Why is NSTextAttachment image not displayed?

Question

I'm trying to add an image to an attributed string:

NSTextAttachment *locationIcon = [[NSTextAttachment alloc] init];
locationIcon.image = [UIImage imageNamed:@"location-pin-icon"];
NSAttributedString *iconString = [NSAttributedString attributedStringWithAttachment:locationIcon];
[string appendAttributedString:iconString];
NSAttributedString *locationNameString = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:@"some text" attributes:linkAttributes];
[string appendAttributedString:locationNameString];

Then I simply set myLabel.text = string; (where myLabel is a TTTAttributedLabel)

location-pin-icon is a valid image (I've checked it in debugging too). However, the location pin icon is not being displayed in the label (the following "some text" is displayed perfectly though, and linkAttributes is just a collection of system font with a custom blue color). I've also tried manually setting bounds to the text attachment, or leaving a space before the text, but nothing seems to work.

What am I doing wrong?

If you print string does it appears? Also, where is your code where you set the attributedString? — Larme
And if you use a UILabel (then myUILabel.attributedText = string;, does it work? It wasn't available yet (github.com/TTTAttributedLabel/TTTAttributedLabel/issues/287) The issue is a long time ago, but still. — Larme
@Larme it does appear inside my string when I po it, though it appears as an <NSTextAttachment: 0x1702a7080> object instead of a useful description. — Can Poyrazoğlu
@Larme yep, it was TTTAttributedLabel. I switched from it and the icon started displaying. I'll never trust "drop-in replacement"s again as this is the exact opposite behavior :) — Can Poyrazoğlu

Can Poyrazoğlu Can Poyrazoğlu · Accepted Answer · 2017-10-11T15:18:50

It was apparently due to implementation of TTTAttributedLabel. The library seems broken. When I've switched from it, the attachment started displaying correctly.

Why is NSTextAttachment image not displayed?

1 Answers