How to remove programmatically created UIViews from superview - swift

Question

I wanted to implement a loading overlay whilst I have content loading in from an API call however when I go to dismiss the view; I have no success.
func viewLoading(show:Bool, boxView: UIView, error: Bool, errorMessage: String){
let myNewView=UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: boxView.frame.width, height: boxView.frame.height))
if show{
// Change UIView background colour
myNewView.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.withAlphaComponent(0.75)
myNewView.isOpaque = false
// Add rounded corners to UIView
myNewView.layer.cornerRadius = boxView.layer.cornerRadius
let activityView = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .whiteLarge)
activityView.center = myNewView.center
activityView.startAnimating()
boxView.addSubview(myNewView)
myNewView.addSubview(activityView)
}else{
print("Done")
DispatchQueue.main.async(execute: { () -> Void in
myNewView.removeFromSuperview()
self.view.bringSubviewToFront(boxView)
})
myNewView.isHidden = true
}
}
None of the options after else have worked and I am lost at a solution.
Edit: I want the same function(s) to accommodate three different views within the one view controller.

Answer 1

Move myNewView outside of the viewLoading function scope, and it is better to create separate methods with their own responsibilities, like so:
class ViewController: UIViewController {
var loaderView: UIView?
func showLoading(boxView: UIView, error: Bool, errorMessage: String) {
if (self.loaderView != nil) {
self.hideLoading()
}
let newView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: boxView.frame.width, height: boxView.frame.height))
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor.black.withAlphaComponent(0.75)
newView.isOpaque = false
// Add rounded corners to UIView
newView.layer.cornerRadius = boxView.layer.cornerRadius
let activityView = UIActivityIndicatorView(style: .whiteLarge)
activityView.center = newView.center
activityView.startAnimating()
boxView.addSubview(newView)
newView.addSubview(activityView)
self.loaderView = newView
}
func hideLoading() {
guard
let loaderView = self.loaderView,
let boxView = loaderView.superview
else { return }
DispatchQueue.main.async {
loaderView.removeFromSuperview()
self.view.bringSubviewToFront(boxView) // need this?
self.loaderView = nil
}
}
}

Answer 2

You are creating a new view every time that method is called and then you are trying to dismish that newly created view. Instead, you should save a reference of the view when you show it and call removeFromSuperview on that instance when you need to hide it.

Answer 3

Check this..
CommonMethods.swift
import UIKit
class CommonMethods: UIViewController {
static let actInd: UIActivityIndicatorView = UIActivityIndicatorView()
static let container: UIView = UIView()
static let loadingView: UIView = UIView()
static func showActivityIndicatory(uiView: UIView) {
container.frame = uiView.frame
container.center = uiView.center
container.backgroundColor = UIColor(red:255/255, green:255/255, blue:255/255, alpha: 0.3)
loadingView.frame = CGRect(origin: CGPoint(x: 0,y :0), size: CGSize(width: 80, height: 80))
loadingView.center = uiView.center
loadingView.backgroundColor = UIColor(red:44/255, green:44/255, blue:44/255, alpha: 0.7)
loadingView.clipsToBounds = true
loadingView.layer.cornerRadius = 10
actInd.frame = CGRect(origin: CGPoint(x: 0,y :0), size: CGSize(width: 40, height: 40))
actInd.style =
UIActivityIndicatorView.Style.whiteLarge
actInd.center = CGPoint(x: loadingView.frame.size.width / 2, y: loadingView.frame.size.height / 2);
loadingView.addSubview(actInd)
container.addSubview(loadingView)
uiView.addSubview(container)
actInd.startAnimating()
}
static func hideActivityIndicatory(uiView: UIView) {
container.removeFromSuperview()
actInd.stopAnimating()
}
}
call it from viewcontroller class like
CommonMethods.showActivityIndicatory(uiView: self.view)
CommonMethods.hideActivityIndicatory(uiView: self.view)