Accurately and seamlessly splitting text into two UILabels - iphone

Question

I'm trying to create a "wrapping" like effect for text around an image that has set dimensions.
___________
........|
........| image
label.1.|
........|___________
....................
.......label.2......
....................
....................
Here is the method im using right now:
- (NSArray *)splitString:(NSString*)str maxCharacters:(NSInteger)maxLength { //this will split the string to add to two UILabels
NSMutableArray *tempArray = [NSMutableArray arrayWithCapacity:1];
NSArray *wordArray = [str componentsSeparatedByCharactersInSet:[NSCharacterSet whitespaceCharacterSet]];
NSInteger numberOfWords = [wordArray count];
NSInteger index = 0;
NSInteger lengthOfNextWord = 0;
while (index < numberOfWords) {
NSMutableString *line = [NSMutableString stringWithCapacity:1];
while ((([line length] + lengthOfNextWord + 1) <= maxLength) && (index < numberOfWords)) {
lengthOfNextWord = [[wordArray objectAtIndex:index] length];
[line appendString:[wordArray objectAtIndex:index]];
index++;
if (index < numberOfWords) {
[line appendString:#" "];
}
}
[tempArray addObject:line];
}
return tempArray;
}
I give it the maxCharacters value of where I want to split the text, which is the max height of the first UILabel. This method is essentially what I want, but sometimes the last line of the first UILabel is "higher" than others leaving a gap between the first UILabel and the second UILabel.
Here is how I use the method:
NSArray *splitStringArray = [self splitString:eventRecord.summary maxCharacters:280];
UILabel *firstSumValue = [[UILabel alloc] init];
NSString *firstSumString = [splitStringArray objectAtIndex:0];
CGSize maxFirstSumSize = CGSizeMake(185.0,150.0);
UIFont *firstSumFont = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue-Bold" size:12];
CGSize firstSumStringSize = [firstSumString sizeWithFont:firstSumFont
constrainedToSize:maxFirstSumSize
lineBreakMode:firstSumValue.lineBreakMode];
CGRect firstSumFrame = CGRectMake(10.0, presentedValue.frame.origin.y + presentedValue.frame.size.height, 185.0, firstSumStringSize.height);
firstSumValue.frame = firstSumFrame;
firstSumValue.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue" size:12];
firstSumValue.lineBreakMode = UILineBreakModeWordWrap;
firstSumValue.numberOfLines = 0 ;
[self.mainScrollView addSubview:firstSumValue];
firstSumValue.text = [splitStringArray objectAtIndex:0];
UILabel *secondSumValue = [[UILabel alloc] init];
NSInteger isSecond = 0; //no
if([splitStringArray count] > 1){
isSecond = 1; //yes
NSString *secondSumString = [splitStringArray objectAtIndex:1];
CGSize maxSecondSumSize = CGSizeMake(310.0,9999.0);
UIFont *secondSumFont = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue-Bold" size:12];
CGSize secondSumStringSize = [secondSumString sizeWithFont:secondSumFont
constrainedToSize:maxSecondSumSize
lineBreakMode:secondSumValue.lineBreakMode];
CGRect secondSumFrame = CGRectMake(10.0, firstSumValue.frame.origin.y + firstSumValue.frame.size.height, 310.0, secondSumStringSize.height);
secondSumValue.frame = secondSumFrame;
secondSumValue.font = [UIFont fontWithName:#"HelveticaNeue" size:12];
secondSumValue.lineBreakMode = UILineBreakModeWordWrap;
secondSumValue.numberOfLines = 0 ;
[self.mainScrollView addSubview:secondSumValue];
secondSumValue.text = [splitStringArray objectAtIndex:1];
}
How do I keep everything consistent and aligned properly. Perhaps, there is a better method one could recommend. Not core text because it's out of my scope of knowledge.

Answer 1

Consider using a UIWebView instead, with the layout defined in a local HTML file. It can save you a lot of headache rather than trying to deal with complex layouts by hand.