Using an UIView as a Mask in another UIView on Swift - swift

Question

I am developing an App on xCode with Swift. My screen has an Image of an animal (outlet "backImage"), over this image I have a view (outlet "coverView"), color black, which covers all the screen. So so far you can't see the animal image, because the "coverView" is in front of it. Then I have another view (outlet "maskView") which is smaller and it's over the big view "coverView". What I want is to use this "maskView" as mask and therefor see the "backImage" through it, like a window.
Is there anyone out there able to figure this out?
Here is my screen, I want to see the woman character behind the big gray view through the smaller white view:

Answer 1

You can set the alpha property from your mask view and add in front of the other view, for instance:
let maskView = UIView()
maskView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0, alpha: 0.5) //you can modify this to whatever you need
maskView.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: imageView.frame.width, height: imageView.frame.height)
yourView.addSubview(maskView)
EDIT: Now that you edited your question with an image, now I see what you need, so here is how you can accomplish that.
func setMask(with hole: CGRect, in view: UIView){
// Create a mutable path and add a rectangle that will be h
let mutablePath = CGMutablePath()
mutablePath.addRect(view.bounds)
mutablePath.addRect(hole)
// Create a shape layer and cut out the intersection
let mask = CAShapeLayer()
mask.path = mutablePath
mask.fillRule = kCAFillRuleEvenOdd
// Add the mask to the view
view.layer.mask = mask
}
With this function, all you need is to have a view and create a shape that it's going to be a hole in that view, for instance:
// Create the view (you can also use a view created in the storyboard)
let newView = UIView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: view.frame.width, height: view.frame.height))
newView.backgroundColor = UIColor(white: 0, alpha: 1)
// You can play with these values and find one that fills your need
let rectangularHole = CGRect(x: view.bounds.width*0.3, y: view.bounds.height*0.3, width: view.bounds.width*0.5, height: view.bounds.height*0.5)
// Set the mask in the created view
setMask(with: rectangularHole, in: newView)

Answer 2

Thank you, #Alexandre Lara! You did it!
Here goes the solution:
#IBOutlet weak var windowView: UIView!
#IBOutlet weak var bigCoverView: UIView!
func setMask(with hole: CGRect, in view: UIView){
// Create a mutable path and add a rectangle that will be h
let mutablePath = CGMutablePath()
mutablePath.addRect(view.bounds)
mutablePath.addRect(hole)
// Create a shape layer and cut out the intersection
let mask = CAShapeLayer()
mask.path = mutablePath
mask.fillRule = kCAFillRuleEvenOdd
// Add the mask to the view
view.layer.mask = mask
}
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view, typically from a nib.
let rectangularHole = windowView.frame.integral
// Set the mask in the created view
setMask(with: rectangularHole, in: bigCoverView!)
}