UIFont Class

Definition

Font representation for MonoTouch.UIKit classes.

[Foundation.Register("UIFont", true)]
public class UIFont : Foundation.NSObject, Foundation.INSCopying, IDisposable
type UIFont = class
    inherit NSObject
    interface INSCopying
    interface INativeObject
    interface IDisposable
Inheritance
UIFont
Attributes
Implements

Remarks

UIFont object are not instantiated directly, but instead are created from static methods on this class. Starting with iOS 7.0 you can use the PreferredBody, PreferredCaption1, PreferredCaption2, PreferredHeadline, PreferredSubheadline properties to get the preferred system fonts for the corresponding use case.

Use the static FromName(String, nfloat) method to create new fonts of a particular font.

You can use the FamilyNames property to get a list of all family names available and then the FontNamesForFamilyName(String) method to get a list of the fonts available in a particular font family.

System Information and Fonts

To get a normal, italic of bold fonts representing the system font, use the static methods SystemFontOfSize(nfloat, UIFontWeight), ItalicSystemFontOfSize(nfloat) and BoldSystemFontOfSize(nfloat).

You can query some common font parameters by using the ButtonFontSize, LabelFontSize, SmallSystemFontSize and SystemFontSize.

Activating Typographic Features

Starting with iOS7, you can retrieve a new font based on an existing font instance by using font descriptors. To do this, you fetch the immutable FontDescriptor property from your font and use it to create a new font descriptor with your desired changes, which then you use to can pass to the FromDescriptor(UIFontDescriptor, nfloat) method to create the altered font.

The following example shows how to alter the existing font to set enable the CoreText typographic features for proportional numbers and to use the character alternative:

UIFont CustomizeFont (UIFont font)
{
    var originalDescriptor = font.FontDescriptor;

    // This font has a character alternative, at index 1, use that:
    const int characterAlternative = 1;

    var attributes = new UIFontAttributes (
	new UIFontFeature (CTFontFeatureNumberSpacing.Selector.ProportionalNumbers),
	new UIFontFeature (characterAlternative));
    var newDesc = originalDescriptor.CreateWithAttributes (attributes);
    return UIFont.FromDescriptor (newDesc, 80);
}

Limiting Character Coverage of a Font

The following example alters a font descriptor by altering the character set supported by the font and forces the system to use a glyph from the list of fallback fonts in the system. For example, if you were to use the Menlo font, the following example would remove the use of the Melon Snowman character (At Unicode 0x2603), and fall back to the system snowman:

var label = new UILabel (new RectangleF (0, 300, 200, 100)) {
	Text = "Hello \u2603 there!",
	TextColor = UIColor.White,
	Font = MyFonts.Menlo
};

var originalDescriptor = label.Font.FontDescriptor;
var originalCharSet = originalDescriptor.CharacterSet;

// Make a copy of the character set to modify
var charSetCopy = originalCharSet.MutableCopy () as NSMutableCharacterSet;

// Remove the snowman
charSetCopy.RemoveCharacters (new NSRange (0x2603, 1));

// Create new descriptor
var removedSnowmanDescriptor = originalDescriptor.CreateWithAttributes (new UIFontAttributes () { 
	CharacterSet =  originalCharSet
});

// Create the font and set it on our label
label.Font = UIFont.FromDescriptor (removedSnowmanDescriptor, 0);

The members of this class can be used from a background thread.

Constructors

UIFont(IntPtr)

A constructor used when creating managed representations of unmanaged objects; Called by the runtime.

UIFont(NSObjectFlag)

Constructor to call on derived classes to skip initialization and merely allocate the object.

Properties

Ascender

The top y-coordinate of the longest ascender, as measured in points from the baseline.

ButtonFontSize

Returns the font size of a standard button in points.

CapHeight

The height of a capital letter, measured in points. Read-only.

Class (Inherited from NSObject)
ClassHandle

The handle for this class.

DebugDescription

A developer-meaningful description of this object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Descender

The bottom y-coordinate of the longest descender, as measured from the baseline, in points.

Description

Description of the object, the Objective-C version of ToString.

(Inherited from NSObject)
FamilyName

The name of the font family that identifies one (or more) specific fonts. Read-only.

FamilyNames

A list of the font families on the system.

FontDescriptor

The UIFontDescriptor for this UIFont.

Handle

Handle (pointer) to the unmanaged object representation.

(Inherited from NSObject)
IsDirectBinding (Inherited from NSObject)
IsProxy (Inherited from NSObject)
LabelFontSize

This property will return the size of the font use for labels, as measured in points.

Leading

Deprecated: spacing between lines of text from baseline to baseline. Use LineHeight instead.

LineHeight

The height of the text lines as measured in points. Read-only.

Name

The name of the font. Read-only.

PointSize

The size of a point in the receiver.

PreferredBody

The preferred UIFont for the Body dynamic type.

PreferredCallout

The preferred UIFont for the Callout dynamic type.

PreferredCaption1

The preferred UIFont for the Caption1 dynamic type.

PreferredCaption2

The preferred UIFont for the Caption2 dynamic type.

PreferredFootnote

The preferred UIFont for the Footnote dynamic type.

