how to make a gradient border of UIView?

Question

I want to make a gradient border of view like the following picture:

but I don\'t know how d

Answer 1

Thanx Tiago Mendes for answer.

I improved functionality:

• added corner radius.

And fixed some issues to ensure correct masking and given border width:

• improved gradient layer frame;
• improved mask path rounding rect.

Swift 5

public extension UIView {

    private static let kLayerNameGradientBorder = "GradientBorderLayer"

    func gradientBorder(width: CGFloat,
                        colors: [UIColor],
                        startPoint: CGPoint = CGPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.0),
                        endPoint: CGPoint = CGPoint(x: 0.5, y: 1.0),
                        andRoundCornersWithRadius cornerRadius: CGFloat = 0) {

        let existingBorder = gradientBorderLayer()
        let border = existingBorder ?? CAGradientLayer()
        border.frame = CGRect(x: bounds.origin.x, y: bounds.origin.y,
                              width: bounds.size.width + width, height: bounds.size.height + width)
        border.colors = colors.map { return $0.cgColor }
        border.startPoint = startPoint
        border.endPoint = endPoint

        let mask = CAShapeLayer()
        let maskRect = CGRect(x: bounds.origin.x + width/2, y: bounds.origin.y + width/2,
                              width: bounds.size.width - width, height: bounds.size.height - width)
        mask.path = UIBezierPath(roundedRect: maskRect, cornerRadius: cornerRadius).cgPath
        mask.fillColor = UIColor.clear.cgColor
        mask.strokeColor = UIColor.white.cgColor
        mask.lineWidth = width

        border.mask = mask

        let exists = (existingBorder != nil)
        if !exists {
            layer.addSublayer(border)
        }
    }
    private func gradientBorderLayer() -> CAGradientLayer? {
        let borderLayers = layer.sublayers?.filter { return $0.name == UIView.kLayerNameGradientBorder }
        if borderLayers?.count ?? 0 > 1 {
            fatalError()
        }
        return borderLayers?.first as? CAGradientLayer
    }
}

And for more readable declaration of startPoint and endPoint of gradient layer I use this code:

public extension CGPoint {

    enum CoordinateSide {
        case topLeft, top, topRight, right, bottomRight, bottom, bottomLeft, left
    }

    static func unitCoordinate(_ side: CoordinateSide) -> CGPoint {
        switch side {
        case .topLeft:      return CGPoint(x: 0.0, y: 0.0)
        case .top:          return CGPoint(x: 0.5, y: 0.0)
        case .topRight:     return CGPoint(x: 1.0, y: 0.0)
        case .right:        return CGPoint(x: 0.0, y: 0.5)
        case .bottomRight:  return CGPoint(x: 1.0, y: 1.0)
        case .bottom:       return CGPoint(x: 0.5, y: 1.0)
        case .bottomLeft:   return CGPoint(x: 0.0, y: 1.0)
        case .left:         return CGPoint(x: 1.0, y: 0.5)
        }
    }
}

So final usage is:

view.gradientBorder(width: 3, colors: [.red, .orange], startPoint: .unitCoordinate(.top), endPoint: .unitCoordinate(.bottom), andRoundCornersWithRadius: 12)