Typesetting a font in small caps on iOS

Question

On iOS, I load a custom font in my project by adding its file name (an .otf file) to the info.plist file and then using this line of code:

UIFont myF

Answer 1

Extension for UIFont in Swift:

extension UIFont {

    func smallCaps() -> UIFont {

        let settings = [[UIFontFeatureTypeIdentifierKey: kLowerCaseType, UIFontFeatureSelectorIdentifierKey: kLowerCaseSmallCapsSelector]]
        let attributes: [String: AnyObject] = [UIFontDescriptorFeatureSettingsAttribute: settings, UIFontDescriptorNameAttribute: fontName]

        return UIFont(descriptor: UIFontDescriptor(fontAttributes: attributes), size: pointSize)
    }
}

Usage:

label.font = UIFont(name: "SourceSansPro-Regular", size: 12)?.smallCaps()

Example:

macOS version:

extension NSFont {
    func smallCaps() -> NSFont? {
        let settings = [[NSFontFeatureTypeIdentifierKey: kLowerCaseType, NSFontFeatureSelectorIdentifierKey: kLowerCaseSmallCapsSelector]]
        let attributes: [String: AnyObject] = [NSFontFeatureSettingsAttribute: settings as AnyObject, NSFontNameAttribute: fontName as AnyObject]

        return NSFont(descriptor: NSFontDescriptor(fontAttributes: attributes), size: pointSize)
    }
}

IMPORTANT:

• not every font works with it, It's dependent on whether those characters are included in the font or not as @Anthony Mattox said.

• remember to set the string as: Example, not EXAMPLE.

• settings are Array, not NSDictonary.