[ios] How to call gesture tap on UIView programmatically in swift

I have a UIView and and I have added tap gesture to it:

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: Selector("handleTap:"))
tap.delegate = self
myView.addGesture(tap)

I am trying to call it programmatically in the testfile.

sendActionForEvent

I am using this function, but it is not working:

myView.sendActionForEvent(UIEvents.touchUpDown)

It shows unrecognised selector sent to instance.

How can I solve this problem?

You need to initialize UITapGestureRecognizer with a target and action, like so:

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: "handleTap:")
tap.delegate = self
myView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

Then, you should implement the handler, which will be called each time when a tap event occurs:

func handleTap(sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
  // handling code
}

If you want Objective C code is given below,

UITapGestureRecognizer *gesRecognizer = [[UITapGestureRecognizer alloc] initWithTarget:self action:@selector(handleTap:)]; // Declare the Gesture.
gesRecognizer.delegate = self;
[yourView addGestureRecognizer:gesRecognizer]; // Add Gesture to your view.

// Declare the Gesture Recognizer handler method.

- (void)handleTap:(UITapGestureRecognizer *)gestureRecognizer{
   NSLog(@"Tapped");
}

or you want swift code is given below,

import UIKit
class ViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBOutlet weak var myView: UIView!

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // Add tap gesture recognizer to view
        let tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: Selector("handleTap:"))
        myView.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)
    }

    // this method is called when a tap is recognized
    func handleTap(sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {

        print("tap")
    }
}

Swift 4

First, create an object of UITapGestureRecognizer

var tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer()

The second step is to initialise UITapGestureReconizer. Enable the user interaction, then add it.

override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
    tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(YourViewController.myviewTapped(_:)))
            infosView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
            infosView.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)
view.addSubview(infosView)
}

Third, create a method

@objc func myviewTapped(_ recognizer: UIGestureRecognizer) {
                print("button is tapped")
            }

I worked out on Xcode 7.3.1 on Swift 2.2. See below.

func addTapGesture() {
    let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(MyViewController.handleTap))
    tap.numberOfTapsRequired = 1
    self.myView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
}

func handleTap() {
    // Your code here...
}

I worked out on Xcode 6.4 on swift. See below.

var view1: UIView!

func assignTapToView1() {          
  let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: Selector("handleTap"))
  //  tap.delegate = self
  view1.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
  self.view .addSubview(view1)

...
}

func handleTap() {
 print("tap working")
 view1.removeFromSuperview()
 // view1.alpha = 0.1
}

Instead of invoking myView's UITapGestureRecognizer, you can directly call the handleTap function,

Try the following swift code (tested in Xcode 6.3.1):

    import UIKit

    class KEUITapGesture150427 : UIViewController {
      var _myTap: UITapGestureRecognizer?
      var _myView: UIView?

      override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.whiteColor();

        _myTap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self
, action: Selector("_myHandleTap:"))
        _myTap!.numberOfTapsRequired = 1

        _myView = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(100, 200, 100, 100))
        _myView!.backgroundColor=UIColor.blueColor()
        _myView!.layer.cornerRadius = 20
        _myView!.layer.borderWidth = 1
        _myView!.addGestureRecognizer(_myTap!)
        view.addSubview(_myView!)
      }

      func _myHandleTap(sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
        if sender.state == .Ended {
          println("_myHandleTap(sender.state == .Ended)")
          sender.view!.backgroundColor
          = UIColor(red: CGFloat(drand48()), green: CGFloat(drand48()), blue: CGFloat(drand48()), alpha: 1.0);
        }
      }
    }

Note that your target could be any subclass of UIResponder, see (tested in Xcode 6.3.1):

    import UIKit

    class MyTapTarget  : UIResponder {
      func _myHandleTap2(sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
        if sender.state == .Ended {
          println("_myHandleTap2(sender.state == .Ended)")
          sender.view!.backgroundColor
            = UIColor(red: CGFloat(drand48()), green: CGFloat(drand48()), blue: CGFloat(drand48()), alpha: 1.0);
        }
      }
    }

    class KEUITapGesture150427b : UIViewController {
      var _myTap: UITapGestureRecognizer?
      var _myView: UIView?
      var _myTapTarget: MyTapTarget?

      override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        view.backgroundColor = UIColor.whiteColor();

        _myTapTarget = MyTapTarget()
        _myTap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: _myTapTarget!
, action: Selector("_myHandleTap2:"))
        _myTap!.numberOfTapsRequired = 1

        _myView = UIView(frame: CGRectMake(100, 200, 100, 100))
        _myView!.backgroundColor=UIColor.blueColor()
        _myView!.layer.cornerRadius = 20
        _myView!.layer.borderWidth = 1
        _myView!.addGestureRecognizer(_myTap!)
        view.addSubview(_myView!)
      }
    }

    let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: Selector("handleFrontTap:"))
    frontView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

// Make sure this is not private
func handleFrontTap(gestureRecognizer: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
    print("tap working")
}

Complete answer for Swift 4

Step 1: create an outlet for the view

@IBOutlet weak var rightViewOutlet: UIView!

