Truncate a string and add ellipsis at the end in Objective-c - iphone

Question

How to truncate a string in Objective-C and then add the ellipsis at the end?

Answer 1

NSString *origString = #"A very long string blah blah blah";
const int clipLength = 18;
if([origString length]>clipLength)
{
origString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#...",[origString substringToIndex:clipLength]];
}

Answer 2

Use one of these NSString methods to truncate, probably the last:
– substringFromIndex:
– substringWithRange:
– substringToIndex:
and then use the NSString method
– stringByAppendingString:
to add #"..." or whatever ellopsis you like.
For example:
NSString *newString = [[string substringToIndex:12] stringByAppendingString:#"..."];
For your reading pleasure, I recommend the NSString Class Reference.

Answer 3

In case you wish to truncate and add ellipsis to a string with the maximum being a specific width, here is an implementation that takes into account font and size:
+ (NSString *)stringByTruncatingString: (NSString *)string toWidth: (CGFloat)width withFont: (UIFont *)font
{
#define ellipsis #"..."
NSMutableString *truncatedString = [string mutableCopy];
if ([string sizeWithAttributes: #{NSFontAttributeName: font}].width > width) {
width -= [ellipsis sizeWithAttributes: #{NSFontAttributeName: font}].width;
NSRange range = {truncatedString.length - 1, 1};
while ([truncatedString sizeWithAttributes: #{NSFontAttributeName: font}].width > width) {
[truncatedString deleteCharactersInRange:range];
range.location--;
}
[truncatedString replaceCharactersInRange:range withString:ellipsis];
}
return truncatedString;
}

Answer 4

Don't need chuck of code for do this..
the easiest way to do this,
for drawRect
- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect{
NSString *theText = #"bla blah bla bhla bla bla";
NSMutableParagraphStyle *style = [[NSParagraphStyle defaultParagraphStyle] mutableCopy];
[style setLineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByTruncatingTail];
[theText drawInRect:dirtyRect withAttributes:[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:style, NSParagraphStyleAttributeName,nil]];
}
hear I use dirtyRect for String's Drawing area you can change it as you wish.
for NSTextField
NSTextField *_warningTF = [[NSTextField alloc]init];
[_warningTF setStringValue:#"sfdsf sdfdsfdsfdsfdsfdsfdsf 1234566789123456789sfdsf dsf dsfdsf"];
[_warningTF.cell setLineBreakMode:NSLineBreakByTruncatingTail];

Answer 5

I wrote simple category to truncate NSString by words:
#interface NSString (TFDString)
- (NSString *)truncateByWordWithLimit:(NSInteger)limit;
#end
#implementation NSString (TFDString)
- (NSString *)truncateByWordWithLimit:(NSInteger)limit {
NSRange r = NSMakeRange(0, self.length);
while (r.length > limit) {
NSRange r0 = [self rangeOfString:#" " options:NSBackwardsSearch range:r];
if (!r0.length) break;
r = NSMakeRange(0, r0.location);
}
if (r.length == self.length) return self;
return [[self substringWithRange:r] stringByAppendingString:#"..."];
}
#end
Usage:
NSString *xx = #"This string is too long, somebody just need to take and truncate it, but by word, please.";
xx = [xx truncateByWordWithLimit:50];
Result:
This string is too long, somebody just need to...
Hope it helps somebody.

Answer 6

the drawWithRect:options:attributes:context method helps. you can try this:
[_text drawWithRect:_textRect options:NSStringDrawingUsesLineFragmentOrigin | NSStringDrawingTruncatesLastVisibleLine attributes:attributes context:nil];