280

How do I programmatically create graphical elements (like a UIButton) in Swift? I tried to create and add button into a view, but wasn't able to.

24 Answers 24

448

Here is a complete solution to add a UIButton programmatically with the targetAction.
Swift 2.2

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .greenColor()
  button.setTitle("Test Button", forState: .Normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

It is probably better to use NSLayoutConstraint rather than frame to correctly place the button for each iPhone screen.

Updated code to Swift 3.1:

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .green
  button.setTitle("Test Button", for: .normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

Updated code to Swift 4.2:

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .green
  button.setTitle("Test Button", for: .normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

@objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

The above still works if func buttonAction is declared private or internal.

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10 Comments

and don't forget that your target class should be derived from NSObject
and dont forget that the function that is your action cannot be private
It's weird that they decided to do action with string instead of using a function (with strings it's even more unsafe than selectors!). Backwards compatibility with Obj-C probably :(
As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!".
Anyone knows where to copy&paste the code when created an empty application?
|
104

You can add UIButton,UIlable and UITextfield programmatically in this way.

UIButton code

// var button   = UIButton.buttonWithType(UIButtonType.System) as UIButton
let button = UIButton(type: .System) // let preferred over var here
button.frame = CGRectMake(100, 100, 100, 50)
button.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
button.setTitle("Button", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: "Action:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(button)

UILabel Code

var label: UILabel = UILabel()
label.frame = CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 21)
label.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
label.text = "test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)

UITextField code

var txtField: UITextField = UITextField()
txtField.frame = CGRectMake(50, 70, 200, 30)
txtField.backgroundColor = UIColor.grayColor()
self.view.addSubview(txtField)

Hope this is helpful for you.

5 Comments

so, why do you need the "as" operator in the first line of code you shared before UIButton...?
buttonWithType returns type AnyObject, so you need to cast it as a UIButton
@ElgsQianChen You can use this code according to your requirement. for example you want to add a UIButton when view appear you add the code in viewWillAppear.
As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!".
For people who run into Objective C String literals deprecated warnings Correct answer is here: stackoverflow.com/a/36308587/968848
74

For Swift 3

let button = UIButton()
button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
button.setTitle("your Button Name", for: .normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(button)

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
}

For Swift 4+

 let button = UIButton()
 button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
 button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
 button.setTitle("Name your Button ", for: .normal)
 button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
 self.view.addSubview(button)

 @objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
 }

2 Comments

button.frame = (frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 20, width: 50, height: 50)) should be button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 20, width: 50, height: 50)
In Swift 4 before "func" need to add "@objc".
30

Swift 3

let btn = UIButton(type: .custom) as UIButton
btn.backgroundColor = .blue
btn.setTitle("Button", for: .normal)
btn.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 200, height: 100)
btn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(clickMe), for: .touchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(btn)

func clickMe(sender:UIButton!) {
  print("Button Clicked")
}

Output

enter image description here

1 Comment

Thanks, m8! Starting up with Swift today so everything is kind of strange (:
18

How to do this using Swift 3.0.

func createButton() {
    let button = UIButton(type: .system)
    button.frame = CGRect(x: 100.0, y: 100.0, width: 100.0, height: 100.0)
    button.setTitle(NSLocalizedString("Button", comment: "Button"), for: .normal)
    button.backgroundColor = .green
    button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction(sender:)), for: .touchUpInside)
    view.addSubview(button)
}

@objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton) {
    print("Button pushed")
}

Comments

16
 var sampleButton:UIButton?

 override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

 }
 override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {

  sampleButton = UIButton(type: .RoundedRect)
  //sampleButton.frame = CGRect(x:50, y:500, width:70, height:50)

  sampleButton!.setTitle("Sample \n UI Button", forState: .Normal)
  sampleButton!.titleLabel?.lineBreakMode = .ByWordWrapping
  sampleButton!.titleLabel?.textAlignment = .Center
  sampleButton!.setTitleColor(UIColor.whiteColor(), forState: .Normal)
  sampleButton!.layer.cornerRadius = 6
  sampleButton!.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor().colorWithAlphaComponent(0.6)
  sampleButton?.tintColor =  UIColor.brownColor()


  //Add padding around text
  sampleButton!.titleEdgeInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(-10,-10,-10,-10)
  sampleButton!.contentEdgeInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(5,5,5,5)

  //Action set up
  sampleButton!.addTarget(self, action: "sampleButtonClicked", forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
  self.view.addSubview(sampleButton!)


