How to draw a line in Swift 3

Charles B. picture Charles B. · Nov 11, 2016 · Viewed 13.5k times · Source

I would like the user to touch 2 points and then a line is drawn between those two points. Here is what I have so far:

func drawline(){
    let context = UIGraphicsGetCurrentContext()
    context!.beginPath()
    context?.move(to: pointA)
    context?.addLine(to: pointB)
    context!.strokePath()
}

pointA is the first point the user touched and pointB is the second point. I get the error:

thread 1:EXC_BREAKPOINT

Thanks in advance for your help.

Answer

Victor Sigler picture Victor Sigler · Nov 11, 2016

To draw a line between two points the first thing you need is get the CGPoints from the current UIView, there are several ways of achieve this. I going to use an UITapGestureRecognizer for the sake of the sample to detect when you make a tap.

The another step is once you have the two points saved draw the line between the two points, and for this again you can use the graphics context as you try before or use CAShapeLayer.

So translating the explained above we get the following code:

class ViewController: UIViewController {

   var tapGestureRecognizer: UITapGestureRecognizer!

   var firstPoint: CGPoint?
   var secondPoint: CGPoint?

   override func viewDidLoad() {
       super.viewDidLoad()

       tapGestureRecognizer = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.showMoreActions(touch:)))
       tapGestureRecognizer.numberOfTapsRequired = 1
       view.addGestureRecognizer(tapGestureRecognizer)
   }

   func showMoreActions(touch: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
       let touchPoint = touch.location(in: self.view)

       guard let _ = firstPoint else {
           firstPoint = touchPoint
           return
       }

       guard let _  = secondPoint else {
           secondPoint = touchPoint
           addLine(fromPoint: firstPoint!, toPoint: secondPoint!)

           firstPoint = nil
           secondPoint = nil

           return
       }
   }

   func addLine(fromPoint start: CGPoint, toPoint end:CGPoint) {
       let line = CAShapeLayer()
       let linePath = UIBezierPath()
       linePath.move(to: start)
       linePath.addLine(to: end)
       line.path = linePath.cgPath
       line.strokeColor = UIColor.red.cgColor
       line.lineWidth = 1
       line.lineJoin = kCALineJoinRound
       self.view.layer.addSublayer(line)
   }
}

The above code is going to draw a line every time two points are selected and you can customize the above function as you like.

I hope this help you.