How to left align UISearchBar placeholder text

Question

I need to make a custom search bar like this. Th

Answer 1

Version for Xamarin

SearchBar.MovePlaceHolderLeft();

---

public static void MovePlaceHolderLeft(this UISearchBar  searchbar)
{
    NSAttributedString text = new NSAttributedString(searchbar.Placeholder ?? "");
    // define a max size
    var maxSize = new CGSize(width: UIScreen.MainScreen.Bounds.Size.Width - 97, height: 40);
    // get the size of the text
    var widthText = text.GetBoundingRect(maxSize, NSStringDrawingOptions.UsesLineFragmentOrigin, null).Size.Width;
    // get the size of one space
    var widthSpace = new NSAttributedString(" ").GetBoundingRect(maxSize, NSStringDrawingOptions.UsesLineFragmentOrigin, null).Size.Width;
    var spaces = Math.Floor((maxSize.Width - widthText) / widthSpace);
    // add the spaces
    string newText = searchbar.Placeholder;
    for (double i = 0; i < spaces; i++)
    {
        newText += " ";
    }
    searchbar.Placeholder = newText;
}

Answer 2

Based in Mohittomar answer, as asked by @DevC to add spaces to the end of the place holder, here the code in swift:

I subclass placeholder in the UISearchBar, after set the value, I check if the last character is a space. then get the size of one space and how many spaces I need to add to align left.

class SearchBar: UISearchBar, UISearchBarDelegate {
override var placeholder:String? {
    didSet {
        if let text = placeholder {
            if text.last != " " {

// get the font attribute
                let attr = UITextField.s_appearanceWhenContainedIn(SearchBar).defaultTextAttributes
// define a max size
                let maxSize = CGSizeMake(UIScreen.mainScreen().bounds.size.width - 60, 40)
// get the size of the text
                var widthText = text.boundingRectWithSize( maxSize, options: .UsesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes:attr, context:nil).size.width
// get the size of one space
                var widthSpace = " ".boundingRectWithSize( maxSize, options: .UsesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes:attr, context:nil).size.width
                let spaces = floor((maxSize.width - widthText) / widthSpace)
// add the spaces
                let newText = text + (" " * spaces)
// apply the new text if nescessary
                if newText != text {
                    placeholder = newText
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Answer 3

SWIFT 3

swift 3 does not allow to override placeholder property. This is the modified version of Drix answer.

func setPlaceHolder(placeholder: String)-> String
   {

       var text = placeholder
           if text.characters.last! != " " {

               //                         define a max size

               let maxSize = CGSize(width: UIScreen.main.bounds.size.width - 97, height: 40)

               //                        let maxSize = CGSizeMake(self.bounds.size.width - 92, 40)
               // get the size of the text
               let widthText = text.boundingRect( with: maxSize, options: .usesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes:nil, context:nil).size.width
               // get the size of one space
               let widthSpace = " ".boundingRect( with: maxSize, options: .usesLineFragmentOrigin, attributes:nil, context:nil).size.width
               let spaces = floor((maxSize.width - widthText) / widthSpace)
               // add the spaces
               let newText = text + ((Array(repeating: " ", count: Int(spaces)).joined(separator: "")))
               // apply the new text if nescessary
               if newText != text {
                   return newText
               }

           }

       return placeholder;
   }

and call the function as :

searchBar.placeholder = self.setPlaceHolder(placeholder: "your placeholder text");

Answer 4

it could be done from story board there is combo box with name semantic on attribute inspector of search bar if you set it to force right to left its done you have right align search bar and it has a similar thing for aligning from left

Answer 5

It's too late, but if anyone is still wondering the solution, then you can follow this.

UITextField *searchTextField = [searchBarController.searchBar valueForKey:@"_searchField"];

You can get the search field using above code. Now simply use the properties you want to use, like.

searchTextField.layer.cornerRadius = 10.0f;
searchTextField.textAlignment = NSTextAlignmentLeft;

PS. Text alignment property is used for text and placeholder both. Thanks.

Answer 6

Don't use a UISearchBar if you need to do these kinds of customizations. You'll have to make your own using a UITextField and a UIImageView, and responding to the delegate calls.