PreferredHeadline

The preferred UIFont for the Headline dynamic type.

PreferredSubheadline

The preferred UIFont for the Subheadline dynamic type.

PreferredTitle1

The preferred UIFont for the Title1 dynamic type.

PreferredTitle2

The preferred UIFont for the Title2 dynamic type.

PreferredTitle3

The preferred UIFont for the Title3 dynamic type.

RetainCount

Returns the current Objective-C retain count for the object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Self (Inherited from NSObject)
SmallSystemFontSize

The size of the system font as measured in points.

Superclass (Inherited from NSObject)
SuperHandle

Handle used to represent the methods in the base class for this NSObject.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SystemFontSize

Creates a system font of the specified size, as measure in points.

xHeight

The size of the a lower cased "x", as measured in points.

Zone (Inherited from NSObject)

Methods

AddObserver(NSObject, NSString, NSKeyValueObservingOptions, IntPtr)

Registers an object for being observed externally (using NSString keyPath).   Observed changes are dispatched to the observer’s object ObserveValue(NSString, NSObject, NSDictionary, IntPtr) method.

(Inherited from NSObject)
AddObserver(NSObject, String, NSKeyValueObservingOptions, IntPtr)

Registers an object for being observed externally (using string keyPath).   Observed changes are dispatched to the observer’s object ObserveValue(NSString, NSObject, NSDictionary, IntPtr) method.

(Inherited from NSObject)
AddObserver(NSString, NSKeyValueObservingOptions, Action<NSObservedChange>)

Registers an object for being observed externally using an arbitrary method.

(Inherited from NSObject)
AddObserver(String, NSKeyValueObservingOptions, Action<NSObservedChange>)

Registers an object for being observed externally using an arbitrary method.

(Inherited from NSObject)
AwakeFromNib()

Called after the object has been loaded from the nib file. Overriders must call base.AwakeFromNib().

(Inherited from NSObject)
BeginInvokeOnMainThread(Action) (Inherited from NSObject)
BeginInvokeOnMainThread(Selector, NSObject)

Invokes asynchrously the specified code on the main UI thread.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Bind(NSString, NSObject, String, NSDictionary) (Inherited from NSObject)
Bind(String, NSObject, String, NSDictionary)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
BindingInfo(String)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
BindingOptionDescriptions(String)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
BindingValueClass(String)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
BoldSystemFontOfSize(nfloat)

Returns a boldfaced font of the standard system font in the size specified.

CommitEditing() (Inherited from NSObject)
CommitEditing(NSObject, Selector, IntPtr) (Inherited from NSObject)
ConformsToProtocol(IntPtr)

Invoked to determine if this object implements the specified protocol.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Copy()

Performs a copy of the underlying Objective-C object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Copy(NSZone)

Performs a copy of the underlying Objective-C object.

DangerousAutorelease() (Inherited from NSObject)
DangerousRelease() (Inherited from NSObject)
DangerousRetain() (Inherited from NSObject)
DidChange(NSKeyValueChange, NSIndexSet, NSString)

Indicates a change occurred to the indexes for a to-many relationship.

(Inherited from NSObject)
DidChange(NSString, NSKeyValueSetMutationKind, NSSet) (Inherited from NSObject)
DidChangeValue(String)

Indicates that a change occurred on the specified key.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Dispose()

Releases the resources used by the NSObject object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Dispose(Boolean)

Releases the resources used by the NSObject object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
DoesNotRecognizeSelector(Selector)

Indicates that this object does not recognize the specified selector.

(Inherited from NSObject)
Equals(NSObject) (Inherited from NSObject)
Equals(Object)

Used to compare UIFont objects.

ExposedBindings() (Inherited from NSObject)
FontNamesForFamilyName(String)

Returns a list of fonts in the given family.

FromDescriptor(UIFontDescriptor, nfloat)

Factory method that creates a UIFont from the specified descriptor.

FromName(String, nfloat)

Creates a font of the specified size.

GetBindingInfo(NSString) (Inherited from NSObject)
GetBindingOptionDescriptions(NSString) (Inherited from NSObject)
GetBindingValueClass(NSString) (Inherited from NSObject)
GetDictionaryOfValuesFromKeys(NSString[])

Retrieves the values of the specified keys.

(Inherited from NSObject)
GetHashCode()

Generates a hash code for the current instance.

GetMethodForSelector(Selector) (Inherited from NSObject)
GetNativeField(String)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
GetNativeHash() (Inherited from NSObject)
GetPreferredFontForTextStyle(NSString)

Weakly-typed version of an API used to retrieve the user's desired font size.

GetPreferredFontForTextStyle(NSString, UITraitCollection)

Weakly-typed version of an API used to retrieve the user's desired font size.

GetPreferredFontForTextStyle(UIFontTextStyle)

Weakly-typed version of an API used to retrieve the user's desired font size.

GetPreferredFontForTextStyle(UIFontTextStyle, UITraitCollection)

Gets the UIFont that is preferred by the system for and .

