targetContentOffsetForProposedContentOffset:withScrollingVelocity without subclassing UICollectionViewFlowLayout

Question

I've got a very simple collectionView in my app (just a single row of square thumbnail images).

I'd like to intercept the scrolling so that the offset always leaves a full image at the left side. At the moment it scrolls to wherever and will leave cut off images.

Anyway, I know I need to use the function

- (CGPoint)targetContentOffsetForProposedContentOffset:withScrollingVelocity

to do this but I'm just using a standard UICollectionViewFlowLayout. I'm not subclassing it.

Is there any way of intercepting this without subclassing UICollectionViewFlowLayout?

Thanks

Answer 1

OK, answer is no, there is no way to do this without subclassing UICollectionViewFlowLayout.

However, subclassing it is incredibly easy for anyone who is reading this in the future.

First I set up the subclass call MyCollectionViewFlowLayout and then in interface builder I changed the collection view layout to Custom and selected my flow layout subclass.

Because you're doing it this way you can't specify items sizes, etc... in IB so in MyCollectionViewFlowLayout.m I have this...

- (void)awakeFromNib
{
    self.itemSize = CGSizeMake(75.0, 75.0);
    self.minimumInteritemSpacing = 10.0;
    self.minimumLineSpacing = 10.0;
    self.scrollDirection = UICollectionViewScrollDirectionHorizontal;
    self.sectionInset = UIEdgeInsetsMake(10.0, 10.0, 10.0, 10.0);
}

This sets up all the sizes for me and the scroll direction.

Then ...

- (CGPoint)targetContentOffsetForProposedContentOffset:(CGPoint)proposedContentOffset withScrollingVelocity:(CGPoint)velocity
{
    CGFloat offsetAdjustment = MAXFLOAT;
    CGFloat horizontalOffset = proposedContentOffset.x + 5;

    CGRect targetRect = CGRectMake(proposedContentOffset.x, 0, self.collectionView.bounds.size.width, self.collectionView.bounds.size.height);

    NSArray *array = [super layoutAttributesForElementsInRect:targetRect];

    for (UICollectionViewLayoutAttributes *layoutAttributes in array) {
        CGFloat itemOffset = layoutAttributes.frame.origin.x;
        if (ABS(itemOffset - horizontalOffset) < ABS(offsetAdjustment)) {
            offsetAdjustment = itemOffset - horizontalOffset;
        }
    }

    return CGPointMake(proposedContentOffset.x + offsetAdjustment, proposedContentOffset.y);
}

This ensures that the scrolling ends with a margin of 5.0 on the left hand edge.

That's all I needed to do. I didn't need to set the flow layout in code at all.

Answer 2

Dan's solution is flawed. It does not handle user flicking well. The cases when user flicks fast and scroll did not move so much, have animation glitches.

My proposed alternative implementation has the same pagination as proposed before, but handles user flicking between pages.

 #pragma mark - Pagination
 - (CGFloat)pageWidth {
     return self.itemSize.width + self.minimumLineSpacing;
 }

 - (CGPoint)targetContentOffsetForProposedContentOffset:(CGPoint)proposedContentOffset withScrollingVelocity:(CGPoint)velocity
 {           
        CGFloat rawPageValue = self.collectionView.contentOffset.x / self.pageWidth;
        CGFloat currentPage = (velocity.x > 0.0) ? floor(rawPageValue) : ceil(rawPageValue);
        CGFloat nextPage = (velocity.x > 0.0) ? ceil(rawPageValue) : floor(rawPageValue);

        BOOL pannedLessThanAPage = fabs(1 + currentPage - rawPageValue) > 0.5;
        BOOL flicked = fabs(velocity.x) > [self flickVelocity];
        if (pannedLessThanAPage && flicked) {
            proposedContentOffset.x = nextPage * self.pageWidth;
        } else {
            proposedContentOffset.x = round(rawPageValue) * self.pageWidth;
        }

        return proposedContentOffset;
 }

 - (CGFloat)flickVelocity {
     return 0.3;
 }

Answer 3

Swift version of the accepted answer.

override func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {
    var offsetAdjustment = CGFloat.greatestFiniteMagnitude
    let horizontalOffset = proposedContentOffset.x
    let targetRect = CGRect(origin: CGPoint(x: proposedContentOffset.x, y: 0), size: self.collectionView!.bounds.size)

    for layoutAttributes in super.layoutAttributesForElements(in: targetRect)! {
        let itemOffset = layoutAttributes.frame.origin.x
        if (abs(itemOffset - horizontalOffset) < abs(offsetAdjustment)) {
            offsetAdjustment = itemOffset - horizontalOffset
        }
    }

    return CGPoint(x: proposedContentOffset.x + offsetAdjustment, y: proposedContentOffset.y)
}    

Valid for Swift 5.

