How do I adjust the left margin for prototype cell

Question

If I create a UITableViewController, for example via File → New Project... → iOS → Master-Detail Application in Xcode, a UITableView is created with a prototype cell.

The generated view hierarchy is:

A left "margin" is automagically created between the Cell's Content UIView left edge and the "Title" text's UILabel element as shown below in orange.

This results in a corresponding margin between the device's screen edge and the UILabel text at runtime:

So, where is the width of this gap set, and how can it be adjusted?

The controls in the Size Inspector for the UILabel are greyed out:

My preferred option would to be able to set the width of this gap from within Interface Builder, but I would also like to understand where this gap is being set, and how to alter it programmatically.

Answer 1

Just add the method in you code as mentioned in the below link

How do I eliminate the margin on the left side of a UITableView, without creating a gap on the right?

The method I would like to mention is

-(void)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView willDisplayCell:(UITableViewCell *)cell forRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{
    if ([tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)]) {
        [tableView setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }
    if ([tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) {
    [tableView setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }
    if ([tableView respondsToSelector:@selector(setLayoutMargins:)]) {
    cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = NO;
    [cell setLayoutMargins:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }
    if ([cell respondsToSelector:@selector(setSeparatorInset:)]){
    [cell setSeparatorInset:UIEdgeInsetsZero];
    }
}

Answer 2

Starting from iOS 8 is available the cell property layoutMargins. So the correct way to adjust cell margins is setting this property in your tableView:cellForRowAtIndexPath or in your custom UITableViewCell in this way:

override func awakeFromNib() {
    super.awakeFromNib()

    self.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsetsZero //or UIEdgeInsetsMake(top, left, bottom, right)
    self.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsetsZero //if you also want to adjust separatorInset
}

I hope this can help someone.

Answer 3

In the TableView "Attributes inspector" set the Separator Insets to "Custom" with Left = 0. That is all you have to do!

Answer 4

As WTIFS mentioned, UITableViewCell's indentation property is a great way to indent text labels in a built-in cell styles. Just do something like this to achieve nice left margin:

cell.indentationLevel = 2;

This, however, would not work for imageView.

Answer 5

Here is the swift version of Chetan's answer:

override func tableView(_ tableView: UITableView, willDisplay cell: UITableViewCell, forRowAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        tableView.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsets.zero
        tableView.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsets.zero
        cell.preservesSuperviewLayoutMargins = false
        cell.layoutMargins = UIEdgeInsets.zero
        cell.separatorInset = UIEdgeInsets.zero
}

Answer 6

And if you want to change just the left margin of the cell's textlabel only, then change the Horizontal Space Constraint 'Constant' to say 16 or 8 based on the padding you want.(This is in the nib file). If you cant get to the 'constant' Select the label, change the x coordinate in the FrameRectangle View, and then click on the constraint pin at the left)