  //Button Constraints:
  sampleButton!.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false

  //To anchor above the tab bar on the bottom of the screen:
  let bottomButtonConstraint = sampleButton!.bottomAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(bottomLayoutGuide.topAnchor, constant: -20)

  //edge of the screen in InterfaceBuilder:
  let margins = view.layoutMarginsGuide
  let leadingButtonConstraint = sampleButton!.leadingAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(margins.leadingAnchor)

  bottomButtonConstraint.active = true
  leadingButtonConstraint.active = true


 }
 func sampleButtonClicked(){

  print("sample Button Clicked")

 }

Comments

14

The API hasn't changed - only the syntax has. You can make a UIButton and add it like this:

var button = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 50, 50))
self.view.addSubview(button) // assuming you're in a view controller

Comments

12

For Swift 5 just the same as Swift 4

 let button = UIButton()
 button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
 button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
 button.setTitle("Name your Button ", for: .normal)
 button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
 self.view.addSubview(button)

 @objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
 }

1 Comment

Hi @Zgpeace, I tried above solution as per your advice above. Still compiler shows some errors. Do I have to assign any protocol to the class? Can you advice? [email protected]:Mairoslav/ClickCounter.git
8

You can create like this and you can add action also like this....

import UIKit

let myButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50))

init(nibName nibNameOrNil: String!, bundle nibBundleOrNil: NSBundle!)
{       super.init(nibName: nibName, bundle: nibBundle) 
        myButton.targetForAction("tappedButton:", withSender: self)
}

func tappedButton(sender: UIButton!)
{ 
     println("tapped button")
}

3 Comments

sorry, but the compiler sent error in line - self.view.addSubview(view: myButton). Error is next: "Extraneous argument label 'view:' in call"
Please remove this line self.view.addSubview(view: myButton) For more info see my edited answer.
Thank you, but how I can add this button on self.view?
6

Add this code in viewDidLoad
//add Button

            var button=UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(150, 240, 75, 30))
            button.setTitle("Next", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
            button.addTarget(self, action: "buttonTapAction:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
            button.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
            self.view.addSubview(button)

Write this function outside it,this will call when you tap on the button

func buttonTapAction(sender:UIButton!)
{
    println("Button is working")
}

Comments

6

In Swift 2 and iOS 9.2.1

var button: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.Custom) as UIButton
self.button.frame = CGRectMake(130, 70, 60, 20)
self.button.setTitle("custom button", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
self.button.addTarget(self, action:"buttonActionFuncName", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
self.button.setTitleColor(UIColor.blackColor(), forState: .Normal)
self.button.layer.borderColor = UIColor.blackColor().CGColor
self.button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Bold", size: 13)
self.view.addSubview(self.button)

Comments

4

It is possible. You do everything pretty much the same way except use the swift syntax. For example you could make a UIButton in code like this:

 var button: UIButton = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 100))

Comments

3

For create UIButton from storyboard: 1 - Drag UIButton object from Object Library to ViewController in storyboard file 2 - Show Assistant editor 3 - Drag with right click from UIButton create above into your class. The result is the following:

@IBAction func buttonActionFromStoryboard(sender: UIButton)
{
    println("Button Action From Storyboard")
}

For create UIButton programmatically: 1- Write into "override func viewDidLoad()":

        let uiButton    = UIButton.buttonWithType(UIButtonType.System) as UIButton
        uiButton.frame  = CGRectMake(16, 116, 288, 30)
        uiButton.setTitle("Second", forState: UIControlState.Normal);
        uiButton.addTarget(self, action: "buttonActionFromCode:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(uiButton)

2- add the IBAction func:

@IBAction func buttonActionFromCode(sender:UIButton)
{
    println("Button Action From Code")
}

1 Comment

As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!".
3
            let myFirstButton = UIButton()
            myFirstButton.setTitle("Software Button", forState: .Normal)
            myFirstButton.setTitleColor(UIColor.redColor(), forState: .Normal)
            myFirstButton.frame = CGRectMake(100, 300, 150, 50)
            myFirstButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.purpleColor()
            myFirstButton.layer.cornerRadius = 14
            myFirstButton.addTarget(self, action: "pressed:", forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
            self.view.addSubview(myFirstButton)
            myFirstButton.hidden=true
            nameText.delegate = self


func pressed(sender: UIButton!) {
        var alertView = UIAlertView()
        alertView.addButtonWithTitle("Ok")
        alertView.title = "title"
        alertView.message = "message"
        alertView.show();
    }

Comments

3

Yeah in simulator. Some times it wont recognise the selector there is a bug it seems. Even i faced not for your code , then i just changed the action name (selector). It works

let buttonPuzzle:UIButton = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(100, 400, 100, 50))
buttonPuzzle.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
buttonPuzzle.setTitle("Puzzle", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
buttonPuzzle.addTarget(self, action: "buttonAction:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
buttonPuzzle.tag = 22;
self.view.addSubview(buttonPuzzle)

