Load a UIView from nib in Swift

Question

Here is my Objective-C code which I'm using to load a nib for my customised UIView:

-(id)init{

    NSArray *subviewArray = [[NSBundle mainBundle] loadNibNamed:@"myXib" owner:self options:nil];
    return [subviewArray objectAtIndex:0];

}

What is the equivalent code in Swift?

Answer 1

Swift 4

Don't forget to write ".first as? CustomView".

if let customView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("myXib", owner: self, options: nil)?.first as? CustomView {    
    self.view.addSubview(customView)
    }

If you want to use anywhere

The Best Solution is Robert Gummesson's answer.

extension UIView {
    class func fromNib<T: UIView>() -> T {
        return Bundle.main.loadNibNamed(String(describing: T.self), owner: nil, options: nil)![0] as! T
    }
}

Then call it like this:

let myCustomView: CustomView = UIView.fromNib()

Answer 2

try following code.

var uiview :UIView?

self.uiview = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("myXib", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as? UIView

Edit:

import UIKit

class TestObject: NSObject {

     var uiview:UIView?

    init()  {
        super.init()
       self.uiview = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed("myXib", owner: self, options: nil)[0] as? UIView
    }


}

Answer 3

If you want the Swift UIView subclass to be entirely self contained, and have the ability to be instantiated using init or init(frame:) without exposing the implementation detail of using a Nib, then you can use a protocol extension to achieve this. This solution avoids the nested UIView hierarchy as suggested by many of the other solutions.

public class CustomView: UIView {

    @IBOutlet weak var nameLabel: UILabel!
    @IBOutlet weak var valueLabel: UILabel!

    public convenience init() {
        self.init(frame: CGRect.zero)
    }

    public override convenience init(frame: CGRect) {
        self.init(internal: nil)
        self.frame = frame
    }

    public required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)
        commonInit()
    }

    fileprivate func commonInit() {
    }
}

fileprivate protocol _CustomView {
}

extension CustomView: _CustomView {
}

fileprivate extension _CustomView {

    // Protocol extension initializer - has the ability to assign to self, unlike
    // class initializers. Note that the name of this initializer can be anything
    // you like, here we've called it init(internal:)

    init(internal: Int?) {
        self = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("CustomView", owner:nil, options:nil)![0] as! Self;
    }
}

Answer 4

Building on the above solutions.

This will work across all project bundles and no need for generics when calling fromNib().

Swift 2

extension UIView {

    public class func fromNib() -> Self {
        return fromNib(nil)
    }

    public class func fromNib(nibName: String?) -> Self {

        func fromNibHelper<T where T : UIView>(nibName: String?) -> T {
            let bundle = NSBundle(forClass: T.self)
            let name = nibName ?? String(T.self)
            return bundle.loadNibNamed(name, owner: nil, options: nil)?.first as? T ?? T()
        }
        return fromNibHelper(nibName)
    }
}

Swift 3

extension UIView {

    public class func fromNib() -> Self {
        return fromNib(nibName: nil)
    }

    public class func fromNib(nibName: String?) -> Self {
        func fromNibHelper<T>(nibName: String?) -> T where T : UIView {
            let bundle = Bundle(for: T.self)
            let name = nibName ?? String(describing: T.self)
            return bundle.loadNibNamed(name, owner: nil, options: nil)?.first as? T ?? T()
        }
        return fromNibHelper(nibName: nibName)
    }
}

Can be used like this:

let someView = SomeView.fromNib()

Or like this:

let someView = SomeView.fromNib("SomeOtherNibFileName")

Answer 5

If you have a lot of custom views in your project you can create class like UIViewFromNib

Swift 2.3

class UIViewFromNib: UIView {

    var contentView: UIView!

    var nibName: String {
        return String(self.dynamicType)
    }

    //MARK:
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)

        loadViewFromNib()
    }

    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)

        loadViewFromNib()
    }

    //MARK:
    private func loadViewFromNib() {
        contentView = NSBundle.mainBundle().loadNibNamed(nibName, owner: self, options: nil)[0] as! UIView
        contentView.autoresizingMask = [.FlexibleWidth, .FlexibleHeight]
        contentView.frame = bounds
        addSubview(contentView)
    }
}

Swift 3

class UIViewFromNib: UIView {

    var contentView: UIView!

    var nibName: String {
        return String(describing: type(of: self))
    }

    //MARK:
    override init(frame: CGRect) {
        super.init(frame: frame)

        loadViewFromNib()
    }

    required init?(coder aDecoder: NSCoder) {
        super.init(coder: aDecoder)

        loadViewFromNib()
    }

    //MARK:
    func loadViewFromNib() {
        contentView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed(nibName, owner: self, options: nil)?[0] as! UIView
        contentView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
        contentView.frame = bounds
        addSubview(contentView)
    }
}

And in every class just inherit from UIViewFromNib, also you can override nibName property if .xib file has different name:

class MyCustomClass: UIViewFromNib {

}