Answer 4

Here's my implementation in Swift 5 for vertical cell-based paging:

override func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {

    guard let collectionView = self.collectionView else {
        let latestOffset = super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity)
        return latestOffset
    }

    // Page height used for estimating and calculating paging.
    let pageHeight = self.itemSize.height + self.minimumLineSpacing

    // Make an estimation of the current page position.
    let approximatePage = collectionView.contentOffset.y/pageHeight

    // Determine the current page based on velocity.
    let currentPage = velocity.y == 0 ? round(approximatePage) : (velocity.y < 0.0 ? floor(approximatePage) : ceil(approximatePage))

    // Create custom flickVelocity.
    let flickVelocity = velocity.y * 0.3

    // Check how many pages the user flicked, if <= 1 then flickedPages should return 0.
    let flickedPages = (abs(round(flickVelocity)) <= 1) ? 0 : round(flickVelocity)

    let newVerticalOffset = ((currentPage + flickedPages) * pageHeight) - collectionView.contentInset.top

    return CGPoint(x: proposedContentOffset.x, y: newVerticalOffset)
}

Some notes:

• Doesn't glitch
• SET PAGING TO FALSE! (otherwise this won't work)
• Allows you to set your own flickvelocity easily.
• If something is still not working after trying this, check if your itemSize actually matches the size of the item as that's often a problem, especially when using collectionView(_:layout:sizeForItemAt:), use a custom variable with the itemSize instead.
• This works best when you set self.collectionView.decelerationRate = UIScrollView.DecelerationRate.fast.

Here's a horizontal version (haven't tested it thoroughly so please forgive any mistakes):

override func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {

    guard let collectionView = self.collectionView else {
        let latestOffset = super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity)
        return latestOffset
    }

    // Page width used for estimating and calculating paging.
    let pageWidth = self.itemSize.width + self.minimumInteritemSpacing

    // Make an estimation of the current page position.
    let approximatePage = collectionView.contentOffset.x/pageWidth

    // Determine the current page based on velocity.
    let currentPage = velocity.x == 0 ? round(approximatePage) : (velocity.x < 0.0 ? floor(approximatePage) : ceil(approximatePage))

    // Create custom flickVelocity.
    let flickVelocity = velocity.x * 0.3

    // Check how many pages the user flicked, if <= 1 then flickedPages should return 0.
    let flickedPages = (abs(round(flickVelocity)) <= 1) ? 0 : round(flickVelocity)

    // Calculate newHorizontalOffset.
    let newHorizontalOffset = ((currentPage + flickedPages) * pageWidth) - collectionView.contentInset.left

    return CGPoint(x: newHorizontalOffset, y: proposedContentOffset.y)
}

This code is based on the code I use in my personal project, you can check it out here by downloading it and running the Example target.

Answer 5

For anyone looking for a solution that...

• DOES NOT GLITCH when the user performs a short fast scroll (i.e. it considers positive and negative scroll velocities)
• takes the collectionView.contentInset (and safeArea on iPhone X) into consideration
• only considers thoes cells visible at the point of scrolling (for peformance)
• uses well named variables and comments
• is Swift 4

then please see below...

public class CarouselCollectionViewLayout: UICollectionViewFlowLayout {

    override public func targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset proposedContentOffset: CGPoint, withScrollingVelocity velocity: CGPoint) -> CGPoint {

        guard let collectionView = collectionView else {
            return super.targetContentOffset(forProposedContentOffset: proposedContentOffset, withScrollingVelocity: velocity)
        }

        // Identify the layoutAttributes of cells in the vicinity of where the scroll view will come to rest
        let targetRect = CGRect(origin: proposedContentOffset, size: collectionView.bounds.size)
        let visibleCellsLayoutAttributes = layoutAttributesForElements(in: targetRect)

        // Translate those cell layoutAttributes into potential (candidate) scrollView offsets
        let candidateOffsets: [CGFloat]? = visibleCellsLayoutAttributes?.map({ cellLayoutAttributes in
            if #available(iOS 11.0, *) {
                return cellLayoutAttributes.frame.origin.x - collectionView.contentInset.left - collectionView.safeAreaInsets.left - sectionInset.left
            } else {
                return cellLayoutAttributes.frame.origin.x - collectionView.contentInset.left - sectionInset.left
            }
        })

        // Now we need to work out which one of the candidate offsets is the best one
        let bestCandidateOffset: CGFloat

