Cocoa get string width in pixels from font - objective-c

Question

I am trying to find the width in pixels of a string from the font and font size. I am currently using this code, but it is not working 100% of the time. Is there another way to do it?
NSSize textSize = [aTextLayer.string sizeWithAttributes:[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:#"Bank Gothic Medium", NSFontNameAttribute, [NSNumber numberWithFloat:aTextLayer.fontSize], NSFontSizeAttribute, nil]];

Answer 1

NSAttributedString is granted a -size method by the Application Kit Additions.
NSDictionary* attributes = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
#"Bank Gothic Medium", NSFontNameAttribute,
[NSNumber numberWithFloat:aTextLayer.fontSize], NSFontSizeAttribute,
nil];
NSAttributedString* attributedString = [[NSAttributedString alloc] initWithString:aTextLayer.string attributes:attributes];
NSSize size = attributedString.size;

Answer 2

Here is what i use to get the size of a string...
NSSize size = [#"Some text" sizeWithAttributes:[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObject:[NSFont fontWithName:#"Helvetica Neue Bold" size:24.0f] forKey:NSFontAttributeName]];
NOTE: If you are adding the string to a textfield, i have found that you need to add about 10 to size.width for it to fit.

Answer 3

Try using the actual NSFont (or UIFont) object instead of just the name of the font.

Answer 4

Here is yet another example:
NSString *test = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"%u:%u:%u.000", hours, minutes, seconds];
NSSize boundingSize = {100,300}; //I suppose this is the constraints?
NSRect boundingRect = [test boundingRectWithSize:boundingSize options:NULL attributes:stringAttributes];
point.x -= boundingRect.size.width; //This point points at the end of screen
[test drawAtPoint:point withAttributes:stringAttributes];
Here is for the stringAttributes, that may help noobs like me:
NSMutableDictionary *stringAttributes;
stringAttributes = [NSMutableDictionary dictionary];
[stringAttributes setObject:[NSFont fontWithName:#"Monaco" size:16] forKey:NSFontAttributeName];
[stringAttributes setObject:[NSColor whiteColor] forKey:NSForegroundColorAttributeName];
[stringAttributes setObject:[NSColor blackColor] forKey:NSBackgroundColorAttributeName];