How do you use NSAttributedString?

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Multiple colours in an NSString or NSMutableStrings are not possible. So I've heard a little about the NSAttributedString which was introduced with the iPad SDK 3.2 (or around 3.2) and is available on the iPhone as of iPhone SDK 4.0 beta.

I would like to have a string that has three colours.

The reason I don't use 3 separate NSStrings, is because the length of each of the three NSAttributedString substrings changes often and so I would prefer, not to use any calculations to re-position 3 separate NSString objects.

If it's possible using NSAttributedString how do I make the following - (if not possible with NSAttributed string how would you do it):

alt text

Edit: Remember, @"first", @"second" and @"third" will be replaced by other strings at any time. So using hardcoded NSRange values won't work.

15 Answers

An easier solution with attributed string extension.

extension NSMutableAttributedString {

    // this function attaches color to string    
    func setColorForText(textToFind: String, withColor color: UIColor) {
        let range: NSRange = self.mutableString.range(of: textToFind, options: .caseInsensitive)
        self.addAttribute(NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor, value: color, range: range)
    }

}

Try this and see (Tested in Swift 3 & 4)

let label = UILabel()
label.frame = CGRect(x: 120, y: 100, width: 200, height: 30)
let first = "first"
let second = "second"
let third = "third"
let stringValue = "\(first)\(second)\(third)"  // or direct assign single string value like "firstsecondthird"

let attributedString: NSMutableAttributedString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: stringValue)
attributedString.setColorForText(textToFind: first, withColor: UIColor.red)   // use variable for string "first"
attributedString.setColorForText(textToFind: "second", withColor: UIColor.green) // or direct string like this "second"
attributedString.setColorForText(textToFind: third, withColor: UIColor.blue)
label.font = UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 26)
label.attributedText = attributedString
self.view.addSubview(label)

Here is expected result:

enter image description here

In Swift 4:

let string:NSMutableAttributedString = {

    let mutableString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "firstsecondthird")

    mutableString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.red , range: NSRange(location: 0, length: 5))
    mutableString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.green , range: NSRange(location: 5, length: 6))
    mutableString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.blue , range: NSRange(location: 11, length: 5))
    return mutableString
}()

print(string)

Swift 4

let combination = NSMutableAttributedString()

var part1 = NSMutableAttributedString()
var part2 = NSMutableAttributedString()
var part3 = NSMutableAttributedString()

let attrRegular = [NSAttributedStringKey.font : UIFont(name: "Palatino-Roman", size: 15)]

let attrBold:Dictionary = [NSAttributedStringKey.font : UIFont(name: "Raleway-SemiBold", size: 15)]

let attrBoldWithColor: Dictionary = [NSAttributedStringKey.font : UIFont(name: "Raleway-SemiBold", size: 15),
                                 NSAttributedStringKey.foregroundColor: UIColor.red]

if let regular = attrRegular as? [NSAttributedStringKey : NSObject]{
    part1 = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "first", attributes: regular)

}
if let bold = attrRegular as? [NSAttributedStringKey : NSObject]{
    part2 = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "second", attributes: bold)
}

if let boldWithColor = attrBoldWithColor as? [NSAttributedStringKey : NSObject]{
    part3 = NSMutableAttributedString(string: "third", attributes: boldWithColor)
}

combination.append(part1)
combination.append(part2)
combination.append(part3)

Attributes list please see here NSAttributedStringKey on Apple Docs

Super easy way to do this.

let text = "This is a colorful attributed string"
let attributedText = 
NSMutableAttributedString.getAttributedString(fromString: text)
attributedText.apply(color: .red, subString: "This")
//Apply yellow color on range
attributedText.apply(color: .yellow, onRange: NSMakeRange(5, 4))

For more detail click here; https://github.com/iOSTechHub/AttributedString

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