        if velocity.x > 0 {
            // If the scroll velocity was POSITIVE, then only consider cells/offsets to the RIGHT of the proposedContentOffset.x
            // Of the cells/offsets to the right, the NEAREST is the `bestCandidate`
            // If there is no nearestCandidateOffsetToLeft then we default to the RIGHT-MOST (last) of ALL the candidate cells/offsets
            //      (this handles the scenario where the user has scrolled beyond the last cell)
            let candidateOffsetsToRight = candidateOffsets?.toRight(ofProposedOffset: proposedContentOffset.x)
            let nearestCandidateOffsetToRight = candidateOffsetsToRight?.nearest(toProposedOffset: proposedContentOffset.x)
            bestCandidateOffset = nearestCandidateOffsetToRight ?? candidateOffsets?.last ?? proposedContentOffset.x
        }
        else if velocity.x < 0 {
            // If the scroll velocity was NEGATIVE, then only consider cells/offsets to the LEFT of the proposedContentOffset.x
            // Of the cells/offsets to the left, the NEAREST is the `bestCandidate`
            // If there is no nearestCandidateOffsetToLeft then we default to the LEFT-MOST (first) of ALL the candidate cells/offsets
            //      (this handles the scenario where the user has scrolled beyond the first cell)
            let candidateOffsetsToLeft = candidateOffsets?.toLeft(ofProposedOffset: proposedContentOffset.x)
            let nearestCandidateOffsetToLeft = candidateOffsetsToLeft?.nearest(toProposedOffset: proposedContentOffset.x)
            bestCandidateOffset = nearestCandidateOffsetToLeft ?? candidateOffsets?.first ?? proposedContentOffset.x
        }
        else {
            // If the scroll velocity was ZERO we consider all `candidate` cells (regarless of whether they are to the left OR right of the proposedContentOffset.x)
            // The cell/offset that is the NEAREST is the `bestCandidate`
            let nearestCandidateOffset = candidateOffsets?.nearest(toProposedOffset: proposedContentOffset.x)
            bestCandidateOffset = nearestCandidateOffset ??  proposedContentOffset.x
        }

        return CGPoint(x: bestCandidateOffset, y: proposedContentOffset.y)
    }

}

fileprivate extension Sequence where Iterator.Element == CGFloat {

    func toLeft(ofProposedOffset proposedOffset: CGFloat) -> [CGFloat] {

        return filter() { candidateOffset in
            return candidateOffset < proposedOffset
        }
    }

    func toRight(ofProposedOffset proposedOffset: CGFloat) -> [CGFloat] {

        return filter() { candidateOffset in
            return candidateOffset > proposedOffset
        }
    }

    func nearest(toProposedOffset proposedOffset: CGFloat) -> CGFloat? {

        guard let firstCandidateOffset = first(where: { _ in true }) else {
            // If there are no elements in the Sequence, return nil
            return nil
        }

        return reduce(firstCandidateOffset) { (bestCandidateOffset: CGFloat, candidateOffset: CGFloat) -> CGFloat in

            let candidateOffsetDistanceFromProposed = fabs(candidateOffset - proposedOffset)
            let bestCandidateOffsetDistancFromProposed = fabs(bestCandidateOffset - proposedOffset)

            if candidateOffsetDistanceFromProposed < bestCandidateOffsetDistancFromProposed {
                return candidateOffset
            }

            return bestCandidateOffset
        }
    }
}

Answer 6

While this answer has been a great help to me, there is a noticeable flicker when you swipe fast on a small distance. It's much easier to reproduce it on the device.

I found that this always happens when collectionView.contentOffset.x - proposedContentOffset.x and velocity.x have different sings.

My solution was to ensure that proposedContentOffset is more than contentOffset.x if velocity is positive, and less if it is negative. It's in C# but should be fairly simple to translate to Objective C:

public override PointF TargetContentOffset (PointF proposedContentOffset, PointF scrollingVelocity)
{
    /* Determine closest edge */

    float offSetAdjustment = float.MaxValue;
    float horizontalCenter = (float) (proposedContentOffset.X + (this.CollectionView.Bounds.Size.Width / 2.0));

    RectangleF targetRect = new RectangleF (proposedContentOffset.X, 0.0f, this.CollectionView.Bounds.Size.Width, this.CollectionView.Bounds.Size.Height);
    var array = base.LayoutAttributesForElementsInRect (targetRect);

    foreach (var layoutAttributes in array) {
        float itemHorizontalCenter = layoutAttributes.Center.X;
        if (Math.Abs (itemHorizontalCenter - horizontalCenter) < Math.Abs (offSetAdjustment)) {
            offSetAdjustment = itemHorizontalCenter - horizontalCenter;
        }
    }

    float nextOffset = proposedContentOffset.X + offSetAdjustment;

    /*
     * ... unless we end up having positive speed
     * while moving left or negative speed while moving right.
     * This will cause flicker so we resort to finding next page
     * in the direction of velocity and use it.
     */

    do {
        proposedContentOffset.X = nextOffset;

        float deltaX = proposedContentOffset.X - CollectionView.ContentOffset.X;
        float velX = scrollingVelocity.X;

        // If their signs are same, or if either is zero, go ahead
        if (Math.Sign (deltaX) * Math.Sign (velX) != -1)
            break;

        // Otherwise, look for the closest page in the right direction
        nextOffset += Math.Sign (scrollingVelocity.X) * SnapStep;
    } while (IsValidOffset (nextOffset));

    return proposedContentOffset;
}

bool IsValidOffset (float offset)
{
    return (offset >= MinContentOffset && offset <= MaxContentOffset);
}

This code is using MinContentOffset, MaxContentOffset and SnapStep which should be trivial for you to define. In my case they turned out to be

float MinContentOffset {
    get { return -CollectionView.ContentInset.Left; }
}

float MaxContentOffset {
    get { return MinContentOffset + CollectionView.ContentSize.Width - ItemSize.Width; }
}

float SnapStep {
    get { return ItemSize.Width + MinimumLineSpacing; }
}