How can I create a variable sized UITableViewCell?

Question

I can't seem to get the text to actually span multiple lines. The heights look correct. What am I missing?

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath {

    UITableViewCell *cell =  [[[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectZero reuseIdentifier:@"StatusCell"] autorelease];

    CGRect frame = cell.contentView.bounds;
    UILabel *myLabel = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:frame];
    myLabel.text = [[person.updates objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:@"text"];
    [cell.contentView addSubview:myLabel];

    [myLabel release];

    return cell;
}

- (CGFloat)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView heightForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath{

    NSString *text = [[person.updates objectAtIndex:indexPath.row] valueForKey:@"text"];
    UIFont *font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:[UIFont systemFontSize]];
    CGSize withinSize = CGSizeMake(tableView.frame.size.width, 1000);
    CGSize size = [text sizeWithFont:font constrainedToSize:withinSize lineBreakMode:UILineBreakModeWordWrap];

    return size.height + 20;    
}

Also, what am I missing that makes the labels appear longer than the table cell?

Answer 1

Tweetero provides an example of this in MessageListController.m. The code there renders the following screen:

(Pic is taken from Mashable).

The basic implementation outline:

1. When constructing a UITableViewCell, create and add a UILabel as a subview in the manner shown in tableviewCellWithReuseIdentifier:. Look for the creation of TEXT_TAG label.

2. when enriching the UITableViewCell with views, ensure that you format label properly, as is done in configureCell:forIndexPath, similarly look for the label tag TEXT_TAG.

3. Return the appropriate height for each cell, as is done in tableView:heightForRowAtIndexPath.

Answer 2

myLabel.numberOfLines = 2;

Check the docs for full info on how to use this property.