How to make UITextView detect hashtags?
For Swift 3 +
extension UITextView {
func convertHashtags(text:String) -> NSAttributedString {
let attr = [
NSFontAttributeName : UIFont.systemFont(ofSize: 17.0),
NSForegroundColorAttributeName : clr_golden,
NSLinkAttributeName : "https://Laitkor.com"
] as [String : Any]
let attrString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: text)
attrString.beginEditing()
// match all hashtags
do {
// Find all the hashtags in our string
let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: "(?:\\s|^)(#(?:[a-zA-Z].*?|\\d+[a-zA-Z]+.*?))\\b", options: NSRegularExpression.Options.anchorsMatchLines)
let results = regex.matches(in: text,
options: NSRegularExpression.MatchingOptions.withoutAnchoringBounds, range: NSMakeRange(0, text.characters.count))
let array = results.map { (text as NSString).substring(with: $0.range) }
for hashtag in array {
// get range of the hashtag in the main string
let range = (attrString.string as NSString).range(of: hashtag)
// add a colour to the hashtag
//attrString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: clr_golden , range: range)
attrString.addAttributes(attr, range: range)
}
attrString.endEditing()
}
catch {
attrString.endEditing()
}
return attrString
}
}
Add UITextViewDelegate in your class and Use like this
self.tv_yourTextView.delegate = self
self.tv_yourTextView.attributedText = tv_yourTextView.convertHashtags(text: "This is an #museer test")
delegate funtion
func textView(_ textView: UITextView, shouldInteractWith URL: URL, in characterRange: NSRange) -> Bool {
print("hastag Selected!")
return true
}
-> Modified @Wez Answer
For swift 4.0
extension UITextView {
func resolveHashTags() {
// turn string in to NSString
let nsText = NSString(string: self.text)
// this needs to be an array of NSString. String does not work.
let words = nsText.components(separatedBy: CharacterSet(charactersIn: "#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789_").inverted)
// you can staple URLs onto attributed strings
let attrString = NSMutableAttributedString()
attrString.setAttributedString(self.attributedText)
// tag each word if it has a hashtag
for word in words {
if word.count < 3 {
continue
}
// found a word that is prepended by a hashtag!
// homework for you: implement @mentions here too.
if word.hasPrefix("#") {
// a range is the character position, followed by how many characters are in the word.
// we need this because we staple the "href" to this range.
let matchRange:NSRange = nsText.range(of: word as String)
// drop the hashtag
let stringifiedWord = word.dropFirst()
if let firstChar = stringifiedWord.unicodeScalars.first, NSCharacterSet.decimalDigits.contains(firstChar) {
// hashtag contains a number, like "#1"
// so don't make it clickable
} else {
// set a link for when the user clicks on this word.
// it's not enough to use the word "hash", but you need the url scheme syntax "hash://"
// note: since it's a URL now, the color is set to the project's tint color
attrString.addAttribute(NSAttributedStringKey.link, value: "hash:\(stringifiedWord)", range: matchRange)
}
}
}
// we're used to textView.text
// but here we use textView.attributedText
// again, this will also wipe out any fonts and colors from the storyboard,
// so remember to re-add them in the attrs dictionary above
self.attributedText = attrString
}
}
This should work for you
- Create a new swift file with any name(
UITextViewHashtagExtension.swift) Insert this code below:
import UIKit extension UITextView { func resolveHashTags(){ // turn string in to NSString let nsText:NSString = self.text // this needs to be an array of NSString. String does not work. let words:[NSString] = nsText.componentsSeparatedByString(" ") // you can't set the font size in the storyboard anymore, since it gets overridden here. let attrs = [ NSFontAttributeName : UIFont.systemFontOfSize(17.0) ] // you can staple URLs onto attributed strings let attrString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: nsText as String, attributes:attrs) // tag each word if it has a hashtag for word in words { // found a word that is prepended by a hashtag! // homework for you: implement @mentions here too. if word.hasPrefix("#") { // a range is the character position, followed by how