README.md

UITextView

How to create tappable hyper link

• Add a UITextField
• Under Data Detectors select:
• Editable - false
• Selectable - true
• Link - true

ViewController

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    @IBOutlet weak var textView: UITextView!

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

    private func setup() {
        let path = "https://agilewarrior.wordpress.com/cheat-sheets/git/"
        let text = textView.text ?? ""
        let font = textView.font
        let attributedString = NSAttributedString.makeHyperlink(for: path, in: text, as: "here")
        textView.attributedText = attributedString
        textView.font = font
    }

}

extension NSAttributedString {

    static func makeHyperlink(for path: String, in string: String, as substring: String) -> NSAttributedString {
        let nsString = NSString(string: string)
        let substringRange = nsString.range(of: substring)
        let attributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: string)
        attributedString.addAttribute(.link, value: path, range: substringRange)
        return attributedString
    }
}

Discussion

• Text fields are good for this because of that link detector
• Need to save the font before the attributed text is assigned so you can assign back

How to layout a UITextField naturally

By default, UITextField is scrollable and of a fixed height. Meaning if your text is too long, you won't see it on the screen.

You can fix that by disabling the scroll ability. When you do the UITextField will lay itself out naturally at its natural height.

How to left justify multiline text

func makeChatTextView(text: String) -> UITextView {
    let textView = UITextView()
    textView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
    textView.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 16)
    textView.textColor = .gray
    textView.textAlignment = .left
    textView.text = text
    textView.textContainer.lineFragmentPadding = 0
    textView.textContainerInset = .zero

    return textView
}

The last two lines get rid of the extra padding you get by default.

    textView.textContainer.lineFragmentPadding = 0
    textView.textContainerInset = .zero

And you autolayout it out just like any other element pinning it to the left and right sides. Note: You also need to give it an explicity height (else ambiguous). Use in UIViewContoller like this.

func setupViews() {
    let chatText = makeChatTextView(text: "Visit our support library to discover how to troubleshoot issues and learn about your account")
    
    addSubview(chatText)

    chatText.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.safeAreaLayoutGuide.leadingAnchor, constant: 24).isActive = true
    chatText.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: self.trailingAnchor, constant: -24).isActive = true
    chatText.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: chatTitle.bottomAnchor, constant: 8).isActive = true
    chatText.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 100).isActive = true // important!
}

Links that help

• How to get rid of extra padding
• Creating hyperlinks YouTube