# LCEssentials — UIKit
UIKit-era helpers: programmatic layout & constraints, view/control extensions,
navigation, table/collection helpers, and drop-in components (image picker, image
zoom, snackbar, GIF loading).
Foundation/value-type helpers are in [Extensions.md](Extensions.md); SwiftUI
helpers in [SwiftUI.md](SwiftUI.md).
Every section is a collapsible block — click a heading to expand it.
## Contents
- [Layout & Constraints](#layout--constraints)
- [Views & Controls](#views--controls)
- [Navigation & Controllers](#navigation--controllers)
- [Collections & Tables](#collections--tables)
- [Media & Components](#media--components)
---
## Layout & Constraints
UIView — programmatic constraints, chainable anchors
### `enum AnchorType`
The anchor to pin when using `setConstraintsTo`. Cases: `all`, `top`, `bottom`,
`leading`, `trailing`, `left`, `right`, `centerX`, `centerY`, `width`, `heigth`
*(sic)*, `topToBottom`, `bottomToTop`, `leadingToTrailing`, `trailingToLeading`,
plus `…GreaterThanOrEqualTo` / `…LessThanOrEqualTo` variants.
### `@discardableResult func setConstraintsTo(parentView: UIView, anchorType: AnchorType, value: CGFloat, safeArea: Bool = false) -> Self`
Activate one constraint against `parentView`. Remembers `parentView` (in
`viewReference`) so follow-up calls can omit it. `safeArea: true` pins top/bottom
to the safe-area guide (iOS 11+).
```swift
card.addSubview(label)
label.setConstraintsTo(parentView: card, anchorType: .top, value: 12, safeArea: false)
.setConstraints(.leading, 16)
.setConstraints(.trailing, -16)
```
### `@discardableResult func setConstraintsTo(_ parentView:_ anchorType:_ value:_ safeArea: Bool = false) -> Self`
Positional-argument shorthand for the above.
### `@discardableResult func setConstraintsTo(anchorType: AnchorType, value: CGFloat, safeArea: Bool = false) -> UIView`
Reuse the last `parentView` (`viewReference`). **Traps** with `fatalError` if no
`parentView` was set first.
### `@discardableResult func setConstraints(_ anchorType: AnchorType, _ value: CGFloat, _ safeArea: Bool = false) -> UIView`
Positional shorthand for the reuse form — the one you chain.
### `func setConstraints(_ toScrollView: UIScrollView, direction: UICollectionView.ScrollDirection = .vertical)`
Pin `self` as the single content view of a scroll view (edges + matching
width/height, with a low-priority constraint on the scroll axis). Traps if
`self` is itself a `UIScrollView`.
```swift
scrollView.addSubview(content)
content.setConstraints(scrollView, direction: .vertical)
```
### Constraint accessors
`widthConstraint`, `heightConstraint`, `leadingConstraint`, `trailingConstraint`,
`topConstraint`, `bottomConstraint`, `centerXConstraints`, `centerYConstraints` —
the first matching `NSLayoutConstraint` found by walking up the hierarchy.
```swift
box.widthConstraint?.constant = 120
UIView.animate(withDuration: 0.2) { self.view.layoutIfNeeded() }
```
### `func findConstraint(attribute: NSLayoutConstraint.Attribute, for view: UIView) -> NSLayoutConstraint?`
Search self and ancestors for a constraint on `attribute` involving `view`.
### `func constraints(on anchor:) -> [NSLayoutConstraint]`
Constraints touching a given `NSLayoutYAxisAnchor` / `XAxisAnchor` / `Dimension` of `self`.
### `@discardableResult func setHeight(size:) -> Self` / `setHeight(min:)` / `setWidth(size:)` / `setWidth(min:)`
Activate a fixed or minimum dimension constraint.
```swift
avatar.setWidth(size: 44).setHeight(size: 44)
```
### `func setWidth(_ toView: UIView? = nil, constant: CGFloat, _ multiplier: CGFloat = 0) -> Self` / `setHeight(...)`
Dimension relative to another view (`multiplier`) or fixed (`multiplier == 0`).
### Frame setters
`setX(x:)`, `setY(y:)`, `setFrameWidth(width:)`, `setFrameHeight(height:)` — mutate
`self.frame` directly (manual layout, not Auto Layout).
UIView — hierarchy, appearance, effects
### `static var className: String`
`String(describing: self)`.
```swift
UIButton.className // "UIButton"
```
### `func addSubview(_ subview:, translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints: Bool = false)` / `addSubviews(_ subviews: [UIView], …)`
Add a view (or many) and set `translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints` in one call.