Step 2: define a tap gesture

var tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer()

Step 3: create ObjC function (called when view tapped)

@objc func rightViewTapped(_ recognizer: UIGestureRecognizer) {
    print("Right button is tapped")
}

Step 4: add the following within viewDidLoad()

let rightTap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(ViewController.rightViewTapped(_:)))
    rightViewOutlet.addGestureRecognizer(rightTap)

xCode 9.3, Swift 4.0

class BaseVC: UIViewController, UIGestureRecognizerDelegate { 

      @IBOutlet weak var iView: UIView!

      override func viewDidLoad() {
          super.viewDidLoad()
          let clickUITapGestureRecognizer = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.onSelect(_:)))
          clickUITapGestureRecognizer.delegate = self
          iView?.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
      }

      func gestureRecognizer(_ gestureRecognizer: UIGestureRecognizer, shouldReceive touch: UITouch) -> Bool {
          return true
      }


     @IBAction func onSelect(_ sender: Any) {

     }
}

Just a note - Don't forget to enabled interaction on the view:

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(handleTap))

view.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

// view.userInteractionEnabled = true

self.view.addSubview(view)

try the following extension

    extension UIView {

    func  addTapGesture(action : @escaping ()->Void ){
        let tap = MyTapGestureRecognizer(target: self , action: #selector(self.handleTap(_:)))
        tap.action = action
        tap.numberOfTapsRequired = 1

        self.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
        self.isUserInteractionEnabled = true

    }
    @objc func handleTap(_ sender: MyTapGestureRecognizer) {
        sender.action!()
    }
}

class MyTapGestureRecognizer: UITapGestureRecognizer {
    var action : (()->Void)? = nil
}

and then use it :

submitBtn.addTapGesture {
     //your code
}

you can even use it for cell

cell.addTapGesture {
     //your code
}

This is how it works in Swift 3:

@IBOutlet var myView: UIView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()

    let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action:#selector(handleTap))

    myView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
}

func handleTap() {
    print("tapped")
}

For Swift 4:

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.handleTap(_:)))

view.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

view.isUserInteractionEnabled = true

self.view.addSubview(view)

// function which is triggered when handleTap is called
@objc func handleTap(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
    print("Hello World")
}

In Swift 4, you need to explicitly indicate that the triggered function is callable from Objective-C, so you need to add @objc too your handleTap function.

See @Ali Beadle 's answer here: Swift 4 add gesture: override vs @objc

Inside ViewDidLoad

let tapGestureRecognizer = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(imageTapped(tapGestureRecognizer:)))
    self.imgMainAdView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
    self.imgMainAdView.addGestureRecognizer(tapGestureRecognizer)

//MARK: - Image Tap Method -
@objc func imageTapped(tapGestureRecognizer: UITapGestureRecognizer)
{
    print("Tapped")
    if let url = URL(string: self.strMAinAdvLink)
    {
        UIApplication.shared.open(url, options: [:])
    }
}

Calling Purpose

@IBAction func btnCall1Action(_ sender: Any)
{
    let text = self.strPhoneNumber1!
    let test = String(text.filter { !" -()".contains($0) })
    UIApplication.shared.openURL(NSURL(string: "tel://\(test)")! as URL)
}

Mail Purpose

MFMailComposeViewControllerDelegate

 @IBAction func btnMailAction(_ sender: Any)
{
    let strEmail = SAFESTRING(str:  (self.dictEventDetails?.value(forKeyPath: "Email.value_text.email") as! String))

    if !MFMailComposeViewController.canSendMail()
    {
        AppDelegate.sharedInstance().showAlertAction(strTitle: "OK", strMessage: "Mail services are not available") { (success) in
        }
        return
    }
    let composeVC = MFMailComposeViewController()
    composeVC.mailComposeDelegate = self
    composeVC.setToRecipients([strEmail])
    composeVC.setSubject("")
    composeVC.setMessageBody("", isHTML: false)
    self.present(composeVC, animated: true, completion: nil)
}
func mailComposeController(_ controller: MFMailComposeViewController, didFinishWith result: MFMailComposeResult, error: Error?)
{
    controller.dismiss(animated: true, completion: nil)
}

For anyone looking to activate a views tap gesture recognizer without having direct access to the gesture recognizer... when returning to a page I had to fill bubbles that were previously filled by tapping. I kept track of those bubbles tags (bubs) ...

func fillBubs(bubs: [Int]) {
    for bub in bubs {
        let bubble = view.viewWithTag(bub)
        if bubble == nil {continue}
        for g in bubble!.gestureRecognizers! {
            let tap = g as! UITapGestureRecognizer
            handleBub(tap)
        }
    }
}

@objc func handleBub(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer? = nil) {
    let bubble = sender?.view!
    bubble?.layer.backgroundColor = #colorLiteral(red: 0, green: 0, blue: 0, alpha: 1)
}

STEP : 1

@IBOutlet var viewTap: UIView!