many characters are in the word. // we need this because we staple the "href" to this range. let matchRange:NSRange = nsText.rangeOfString(word as String) // convert the word from NSString to String // this allows us to call "dropFirst" to remove the hashtag var stringifiedWord:String = word as String // drop the hashtag stringifiedWord = String(stringifiedWord.characters.dropFirst()) // check to see if the hashtag has numbers. // ribl is "#1" shouldn't be considered a hashtag. let digits = NSCharacterSet.decimalDigitCharacterSet() if let numbersExist = stringifiedWord.rangeOfCharacterFromSet(digits) { // hashtag contains a number, like "#1" // so don't make it clickable } else { // set a link for when the user clicks on this word. // it's not enough to use the word "hash", but you need the url scheme syntax "hash://" // note: since it's a URL now, the color is set to the project's tint color attrString.addAttribute(NSLinkAttributeName, value: "hash:\(stringifiedWord)", range: matchRange) } } } // we're used to textView.text // but here we use textView.attributedText // again, this will also wipe out any fonts and colors from the storyboard, // so remember to re-add them in the attrs dictionary above self.attributedText = attrString } }
To use this you can do something like this:
self.textView.text = "This is an #example test"
self.textView.resolveHashTags()
Updated for Swift 4.0:
extension UITextView {
func resolveHashTags() {
// turn string in to NSString
let nsText = NSString(string: self.text)
// this needs to be an array of NSString. String does not work.
let words = nsText.components(separatedBy: CharacterSet(charactersIn: "#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789_").inverted)
// you can staple URLs onto attributed strings
let attrString = NSMutableAttributedString()
attrString.setAttributedString(self.attributedText)
// tag each word if it has a hashtag
for word in words {
if word.count < 3 {
continue
}
// found a word that is prepended by a hashtag!
// homework for you: implement @mentions here too.
if word.hasPrefix("#") {
// a range is the character position, followed by how many characters are in the word.
// we need this because we staple the "href" to this range.
let matchRange:NSRange = nsText.range(of: word as String)
// drop the hashtag
let stringifiedWord = word.dropFirst()
if let firstChar = stringifiedWord.unicodeScalars.first, NSCharacterSet.decimalDigits.contains(firstChar) {
// hashtag contains a number, like "#1"
// so don't make it clickable
} else {
// set a link for when the user clicks on this word.
// it's not enough to use the word "hash", but you need the url scheme syntax "hash://"
// note: since it's a URL now, the color is set to the project's tint color
attrString.addAttribute(NSAttributedStringKey.link, value: "hash:\(stringifiedWord)", range: matchRange)
}
}
}
// we're used to textView.text
// but here we use textView.attributedText
// again, this will also wipe out any fonts and colors from the storyboard,
// so remember to re-add them in the attrs dictionary above
self.attributedText = attrString
}
}
One option would be to use an NSAttributedString, something like this...
func convertHashtags(text:String) -> NSAttributedString {
let attrString = NSMutableAttributedString(string: text)
attrString.beginEditing()
// match all hashtags
do {
// Find all the hashtags in our string
let regex = try NSRegularExpression(pattern: "(?:\\s|^)(#(?:[a-zA-Z].*?|\\d+[a-zA-Z]+.*?))\\b", options: NSRegularExpressionOptions.AnchorsMatchLines)
let results = regex.matchesInString(text,
options: NSMatchingOptions.WithoutAnchoringBounds, range: NSMakeRange(0, text.characters.count))
let array = results.map { (text as NSString).substringWithRange($0.range) }
for hashtag in array {
// get range of the hashtag in the main string
let range = (attrString.string as NSString).rangeOfString(hashtag)
// add a colour to the hashtag
attrString.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value: UIColor.redColor() , range: range)
}
attrString.endEditing()
}
catch {
attrString.endEditing()
}
return attrString
}
Then assign your attributedText like this...
let myText = "some text with a #hashtag in side of it #itsnoteasy"
self.textView.attributedText = convertHashtags(myText)