How to create a button programmatically?

Question

How do I programmatically create graphical elements (like a UIButton) in Swift? I tried to create and add button into a view, but wasn't able to.

score 446 · Answer 1 · edited Oct 16 '18 at 06:03

446

Here is a complete solution to add a UIButton programmatically with the targetAction.
Swift 2.2

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .greenColor()
  button.setTitle("Test Button", forState: .Normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

It is probably better to use NSLayoutConstraint rather than frame to correctly place the button for each iPhone screen.

Updated code to Swift 3.1:

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .green
  button.setTitle("Test Button", for: .normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

Updated code to Swift 4.2:

override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

  let button = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
  button.backgroundColor = .green
  button.setTitle("Test Button", for: .normal)
  button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)

  self.view.addSubview(button)
}

@objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
  print("Button tapped")
}

The above still works if func buttonAction is declared private or internal.

edited Oct 16 '18 at 06:03

Anro Swart

95
1
12

answered Jun 04 '14 at 08:39

Anil Varghese

42,757
9
93
110

3

and don't forget that your target class should be derived from NSObject – Alexey Globchastyy Jul 20 '14 at 07:54
7

and dont forget that the function that is your action cannot be private – Pablo Zbigy Jablonski Nov 20 '14 at 23:00
2

It's weird that they decided to do action with string instead of using a function (with strings it's even more unsafe than selectors!). Backwards compatibility with Obj-C probably :( – User Dec 08 '14 at 21:26
Is there any way to change a buttons corner radius? – MoralCode Jan 27 '15 at 21:05
As of Xcode 6.3, having the colon after buttonAction in `button.addTarget(self, action: "buttonAction:", ...)` will result in an "unrecognized selector" runtime error. Removing the colon fixes the issue. – Kevin Qi Apr 16 '15 at 19:07
3

As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!". – TenaciousJay May 01 '15 at 16:38
The button would not show up without assigning `buttonType` – Justin Oroz Sep 05 '17 at 17:00
Why need to add @objc at button action ? your answer will helps me to understand a bit more. – kiran Nov 25 '18 at 16:08
How can a function be called inside of the buttonAction in Swift 4? I seem to be able to call my function in the ViewController, but not inside the buttonAction – Colin Hancey Jan 31 '19 at 01:36
1

Anyone knows where to copy&paste the code when created an empty application? – Nadia Solovyeva Sep 17 '20 at 14:00

score 104 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 29 '17 at 14:55

104

You can add UIButton,UIlable and UITextfield programmatically in this way.

UIButton code

// var button   = UIButton.buttonWithType(UIButtonType.System) as UIButton
let button = UIButton(type: .System) // let preferred over var here
button.frame = CGRectMake(100, 100, 100, 50)
button.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
button.setTitle("Button", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: "Action:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(button)

UILabel Code

var label: UILabel = UILabel()
label.frame = CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 21)
label.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
label.text = "test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)

UITextField code

var txtField: UITextField = UITextField()
txtField.frame = CGRectMake(50, 70, 200, 30)
txtField.backgroundColor = UIColor.grayColor()
self.view.addSubview(txtField)

Hope this is helpful for you.

edited Sep 29 '17 at 14:55

Chandresh Kachariya

667
2
13
31

answered Jun 06 '14 at 13:21

Akhtar

3,172
5
19
21

so, why do you need the "as" operator in the first line of code you shared before UIButton...? – zumzum Jun 13 '14 at 22:32
buttonWithType returns type AnyObject, so you need to cast it as a UIButton – Chris C Sep 19 '14 at 13:07
1

@ElgsQianChen You can use this code according to your requirement. for example you want to add a UIButton when view appear you add the code in viewWillAppear. – Akhtar Sep 25 '14 at 12:06
1

As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!". – TenaciousJay May 01 '15 at 16:38
For people who run into Objective C String literals deprecated warnings Correct answer is here: http://stackoverflow.com/a/36308587/968848 – n.by.n Mar 30 '16 at 12:27