STEP : 2

var tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer()

STEP : 3

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
    // TAP Gesture
    tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(ViewController.myviewTapped(_:)))
    tapGesture.numberOfTapsRequired = 1
    tapGesture.numberOfTouchesRequired = 1
    viewTap.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)
    viewTap.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
}

STEP : 4

func myviewTapped(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {

    if self.viewTap.backgroundColor == UIColor.yellow {
        self.viewTap.backgroundColor = UIColor.green
    }else{
        self.viewTap.backgroundColor = UIColor.yellow
    }
}

OUTPUT

I wanted to specify two points which kept causing me problems.

• I was creating the Gesture Recognizer on init and storing it in a let property. Apparently, adding this gesture recog to the view does not work. May be self object passed to the gesture recognizer during init, is not properly configured.
• The gesture recognizer should not be added to views with zero frames. I create all my views with zero frame and then resize them using autolayout. The gesture recognizers have to be added AFTER the views have been resized by the autolayout engine. So I add the gesture recognizer in viewDidAppear and they work.

You need to initialize UITapGestureRecognizer with a target and action, like so:

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.handleTap(_:)))
myView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

Then, you should implement the handler, which will be called each time when a tap event occurs:

@objc func handleTap(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer? = nil) {
    // handling code
}

So now calling your tap gesture recognizer event handler is as easy as calling a method:

handleTap()

For anyone who is looking for Swift 3 solution

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.handleTap(_:)))

view.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

view.isUserInteractionEnabled = true

self.view.addSubview(view)

// function which is triggered when handleTap is called
 func handleTap(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
     print("Hello World")
  }

Implementing tap gesture

let tap: UITapGestureRecognizer = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: "touchHappen") 
view.userInteractionEnabled = true
view.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

Calls this function when the tap is recognized.

func touchHappen() {
    //Causes the view (or one of its embedded text fields) to resign the first responder status.
    self.view.endEditing(true)
}

Update for For Swift 3 +

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.touchHappen(_:)))
yourView.addGestureRecognizer(tap)
yourView.userInteractionEnabled = true

func touchHappen(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
    print("Hello Dear you are here")
}

Swift 5.1 Example for three view

Step:1 -> Add storyboard view and add outlet viewController UIView

@IBOutlet var firstView: UIView!
@IBOutlet var secondView: UIView!
@IBOutlet var thirdView: UIView!

Step:2 -> Add storyBoard view Tag

Step:3 -> Add gesture

override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        firstView.addGestureRecognizer(UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.tap(_:))))
        firstView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
        secondView.addGestureRecognizer(UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.tap(_:))))
        secondView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
        thirdView.addGestureRecognizer(UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.tap(_:))))
        thirdView.isUserInteractionEnabled = true
    }

Step:4 -> select view

@objc func tap(_ gestureRecognizer: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
        let tag = gestureRecognizer.view?.tag
        switch tag! {
        case 1 :
            print("select first view")
        case 2 :
            print("select second view")
        case 3 :
            print("select third view")
        default:
            print("default")
        }
    }

Here is the simplest way to add Gestures on View in Swift 5

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        addGestures()
    }

    // MARK: Add Gestures to target view
    func addGestures()
    {
        // 1. Single Tap or Touch
        let tapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.tapGetstureDetected))
        tapGesture.numberOfTapsRequired = 1
        view.addGestureRecognizer(tapGesture)

        //2. Double Tap
        let doubleTapGesture = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.doubleTapGestureDetected))
        doubleTapGesture.numberOfTapsRequired = 2
        view.addGestureRecognizer(doubleTapGesture)

        //3. Swipe
        let swipeGesture = UISwipeGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.swipeGetstureDetected))
        view.addGestureRecognizer(swipeGesture)

        //4. Pinch
        let pinchGesture = UIPinchGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.pinchGetstureDetected))
        view.addGestureRecognizer(pinchGesture)

        //5. Long Press
        let longPressGesture = UILongPressGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.longPressGetstureDetected))
        view.addGestureRecognizer(longPressGesture)

        //6. Pan
        let panGesture = UILongPressGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.panGestureDetected))
        view.addGestureRecognizer(panGesture)

    }

    // MARK: Handle Gesture detection
    @objc func swipeGetstureDetected() {
        print("Swipe Gesture detected!!")
    }

    @objc func tapGetstureDetected() {
        print("Touch/Tap Gesture detected!!")
    }

    @objc func pinchGetstureDetected() {
        print("Pinch Gesture detected!!")
    }

    @objc func longPressGetstureDetected() {
        print("Long Press Gesture detected!!")
    }

    @objc func doubleTapGestureDetected() {
        print("Double Tap Gesture detected!!")
    }

    @objc func panGestureDetected()
    {
        print("Pan Gesture detected!!")
    }


    //MARK: Shake Gesture
    override func becomeFirstResponder() -> Bool {
        return true
    }
    override func motionEnded(_ motion: UIEvent.EventSubtype, with event: UIEvent?){
        if motion == .motionShake
        {
            print("Shake Gesture Detected")
        }
    }
}

Swift 4

let tap = UITapGestureRecognizer(target: self, action: #selector(self.touchTapped(_:)))
    self.view.addGestureRecognizer(tap)

@objc func touchTapped(_ sender: UITapGestureRecognizer) {
}