```swift
view.addSubviews([header, body, footer]) // all ready for Auto Layout
```
### `func subviews(ofType _: T.Type) -> [T]`
All descendants of a type, recursively.
```swift
formView.subviews(ofType: UITextField.self)
```
### `func findAView(_ ofType: T.Type) -> T?`
First descendant of a type.
### `var parentViewController: UIViewController?`
Nearest owning view controller (walks the responder chain).
### `var borderColor: UIColor?` / `var borderWidth: CGFloat` / `var cornerRadius: CGFloat`
Layer border/corner shortcuts (`cornerRadius` also sets `masksToBounds`).
```swift
card.cornerRadius = 12
card.borderWidth = 1
card.borderColor = .separator
```
### `func setRadius(top: Bool, bottom: Bool, radius: CGFloat = 8)`
Round only the top and/or bottom corners.
```swift
sheet.setRadius(top: true, bottom: false, radius: 16)
```
### `func applyShadow(color:offSet:radius:opacity:shouldRasterize: Bool = true, rasterizationScaleTo: = UIScreen.main.scale)` / `func removeShadow()`
Layer shadow with rasterisation on by default.
```swift
card.applyShadow(color: .black, offSet: CGSize(width: 0, height: 2),
radius: 6, opacity: 0.15)
```
### `func insertBlurView(style: UIBlurEffect.Style, color: UIColor = .black, alpha: CGFloat = 0.9)`
Insert a full-bleed `UIVisualEffectView` behind the content.
### `func drawCircle(inCoord x:y:with radius:strokeColor: = .red, fillColor: = .gray, isEmpty: Bool = false) -> [String: Any]`
Add a circular `CAShapeLayer`; returns `["path": UIBezierPath, "layer": CAShapeLayer]`.
### `var isRightToLeft: Bool`
Effective RTL layout direction.
### `var screenshot: UIImage?` / `func asImage() -> UIImage`
Render the view to an image (`screenshot` via the legacy context, `asImage` via `UIGraphicsImageRenderer`).
```swift
let png = chartView.asImage().pngData()
```
### `var globalPoint: CGPoint?` / `var globalFrame: CGRect?` / `var absolutePosition: CGRect`
Origin/frame converted to window coordinates.
### `func fadeIn(withDuration: TimeInterval = 1, withDelay: TimeInterval = 0, completionHandler: @escaping (Bool) -> Void)` / `func fadeOut(...)`
Animate `alpha` to 1 / 0. *(Completion-handler API — pre-dates async/await.)*
```swift
overlay.fadeOut { _ in overlay.removeFromSuperview() }
```
### `var viewReference: UIView?`
Scratch reference used internally by the chained `setConstraintsTo` calls.
GradientOrientation / EnumBorderSide
### `enum GradientOrientation`
`topRightBottomLeft`, `topLeftBottomRight`, `horizontal`, `vertical` — maps to a
`CAGradientLayer` start/end point pair. Passed to gradient helpers elsewhere in
the package.
### `enum EnumBorderSide`
`top`, `bottom`, `left`, `right` — which edge to draw a single-side border on.
UIStackView — convenience init, bulk arranged-subview ops (iOS 9+)
### `convenience init(arrangedSubviews: [UIView]? = nil, axis: = .vertical, spacing: = 0, alignment: = .fill, distribution: = .fill, layoutMargins: = .zero, isMarginsRelative: Bool = true)`
One-call configured stack view.
```swift
let stack = UIStackView(arrangedSubviews: [title, subtitle],
axis: .vertical, spacing: 4)
```
### `func addArrangedSubviews(_ views: [UIView], translateAutoresizing: Bool = false)`
Add many arranged subviews, setting their autoresizing flag.
### `func removeAllArrangedSubviews(deactivateConstraints: Bool = true)`
Remove and dispose every arranged subview.
### `func removeSubview(view: UIView, deactivateConstraints: Bool = true)`
Remove one arranged subview (optionally deactivating its constraints and removing from the hierarchy).
### `func addSpace(_ size: CGFloat, backgroundColor: UIColor = .clear)`
Insert a fixed-size spacer view sized along the stack's axis.
```swift
stack.addArrangedSubviews([row1, row2])
stack.addSpace(24)
stack.addArrangedSubview(row3)
```
> `NSLayoutConstraint` helpers (`constraintWithMultiplier`, `matches(view:anchor:)`)
> and `[NSLayoutConstraint].filtered(view:anchor:)` are `internal` — used by the
> `UIView.constraints(on:)` accessors above, not called directly.
## Views & Controls
## Navigation & Controllers
## Collections & Tables
## Media & Components