Museer Ahamad Ansari · Answer 3 · 2020-08-10T12:10:10.573

72

For Swift 3

let button = UIButton()
button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
button.setTitle("your Button Name", for: .normal)
button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(button)

func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
}

For Swift 4+

 let button = UIButton()
 button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
 button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
 button.setTitle("Name your Button ", for: .normal)
 button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
 self.view.addSubview(button)

 @objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
 }

edited Aug 10 '20 at 12:10

answered Nov 02 '16 at 12:38

Museer Ahamad Ansari

5,414
3
39
45

`button.frame = (frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 20, width: 50, height: 50))` should be `button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 20, width: 50, height: 50)` – J.C Mar 30 '17 at 15:40
2

In Swift 4 before "func" need to add "@objc". – Ruslan Leshchenko Mar 19 '18 at 08:10

score 30 · Answer 4 · edited May 22 '17 at 13:41

30

Swift 3

let btn = UIButton(type: .custom) as UIButton
btn.backgroundColor = .blue
btn.setTitle("Button", for: .normal)
btn.frame = CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 200, height: 100)
btn.addTarget(self, action: #selector(clickMe), for: .touchUpInside)
self.view.addSubview(btn)

func clickMe(sender:UIButton!) {
  print("Button Clicked")
}

Output

edited May 22 '17 at 13:41

John R Perry

3,916
2
38
62

answered Oct 08 '15 at 12:33

user3182143

9,459
3
32
39

Thanks, m8! Starting up with Swift today so everything is kind of strange (: – Felipe Oct 27 '15 at 18:13

score 18 · Answer 5 · answered Oct 19 '16 at 19:04

How to do this using Swift 3.0.

func createButton() {
    let button = UIButton(type: .system)
    button.frame = CGRect(x: 100.0, y: 100.0, width: 100.0, height: 100.0)
    button.setTitle(NSLocalizedString("Button", comment: "Button"), for: .normal)
    button.backgroundColor = .green
    button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction(sender:)), for: .touchUpInside)
    view.addSubview(button)
}

@objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton) {
    print("Button pushed")
}

score 16 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 22 '16 at 06:41

 var sampleButton:UIButton?

 override func viewDidLoad() {
  super.viewDidLoad()

 }
 override func viewDidAppear(animated: Bool) {

  sampleButton = UIButton(type: .RoundedRect)
  //sampleButton.frame = CGRect(x:50, y:500, width:70, height:50)

  sampleButton!.setTitle("Sample \n UI Button", forState: .Normal)
  sampleButton!.titleLabel?.lineBreakMode = .ByWordWrapping
  sampleButton!.titleLabel?.textAlignment = .Center
  sampleButton!.setTitleColor(UIColor.whiteColor(), forState: .Normal)
  sampleButton!.layer.cornerRadius = 6
  sampleButton!.backgroundColor = UIColor.redColor().colorWithAlphaComponent(0.6)
  sampleButton?.tintColor =  UIColor.brownColor()


  //Add padding around text
  sampleButton!.titleEdgeInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(-10,-10,-10,-10)
  sampleButton!.contentEdgeInsets = UIEdgeInsetsMake(5,5,5,5)

  //Action set up
  sampleButton!.addTarget(self, action: "sampleButtonClicked", forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
  self.view.addSubview(sampleButton!)


  //Button Constraints:
  sampleButton!.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false

  //To anchor above the tab bar on the bottom of the screen:
  let bottomButtonConstraint = sampleButton!.bottomAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(bottomLayoutGuide.topAnchor, constant: -20)

  //edge of the screen in InterfaceBuilder:
  let margins = view.layoutMarginsGuide
  let leadingButtonConstraint = sampleButton!.leadingAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(margins.leadingAnchor)

  bottomButtonConstraint.active = true
  leadingButtonConstraint.active = true


 }
 func sampleButtonClicked(){

  print("sample Button Clicked")

 }

Cezary Wojcik · Answer 7 · 2016-08-19T01:00:47.270

14

The API hasn't changed - only the syntax has. You can make a UIButton and add it like this:

var button = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 50, 50))
self.view.addSubview(button) // assuming you're in a view controller

edited Aug 19 '16 at 01:00

answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:25

Cezary Wojcik

21,745
6
36
36

score 12 · Answer 8 · answered Jul 30 '19 at 08:14

12

For Swift 5 just the same as Swift 4

 let button = UIButton()
 button.frame = CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 60, width: 50, height: 50)
 button.backgroundColor = UIColor.red
 button.setTitle("Name your Button ", for: .normal)
 button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(buttonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
 self.view.addSubview(button)