Selector Function is Here:

func buttonAction(sender:UIButton!)
{

    var btnsendtag:UIButton = sender
    if btnsendtag.tag == 22 {            
        //println("Button tapped tag 22")
    }
}

2 Comments

Seems like I'm running into the same issue. I initially created the button a IBAction in the storyboard, but I get "unrecognized selector sent to instance", then I delete the IBAction created that way and tried using .addTarget, they both lead to the same error.
What worked for me was to delete all the IBOutlet and IBAction code in the .swift file and all the connections in InterfaceBuilder. Then re-creating everything.
2

Step 1: Make a new project

enter image description here

Step 2: in ViewController.swift

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // CODE
        let btn = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.System) as UIButton        
        btn.backgroundColor = UIColor.blueColor()
        btn.setTitle("CALL TPT AGENT", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
        btn.frame = CGRectMake(100, 100, 200, 100)
        btn.addTarget(self, action: "clickMe:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(btn)

    }

    func clickMe(sender:UIButton!) {
      print("CALL")
    }

    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
        // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
    }


}

Comments

2

This works for me very well, #DynamicButtonEvent #IOS #Swift #Xcode

func setupButtonMap(){
    let mapButton = UIButton(type: .system)
    mapButton.setImage(#imageLiteral(resourceName: "CreateTrip").withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal), for: .normal)
    mapButton.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 34, height: 34)
    mapButton.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
    mapButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
    mapButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(ViewController.btnOpenMap(_:)), for: .touchUpInside)
    navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(customView: mapButton)
    }
@IBAction func btnOpenMap(_ sender: Any?) {
    print("Successful")
}

Comments

2

Write this sample code in Swift 4.2 for add Button Programmatically.

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
        let myButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
        myButton.backgroundColor = .green
        myButton.setTitle("Hello UIButton", for: .normal)
        myButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(myButtonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(myButton)
}

 @objc func myButtonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("My Button tapped")
}

Comments

1
    // UILabel:
    let label = UILabel()
    label.frame = CGRectMake(35, 100, 250, 30)
    label.textColor = UIColor.blackColor()
    label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
    label.text = "Hello World"
    self.view.addSubview(label)

    // UIButton:
    let btn: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.Custom) as UIButton
    btn.frame = CGRectMake(130, 70, 60, 20)
    btn.setTitle("Click", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
    btn.setTitleColor(UIColor.blackColor(), forState: .Normal)
    btn.addTarget(self, action:Selector("clickAction"), forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
    view.addSubview(btn)


    // Button Action:
    @IBAction func clickAction(sender:AnyObject)
    {
        print("Click Action")
    }

Comments

0

Swift: Ui Button create programmatically

let myButton = UIButton()

myButton.titleLabel!.frame = CGRectMake(15, 54, 300, 500)
myButton.titleLabel!.text = "Button Label"
myButton.titleLabel!.textColor = UIColor.redColor()
myButton.titleLabel!.textAlignment = .Center
self.view.addSubview(myButton)

Comments

0

enter image description here

 func viewDidLoad(){
                    saveActionButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50))
                    self.saveActionButton.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 217/255, blue: 100/255, alpha: 0.7)
                    saveActionButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(doneAction), for: .touchUpInside)
                    self.saveActionButton.setTitle("Done", for: .normal)
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.cornerRadius = self.saveActionButton.frame.size.width / 2
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.borderColor = UIColor.darkGray.cgColor
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.borderWidth = 1
                    self.saveActionButton.center.y = self.view.frame.size.height - 80
                    self.view.addSubview(saveActionButton)
        }

          func doneAction(){
          print("Write your own logic")
         }

Comments

0

I usually go for setup an extension of UIBotton. Swift 5.

let button: UIButton = UIButton()
override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
     button.setup(title: "OK", x: 100, y: 430, width: 220, height: 80, color: .yellow)
        buttonD.setTitleColor(.black, for: .normal)

}
extension UIButton {
    func setup(title: String, x: CGFloat, y: CGFloat, width: CGFloat, height: CGFloat, color: UIColor){
        frame = CGRect(x: x, y: y, width: width, height: height)
        backgroundColor = color
        setTitle(title , for: .normal) 
        }
    }

Comments

-1
Uilabel code 

var label: UILabel = UILabel()
label.frame = CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 21)
label.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
label.text = "test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)

1 Comment

It is always advised to add some explanation to your code
-2
override func viewDidLoad() {

super.viewDidLoad()
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.

    var imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRectMake(100, 150, 150, 150));
    var image = UIImage(named: "BattleMapSplashScreen.png");
    imageView.image = image;
    self.view.addSubview(imageView);

}

Comments

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