Skip to main content

Change the position of a layer

This example demonstrates functionality within the Mapbox Maps SDK for iOS where the position of a polygon layer on a map can be dynamically changed.

A polygon layer with minimal styling is added using geoJSONSource and a button is provided to trigger the change in layer position, presenting a selection menu for positioning options such as above or below certain map layers or at a specific index. This functionality relies on removeLayer and addLayer to remove the layer and add it again at a new layer position.

iOS Examples App Available

This example code is part of the Maps SDK for iOS Examples App, a working iOS project available on Github. iOS developers are encouraged to run the examples app locally to interact with this example in an emulator and explore other features of the Maps SDK.

See our Run the Maps SDK for iOS Examples App tutorial for step-by-step instructions.

LayerPositionExample.swift
import UIKit
import MapboxMaps

final class ViewController: UIViewController {
private var mapView: MapView!
private var sourceIdentifier = "ploygon-geojson-source"
private var source: GeoJSONSource!
private var layer: FillLayer!
private var cancelables = Set<AnyCancelable>()

override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()

// Center the map over the United States.
let centerCoordinate = CLLocationCoordinate2D(latitude: 40.58058466412761,
longitude: -97.734375)
let options = MapInitOptions(cameraOptions: CameraOptions(center: centerCoordinate, zoom: 3), styleURI: .streets)

mapView = MapView(frame: view.bounds, mapInitOptions: options)
mapView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleWidth, .flexibleHeight]
view.addSubview(mapView)

try! mapView.mapboxMap.setProjection(StyleProjection(name: .mercator))

// Allows the view controller to receive information about map events.
mapView.mapboxMap.onMapLoaded.observeNext { [weak self] _ in
self?.setupExample()
}.store(in: &cancelables)

// Add a button to change the position of layer
addLayerPostionChangeButton()
}

private func addLayerPostionChangeButton() {
// Set up layer postion change button
let button = UIButton(type: .system)
button.setTitle("Change Layer Position", for: .normal)
button.setTitleColor(.white, for: .normal)
button.backgroundColor = #colorLiteral(red: 0, green: 0.4784313725, blue: 0.9882352941, alpha: 1)
button.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false
button.layer.cornerRadius = 20
button.clipsToBounds = true
button.addTarget(self, action: #selector(onChangeButtonPress(sender:)), for: .touchUpInside)
view.addSubview(button)
// Set button location
let horizontalConstraint = button.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.safeAreaLayoutGuide.bottomAnchor,
constant: -24)
let verticalConstraint = button.centerXAnchor.constraint(equalTo: view.centerXAnchor)
let widthConstraint = button.widthAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 200)
let heightConstraint = button.heightAnchor.constraint(equalToConstant: 40)
NSLayoutConstraint.activate([horizontalConstraint, verticalConstraint, widthConstraint, heightConstraint])
}

@objc private func onChangeButtonPress(sender: UIButton) {
let alert = UIAlertController(title: "Polygon Layer",
message: "Please select the position of polygon layer.",
preferredStyle: .actionSheet)
alert.popoverPresentationController?.sourceView = sender

alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Above state label", style: .default, handler: { [weak self] _ in
guard let self = self else { return }
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.removeLayer(withId: self.layer.id)
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.addLayer(self.layer,
layerPosition: .above("state-label"))
}))

alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Below state label", style: .default, handler: { [weak self] _ in
guard let self = self else { return }
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.removeLayer(withId: self.layer.id)
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.addLayer(self.layer,
layerPosition: .below("state-label"))
}))

alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Above all", style: .default, handler: { [weak self] _ in
guard let self = self else { return }
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.removeLayer(withId: self.layer.id)
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.addLayer(self.layer,
layerPosition: nil)
}))

alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Below all", style: .default, handler: { [weak self] _ in
guard let self = self else { return }
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.removeLayer(withId: self.layer.id)
try? self.mapView.mapboxMap.addLayer(self.layer,
layerPosition: .at(0))
}))

alert.addAction(UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: .cancel))

present(alert, animated: true)
}

// Wait for the style to load before adding data to it.
func setupExample() {
layer = FillLayer(id: "polygon-layer", source: sourceIdentifier)
// Apply basic styling to the fill layer.
layer.fillColor = .constant(StyleColor(#colorLiteral(red: 0.9764705896, green: 0.850980401, blue: 0.5490196347, alpha: 1)))
layer.fillOutlineColor = .constant(StyleColor(#colorLiteral(red: 0.8039215803, green: 0.8039215803, blue: 0.8039215803, alpha: 1)))

// Create a new GeoJSON data source which gets its data from a polygon.
source = GeoJSONSource(id: sourceIdentifier)
source.data = .geometry(.polygon(.init([[
CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(32.91648534731439, -114.43359375),
CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(32.91648534731439, -81.298828125),
CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(48.16608541901253, -81.298828125),
CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(48.16608541901253, -114.43359375),
CLLocationCoordinate2DMake(32.91648534731439, -114.43359375)
]])))

try! mapView.mapboxMap.addSource(source)

// If a layer position is not supplied, the layer is added above all other layers by default.
try! mapView.mapboxMap.addLayer(layer, layerPosition: nil)



}
}
Was this example helpful?