 @objc func buttonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("Button tapped")
 }

answered Jul 30 '19 at 08:14

Zgpeace

3,927
33
31

Hi @Zgpeace, I tried above solution as per your advice above. Still compiler shows some errors. Do I have to assign any protocol to the class? Can you advice? git@github.com:Mairoslav/ClickCounter.git – mairo Feb 28 '22 at 22:32

score 8 · Answer 9 · edited Sep 29 '17 at 13:05

8

You can create like this and you can add action also like this....

import UIKit

let myButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50))

init(nibName nibNameOrNil: String!, bundle nibBundleOrNil: NSBundle!)
{       super.init(nibName: nibName, bundle: nibBundle) 
        myButton.targetForAction("tappedButton:", withSender: self)
}

func tappedButton(sender: UIButton!)
{ 
     println("tapped button")
}

edited Sep 29 '17 at 13:05

Chandresh Kachariya

667
2
13
31

answered Jun 04 '14 at 07:08

Dharmbir Singh

17,485
5
50
66

sorry, but the compiler sent error in line - self.view.addSubview(view: myButton). Error is next: "Extraneous argument label 'view:' in call" – val_lek Jun 04 '14 at 07:26
Please remove this line self.view.addSubview(view: myButton) For more info see my edited answer. – Dharmbir Singh Jun 04 '14 at 07:26
Thank you, but how I can add this button on self.view? – val_lek Jun 04 '14 at 07:31

score 6 · Answer 10 · answered May 13 '15 at 10:05

Add this code in viewDidLoad
//add Button

            var button=UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(150, 240, 75, 30))
            button.setTitle("Next", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
            button.addTarget(self, action: "buttonTapAction:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
            button.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
            self.view.addSubview(button)

Write this function outside it,this will call when you tap on the button

func buttonTapAction(sender:UIButton!)
{
    println("Button is working")
}

Muhammad Qasim · Answer 11 · 2016-02-24T06:30:36.930

In Swift 2 and iOS 9.2.1

var button: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.Custom) as UIButton
self.button.frame = CGRectMake(130, 70, 60, 20)
self.button.setTitle("custom button", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
self.button.addTarget(self, action:"buttonActionFuncName", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
self.button.setTitleColor(UIColor.blackColor(), forState: .Normal)
self.button.layer.borderColor = UIColor.blackColor().CGColor
self.button.titleLabel?.font = UIFont(name: "Helvetica-Bold", size: 13)
self.view.addSubview(self.button)

score 4 · Answer 12 · answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:22

4

It is possible. You do everything pretty much the same way except use the swift syntax. For example you could make a UIButton in code like this:

 var button: UIButton = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(0, 0, 100, 100))

answered Jun 04 '14 at 06:22

Connor Pearson

63,902
28
145
142

score 3 · Answer 13 · edited Apr 01 '15 at 04:44

3

Yeah in simulator. Some times it wont recognise the selector there is a bug it seems. Even i faced not for your code , then i just changed the action name (selector). It works

let buttonPuzzle:UIButton = UIButton(frame: CGRectMake(100, 400, 100, 50))
buttonPuzzle.backgroundColor = UIColor.greenColor()
buttonPuzzle.setTitle("Puzzle", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
buttonPuzzle.addTarget(self, action: "buttonAction:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
buttonPuzzle.tag = 22;
self.view.addSubview(buttonPuzzle)

Selector Function is Here:

func buttonAction(sender:UIButton!)
{

    var btnsendtag:UIButton = sender
    if btnsendtag.tag == 22 {            
        //println("Button tapped tag 22")
    }
}

edited Apr 01 '15 at 04:44

Dharmesh Kheni

71,228
33
160
165

answered Jun 23 '14 at 10:48

Seems like I'm running into the same issue. I initially created the button a IBAction in the storyboard, but I get "unrecognized selector sent to instance", then I delete the IBAction created that way and tried using .addTarget, they both lead to the same error. – RayInNoIL Aug 30 '15 at 14:34
What worked for me was to delete all the IBOutlet and IBAction code in the .swift file and all the connections in InterfaceBuilder. Then re-creating everything. – RayInNoIL Aug 30 '15 at 16:42

score 3 · Answer 14 · answered Sep 04 '14 at 10:08

For create UIButton from storyboard: 1 - Drag UIButton object from Object Library to ViewController in storyboard file 2 - Show Assistant editor 3 - Drag with right click from UIButton create above into your class. The result is the following:

@IBAction func buttonActionFromStoryboard(sender: UIButton)
{
    println("Button Action From Storyboard")
}

For create UIButton programmatically: 1- Write into "override func viewDidLoad()":

        let uiButton    = UIButton.buttonWithType(UIButtonType.System) as UIButton
        uiButton.frame  = CGRectMake(16, 116, 288, 30)
        uiButton.setTitle("Second", forState: UIControlState.Normal);
        uiButton.addTarget(self, action: "buttonActionFromCode:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(uiButton)

2- add the IBAction func:

@IBAction func buttonActionFromCode(sender:UIButton)
{
    println("Button Action From Code")
}

As of Swift 1.2 downcasts can no longer be done with "as", they must be “forced failable” with "as!". — TenaciousJay, May 01 '15 at 16:38

score 3 · Answer 15 · answered Oct 29 '14 at 10:31

            let myFirstButton = UIButton()
            myFirstButton.setTitle("Software Button", forState: .Normal)
            myFirstButton.setTitleColor(UIColor.redColor(), forState: .Normal)
            myFirstButton.frame = CGRectMake(100, 300, 150, 50)
            myFirstButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.purpleColor()
            myFirstButton.layer.cornerRadius = 14
            myFirstButton.addTarget(self, action: "pressed:", forControlEvents: .TouchUpInside)
            self.view.addSubview(myFirstButton)
            myFirstButton.hidden=true
            nameText.delegate = self


func pressed(sender: UIButton!) {
        var alertView = UIAlertView()
        alertView.addButtonWithTitle("Ok")
        alertView.title = "title"
        alertView.message = "message"
        alertView.show();
    }

score 2 · Answer 16 · answered Oct 14 '16 at 11:18

Step 1: Make a new project

Step 2: in ViewController.swift

import UIKit

class ViewController: UIViewController {

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()

        // CODE
        let btn = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.System) as UIButton        
        btn.backgroundColor = UIColor.blueColor()
        btn.setTitle("CALL TPT AGENT", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
        btn.frame = CGRectMake(100, 100, 200, 100)
        btn.addTarget(self, action: "clickMe:", forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(btn)

    }

    func clickMe(sender:UIButton!) {
      print("CALL")
    }

    override func didReceiveMemoryWarning() {
        super.didReceiveMemoryWarning()
        // Dispose of any resources that can be recreated.
    }


}

score 2 · Answer 17 · answered May 29 '18 at 16:07

This works for me very well, #DynamicButtonEvent #IOS #Swift #Xcode

func setupButtonMap(){
    let mapButton = UIButton(type: .system)
    mapButton.setImage(#imageLiteral(resourceName: "CreateTrip").withRenderingMode(.alwaysOriginal), for: .normal)
    mapButton.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 34, height: 34)
    mapButton.contentMode = .scaleAspectFit
    mapButton.backgroundColor = UIColor.clear
    mapButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(ViewController.btnOpenMap(_:)), for: .touchUpInside)
    navigationItem.leftBarButtonItem = UIBarButtonItem(customView: mapButton)
    }
@IBAction func btnOpenMap(_ sender: Any?) {
    print("Successful")
}

score 2 · Answer 18 · answered Jan 16 '19 at 12:00

Write this sample code in Swift 4.2 for add Button Programmatically.

override func viewDidLoad() {
    super.viewDidLoad()
        let myButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: 100, y: 100, width: 100, height: 50))
        myButton.backgroundColor = .green
        myButton.setTitle("Hello UIButton", for: .normal)
        myButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(myButtonAction), for: .touchUpInside)
        self.view.addSubview(myButton)
}

