Question

I am writing a geometry based app. At one point in the app, there will be a UITableView with some custom cells. These cells contain UILabels. Amid the text of some these labels, I want to insert symbols that look these two triangles:
_{(source: wiley.com)}

However, since I cannot find these symbols in any Apple fonts, is there a way to insert an image into the string in place of a symbol?

Here is a (very) rough idea of what I’m going for (the actual table will not be static):

Answer 1

Ok, I get what you’re trying to do. The key, I think, is to just keep adding controls to your cell, calculating the width as you go along.

First, I’d suggest a data structure to hold your cell contents. A simple array will do the job. I generally do this stuff as an ivar:

@interface LabelWithImagesViewController ()
{
    NSMutableArray *_cells;
}
@end

Then fill this array with the text and images you want. I’m doing a single row, but you can repeat for every row you need.

- (void)viewDidLoad
{
    [super viewDidLoad];

    _cells = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];

    [_cells addObject:[[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:
                       [UIImage imageNamed:@"triangle.png"],
                       @"CAT",
                       [UIImage imageNamed:@"semiequal.png"],
                       [UIImage imageNamed:@"triangle.png"],
                       @"DOG",
                       @"  If",
                       [UIImage imageNamed:@"triangle1.png"],
                       @"then",
                       [UIImage imageNamed:@"triangle2.png"],
                       nil]];
}

And then, you need to create your cell:

- (NSInteger)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView numberOfRowsInSection:(NSInteger)section
{
    // Return the number of rows in the section.
    return _cells.count;
}

#define kEquationTag 100
#define kCellHeight 44

- (UITableViewCell *)tableView:(UITableView *)tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath
{
    static NSString *CellIdentifier = @"equationCell";
    UITableViewCell *cell = [tableView dequeueReusableCellWithIdentifier:CellIdentifier];
    UIView *equationContainer;

    if (cell == nil)
    {
        // if we don't have a cell create it, including the frame to hold our custom stuff

        cell = [[UITableViewCell alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewCellStyleDefault reuseIdentifier:CellIdentifier];

        equationContainer = [[UIView alloc] initWithFrame:cell.contentView.bounds];
        equationContainer.tag = kEquationTag;
        [cell.contentView addSubview:equationContainer];
    }
    else
    {
        // if we are dequeing one that already exists, let's get rid of the old custom stuff

        equationContainer = [cell.contentView viewWithTag:kEquationTag];
        for (UIView *view in equationContainer.subviews)
        {
            [view removeFromSuperview];
        }
    }

    // Configure the cell...

    NSArray *cellContents = [_cells objectAtIndex:indexPath.row];

    NSUInteger x = 0;
    UIFont *font = [UIFont systemFontOfSize:12.0];

    for (NSObject *obj in cellContents)
    {
        if ([obj isKindOfClass:[NSString class]])
        {
            NSString *text = (NSString *)obj;
            CGSize size = [text sizeWithFont:font];
            UILabel *label = [[UILabel alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(x, (kCellHeight - size.height)/2.0, size.width, size.height)];
            label.text = text;
            label.font = font;
            [equationContainer addSubview:label];
            x += size.width;
        } 
        else if ([obj isKindOfClass:[UIImage class]])
        {
            UIImage *image = (UIImage *)obj;
            UIImageView *imageView = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithFrame:CGRectMake(x, (kCellHeight - image.size.height) / 2.0, image.size.width, image.size.height)];
            imageView.image = image;
            [equationContainer addSubview:imageView];
            x += image.size.width;
        }
    }

    return cell;
}

This yields: