Does custom settings on UILabel worth introducing a subclass of UILabel - iphone

Question

I have a label that I want to use it in few places. It has nothing more than the following custom settings
label.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"Arial" size:12.0];
label.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentCenter;
label.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
label.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
label.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
Now I am wondering, do I need to introduce a subclass (of UILabel) specifically for it? Since it's used in multiple places, what would be the best design pattern for this kind of usage?

Answer 1

personally, i wouldn't create a subclass in this case. there are a variety of things you can do... you could create a category. e.g. in the .h
#interface UILabel (MyLabel)
+ (UILabel *)createMyLabelWithFrame;
#end
and in the .m:
#implementation UILabel (MyLabel)
+ (UILabel *)createMyLabelWithFrame:(CGRect)frame {
UILabel *label = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:frame];
label.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"Arial" size:12.0];
label.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentCenter;
label.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
label.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
label.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
return label;
}

Answer 2

I would use either a category or just a basic function on some available class. Subclassing creates significantly more work. i.e. Constantly having to change the class in IB or changing all the code throughout the project.
Category could look like this:
#implementation UILabel (FormatMyLabels)
-(void)useMySpecialFormatting{
self.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"Arial" size:12.0];
self.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentCenter;
self.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
self.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
self.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
}
#end
And you would use it like:
[self.myFirstLabel useMySpecialFormatting];
Function could look like this:
-(void)useSpecialFormattingOnLabel:(UILabel *)label{
label.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"Arial" size:12.0];
label.textAlignment = UITextAlignmentCenter;
label.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
label.userInteractionEnabled = YES;
label.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
}
And you would use this like:
[ClassOrInstanceWithFunction useSpecialFormattingOnLabel:self.myFirstLabel];