[objective-c] Creating layout constraints programmatically

I know that a lot people already asked tons of questions about this, but even with the answers I can't make it work.

When I'm dealing with constraints on storyboard, it's easy but in code I have a hard time. I try, for example, to have a view that stays on the right side and has the height of the screen according the screen orientation. This is my code:

UIView *myView = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 200, 748)];
myView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
[self.view addSubview:myView];
[self.view addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint
    constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"V:|-[myView(>=748)]-|"
    options:0 metrics:nil
    views:NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(myView)]];

It doesn't satisfy some constraints. I don't see what is wrong. Also, why can't I use a property like self.myView instead of a local variable like myView?

Swift version

Updated for Swift 3

This example will show two methods to programmatically add the following constraints the same as if doing it in the Interface Builder:

Width and Height

Center in Container

Boilerplate code

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    // set up the view
    let myView = UIView()
    myView.backgroundColor = UIColor.blue
    myView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
    view.addSubview(myView)

    // Add constraints code here (choose one of the methods below)
    // ...
}

Method 1: Anchor Style

// width and height
myView.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200).isActive = true
myView.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 100).isActive = true

// center in container
myView.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
myView.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerYAnchor).isActive = true

Method 2: NSLayoutConstraint Style

// width and height
NSLayoutConstraint(item: myView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.width, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: nil, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1, constant: 200).isActive = true
NSLayoutConstraint(item: myView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.height, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: nil, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.notAnAttribute, multiplier: 1, constant: 100).isActive = true

// center in container
NSLayoutConstraint(item: myView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerX, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: view, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerX, multiplier: 1, constant: 0).isActive = true
NSLayoutConstraint(item: myView, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerY, relatedBy: NSLayoutRelation.equal, toItem: view, attribute: NSLayoutAttribute.centerY, multiplier: 1, constant: 0).isActive = true

Notes

• Anchor style is the preferred method over NSLayoutConstraint Style, however it is only available from iOS 9, so if you are supporting iOS 8 then you should still use NSLayoutConstraint Style.
• See also the Programmatically Creating Constraints documentation.
• See this answer for a similar example of adding a pinning constraint.

Please also note that from iOS9 we can define constraints programmatically "more concise, and easier to read" using subclasses of the new helper class NSLayoutAnchor.

An example from the doc:

[self.cancelButton.leadingAnchor constraintEqualToAnchor:self.saveButton.trailingAnchor constant: 8.0].active = true;

Hi I have been using this page a lot for constraints and "how to". It took me forever to get to the point of realizing I needed:

myView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = NO;

to get this example to work. Thank you Userxxx, Rob M. and especially larsacus for the explanation and code here, it has been invaluable.

Here is the code in full to get the examples above to run:

UIView *myView = [[UIView alloc] init];
myView.backgroundColor = [UIColor redColor];
myView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = NO;  //This part hung me up 
[self.view addSubview:myView];
//needed to make smaller for iPhone 4 dev here, so >=200 instead of 748
[self.view addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint
                           constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"V:|-[myView(>=200)]-|"
                           options:NSLayoutFormatDirectionLeadingToTrailing
                           metrics:nil
                           views:NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(myView)]];

[self.view addConstraints:[NSLayoutConstraint
                           constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"H:[myView(==200)]-|"
                           options:NSLayoutFormatDirectionLeadingToTrailing
                           metrics:nil
                           views:NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(myView)]];

Regarding your second question about properties, you can use self.myView only if you declared it as a property in class. Since myView is a local variable, you can not use it that way. For more details on this, I would recommend you to go through the apple documentation on Declared Properties,

why can't I use a property like self.myView instead of a local variable like myView?

try using:

NSDictionaryOfVariableBindings(_view)

instead of self.view