraint:NSLayoutConstraint = NSLayoutConstraint(item: codedLabel, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerX, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: self.contentView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerX, multiplier: 1, constant: 0)

self.contentView.addConstraints([verticalConstraint, horizontalConstraint])

self.contentView.addSubview(codedLabel)

Answer 1

NSLayoutAnchor was new in iOS 9 and it greatly cleans up the constraint syntax.

let codedLabel:UILabel = UILabel()
codedLabel.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 200, height: 200)
codedLabel.textAlignment = .center
codedLabel.text = alertText
codedLabel.numberOfLines=1
codedLabel.textColor=UIColor.red
codedLabel.font=UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 22)
codedLabel.backgroundColor=UIColor.lightGray

self.contentView.addSubview(codedLabel)
codedLabel.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
codedLabel.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200).isActive = true
codedLabel.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200).isActive = true
codedLabel.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: codedLabel.superview!.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
codedLabel.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: codedLabel.superview!.centerYAnchor).isActive = true