Centering a view in its superview using Visual Format Language

Currently, no, it doesn't look like it is possible to center a view in the superview using only VFL. It is, however, not that difficult to do it using a single VFL string and a single extra constraint (per axis):

VFL: "|-(>=20)-[view]-(>=20)-|"

[NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:view
                             attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterX
                             relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                toItem:view.superview
                             attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterX
                            multiplier:1.f constant:0.f];

One would think that you would simply be able to do this (which is what I initially thought and tried when I saw this question):

[NSLayoutConstraint constraintsWithVisualFormat:@"|-(>=20)-[view(==200)]-(>=20)-|"
                                 options: NSLayoutFormatAlignAllCenterX | NSLayoutFormatAlignAllCenterY
                                 metrics:nil
                                   views:@{@"view" : view}];

I tried many different variations of the above trying to bend it to my will, but this does not appear to apply to the superview even when explicitly having two separate VFL strings for both axes (H:|V:). I then started to try and isolate exactly when the options do get applied to the VFL. They appear to not apply to the superview in the VFL and will only apply to any explicit views that are mentioned in the VFL string (which is disappointing in certain cases).

I hope in the future Apple adds some kind of new option to have the VFL options take into account the superview, even if doing it only when there is only a single explicit view besides the superview in the VFL. Another solution could be another option passed into the VFL that says something like: NSLayoutFormatOptionIncludeSuperview.

Needless to say, I learned a lot about VFL trying to answer this question.

Yes, it is possible to center a view in its superview with Visual Format Language. Both vertically and horizontally. Here is the demo:

https://github.com/evgenyneu/center-vfl

I think it is better to manually create constraints.

[superview addConstraint:
 [NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:view
                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterX
                              relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                 toItem:superview
                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterX
                             multiplier:1
                               constant:0]];
[superview addConstraint:
 [NSLayoutConstraint constraintWithItem:view
                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterY
                              relatedBy:NSLayoutRelationEqual
                                 toItem:superview
                              attribute:NSLayoutAttributeCenterY
                             multiplier:1
                               constant:0]];

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Now we can use NSLayoutAnchor to programatically define AutoLayout:

(Available in iOS 9.0 and later)

view.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.centerXAnchor).isActive = true
view.centerYAnchor.constraint(equalTo: superview.centerYAnchor).isActive = true

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I recommend using SnapKit, which is a DSL to make Auto Layout easy on both iOS and macOS.

view.snp.makeConstraints({ $0.center.equalToSuperview() })