Auto Layout Visual Format Language Tutorial

Limitations

VFL makes it possible to write multiple constraints using just one line of code, reducing the burden on your fingertips. However, there are some limitations to the current implementation; a couple of the more notable are important to understand:

• Centering of views
• Using the multiplier component of constraints

Centering of Views

Within Grapevine, you've centered views using the layout options .alignAllCenterY and .alignAllCenterX.

Using these means you aligned views with other views respective to horizontal and vertical centers, however this only works if one of the views you're aligning already has enough constraints to describe its horizontal or vertical centers.

While there are tricks you can use to center views using the VFL, there are no guarantees that they'll work in future versions.

Using the Multiplier Component of Constraints

With this, you have the ability to set fixed aspect ratios on views or to do something like make a label take up only 60 percent of its superview's width. Since the VFL creates multiple constraints and returns only an array of un-named constraints, the multiplier cannot be set through the format string.

Note: You could loop through each of the constraints returned by the constraintsWithVisualFormat method, but you would have to process each of them in turn to determine the NSLayoutAttribute so that you could correctly set your multiplier. But even then, you still have to replace that constraint because the multiplier isn't mutable.

Now that you know how the Visual Format Language works, you’re ready to take this knowledge and layout your own interfaces.

You've seen how to use layout options to reduce the number of constraints you have to define. You've seen how metrics can be defined not only at compile time, but also at runtime. Lastly, you've seen that there are limitations to the Visual Format Language, but it has more pros than cons and you should take advantage of it where appropriate.

Where To Go From Here?

You can download the finished project here.

Note: Sometimes Xcode has problems when several projects share the same bundle identifier. So, if you've worked through the tutorial and try to run the downloaded final project, you might need to clean the build folder by pressing option and selecting Product \ Clean Build Folder.

For more information on the iPhone X and safe area, be sure to check out the following articles:

• Update your apps for iPhone X
• iPhone X - iOS Human Interface Guidelines
• Positioning Content Relative to the Safe Area

I hope you enjoyed this Visual Format Language tutorial. If you have any questions or comments, please join the forum discussion below!