 @objc func myButtonAction(sender: UIButton!) {
    print("My Button tapped")
}

score 1 · Answer 19 · answered Oct 03 '16 at 10:38

    // UILabel:
    let label = UILabel()
    label.frame = CGRectMake(35, 100, 250, 30)
    label.textColor = UIColor.blackColor()
    label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
    label.text = "Hello World"
    self.view.addSubview(label)

    // UIButton:
    let btn: UIButton = UIButton(type: UIButtonType.Custom) as UIButton
    btn.frame = CGRectMake(130, 70, 60, 20)
    btn.setTitle("Click", forState: UIControlState.Normal)
    btn.setTitleColor(UIColor.blackColor(), forState: .Normal)
    btn.addTarget(self, action:Selector("clickAction"), forControlEvents: UIControlEvents.TouchUpInside)
    view.addSubview(btn)


    // Button Action:
    @IBAction func clickAction(sender:AnyObject)
    {
        print("Click Action")
    }

Shanmugasundharam · Answer 20 · 2015-04-23T07:38:01.203

0

Swift: Ui Button create programmatically

let myButton = UIButton()

myButton.titleLabel!.frame = CGRectMake(15, 54, 300, 500)
myButton.titleLabel!.text = "Button Label"
myButton.titleLabel!.textColor = UIColor.redColor()
myButton.titleLabel!.textAlignment = .Center
self.view.addSubview(myButton)

edited Apr 23 '15 at 07:38

answered Apr 23 '15 at 07:31

Shanmugasundharam

2,082
23
32

Sai kumar Reddy · Answer 21 · 2017-08-17T06:03:14.857

 func viewDidLoad(){
                    saveActionButton = UIButton(frame: CGRect(x: self.view.frame.size.width - 60, y: 0, width: 50, height: 50))
                    self.saveActionButton.backgroundColor = UIColor(red: 76/255, green: 217/255, blue: 100/255, alpha: 0.7)
                    saveActionButton.addTarget(self, action: #selector(doneAction), for: .touchUpInside)
                    self.saveActionButton.setTitle("Done", for: .normal)
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.cornerRadius = self.saveActionButton.frame.size.width / 2
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.borderColor = UIColor.darkGray.cgColor
                    self.saveActionButton.layer.borderWidth = 1
                    self.saveActionButton.center.y = self.view.frame.size.height - 80
                    self.view.addSubview(saveActionButton)
        }

          func doneAction(){
          print("Write your own logic")
         }

Beetroot · Answer 22 · 2019-09-14T14:29:16.823

I usually go for setup an extension of UIBotton. Swift 5.

let button: UIButton = UIButton()
override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
     button.setup(title: "OK", x: 100, y: 430, width: 220, height: 80, color: .yellow)
        buttonD.setTitleColor(.black, for: .normal)

}
extension UIButton {
    func setup(title: String, x: CGFloat, y: CGFloat, width: CGFloat, height: CGFloat, color: UIColor){
        frame = CGRect(x: x, y: y, width: width, height: height)
        backgroundColor = color
        setTitle(title , for: .normal) 
        }
    }

score -1 · Answer 23 · answered May 26 '15 at 10:00

-1

Uilabel code 

var label: UILabel = UILabel()
label.frame = CGRectMake(50, 50, 200, 21)
label.backgroundColor = UIColor.blackColor()
label.textColor = UIColor.whiteColor()
label.textAlignment = NSTextAlignment.Center
label.text = "test label"
self.view.addSubview(label)

answered May 26 '15 at 10:00

varun

1

2

It is always advised to add some explanation to your code – Bowdzone May 26 '15 at 10:30

score -2 · Answer 24 · edited Apr 01 '15 at 04:44

-2

override func viewDidLoad() {

super.viewDidLoad()
    // Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.

    var imageView = UIImageView(frame: CGRectMake(100, 150, 150, 150));
    var image = UIImage(named: "BattleMapSplashScreen.png");
    imageView.image = image;
    self.view.addSubview(imageView);

}

edited Apr 01 '15 at 04:44

Dharmesh Kheni

71,228
33
160
165

answered Aug 19 '14 at 16:24

Durgesh

1
1

How to create a button programmatically?

24 Answers24

Linked

Related