Xcode Interface Builder 9.1 Collection View Cells have too small "expected height"

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Recently, I encountered a problem with the Interface Builder which I failed to solve. I'm using a UICollectionViewController and whenever I add a Cell it immediately shows a orange rectangle (indicating a auto-layout update). Updating the frame/cell doesn't change anything. The warning associated with the orange marking reads "Expected: height=Y, Actual: height=X" where Y is always exactly X-100. That is: When I set a custom cell height of 193, it says "Expected: height=93". This happens no matter which size I enter.

The problem with this is that I have many difficulties with the subviews and their constraints. For instance, if I add a subview with the constraint to keep the same height as the cell, it will be shown as 93 (the expected height), even though my cell should be 193. Layouting becomes impossible.

I tried adding a new cell, same issue. I tried removing every subview and re-adding them, nothing.

Any ideas are highly welcome.

Thank you very much!

5 Answers

This is a common bug with Interface Builder. I don't know the exact cause, but I believe it's something to do with placing collection views inside arrangement views that do not have an exact size. I've seen it when putting them in scroll views, stack views and container views.

There is a simple fix, although I believe this to be a bug in IB that ought to be corrected by Apple rather than hacking around it. The solution (for me at least - your mileage may vary!) is to place the collection view inside an ordinary UIView and pin its edges to it, then place that parent view in the position that you wanted your collection view with all the constraints it required.

I usually found that there were actually no auto layout issues at run-time, which is why I believe this to be purely an Interface Builder bug.

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