Init() (Inherited from NSObject)
InitializeHandle(IntPtr) (Inherited from NSObject)
InitializeHandle(IntPtr, String) (Inherited from NSObject)
Invoke(Action, Double) (Inherited from NSObject)
Invoke(Action, TimeSpan) (Inherited from NSObject)
InvokeOnMainThread(Action) (Inherited from NSObject)
InvokeOnMainThread(Selector, NSObject)

Invokes synchrously the specified code on the main UI thread.

(Inherited from NSObject)
IsEqual(NSObject) (Inherited from NSObject)
IsKindOfClass(Class) (Inherited from NSObject)
IsMemberOfClass(Class) (Inherited from NSObject)
ItalicSystemFontOfSize(nfloat)

Creates an italicized system font of the specified size.

MarkDirty()

Promotes a regular peer object (IsDirectBinding is true) into a toggleref object.

(Inherited from NSObject)
MonospacedDigitSystemFontOfSize(nfloat, nfloat)

The system monospaced font specialized for digits, in the specified size and weight.

MonospacedDigitSystemFontOfSize(nfloat, UIFontWeight)

Gets the monospaced UIFont preferred by the system for displaying digits, of the specified and .

MutableCopy()

Creates a mutable copy of the specified NSObject.

(Inherited from NSObject)
ObjectDidEndEditing(NSObject) (Inherited from NSObject)
ObserveValue(NSString, NSObject, NSDictionary, IntPtr)

Indicates that the value at the specified keyPath relative to this object has changed.

(Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector) (Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSObject) (Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSObject, Double)

Invokes the selector on the current instance and if the obj is not null, it passes this as its single parameter.

(Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSObject, Double, NSString[]) (Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSObject, NSObject) (Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSThread, NSObject, Boolean) (Inherited from NSObject)
PerformSelector(Selector, NSThread, NSObject, Boolean, NSString[]) (Inherited from NSObject)
PrepareForInterfaceBuilder() (Inherited from NSObject)
RemoveObserver(NSObject, NSString)

Stops the specified observer from receiving further notifications of changed values for the specified keyPath.

(Inherited from NSObject)
RemoveObserver(NSObject, NSString, IntPtr)

Stops the specified observer from receiving further notifications of changed values for the specified keyPath and context.

(Inherited from NSObject)
RemoveObserver(NSObject, String)

Stops the specified observer from receiving further notifications of changed values for the specified keyPath.

(Inherited from NSObject)
RemoveObserver(NSObject, String, IntPtr)

Stops the specified observer from receiving further notifications of changed values for the specified keyPath and context.

(Inherited from NSObject)
RespondsToSelector(Selector)

Whether this object recognizes the specified selector.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetNativeField(String, NSObject)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
SetNilValueForKey(NSString)

Sets the value of the specified key to null.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetValueForKey(NSObject, NSString)

Sets the value of the property specified by the key to the specified value.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetValueForKeyPath(IntPtr, NSString)

A constructor used when creating managed representations of unmanaged objects; Called by the runtime.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetValueForKeyPath(NSObject, NSString)

Sets the value of a property that can be reached using a keypath.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetValueForUndefinedKey(NSObject, NSString)

Indicates an attempt to write a value to an undefined key. If not overridden, raises an NSUndefinedKeyException.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SetValuesForKeysWithDictionary(NSDictionary)

Sets the values of this NSObject to those in the specified dictionary.

(Inherited from NSObject)
SystemFontOfSize(nfloat)

Creates a system font of the specified size.

SystemFontOfSize(nfloat, nfloat)

Returns the default system font in specified size and weight.

SystemFontOfSize(nfloat, UIFontWeight)

Gets the system font for specified and .

ToString()

Returns a string representation of the value of the current instance.

Unbind(NSString) (Inherited from NSObject)
Unbind(String)
Obsolete.
(Inherited from NSObject)
ValueForKey(NSString)

Returns the value of the property associated with the specified key.

(Inherited from NSObject)
ValueForKeyPath(NSString)

Returns the value of a property that can be reached using a keypath.

(Inherited from NSObject)
ValueForUndefinedKey(NSString)

Indicates an attempt to read a value of an undefined key. If not overridden, raises an NSUndefinedKeyException.

(Inherited from NSObject)
WillChange(NSKeyValueChange, NSIndexSet, NSString)

Indicates that the values of the specified indices in the specified key are about to change.

(Inherited from NSObject)
WillChange(NSString, NSKeyValueSetMutationKind, NSSet) (Inherited from NSObject)
WillChangeValue(String)

Indicates that the value of the specified key is about to change.

(Inherited from NSObject)
WithSize(nfloat)

Returns a new font based on the current one, with the new specified size.

Operators

Equality(UIFont, UIFont)

Compares two UIFont objects for value equality.

Inequality(UIFont, UIFont)

Compares two UIFont objects for value inequality.

Extension Methods

GetDebugDescription(INSObjectProtocol)
GetAccessibilityCustomRotors(NSObject)

Gets the array of UIAccessibilityCustomRotor objects appropriate for this object.

SetAccessibilityCustomRotors(NSObject, UIAccessibilityCustomRotor[])

Sets the array of UIAccessibilityCustomRotor objects appropriate for this object.

Applies to

See also