I have a Cocoa app that shows a "quick search" window similar to Spotlight. The window contains a visual effect view and inside a NSTextField. The text field stretches across the full width of the window.
I would like to be able to move the window by dragging inside the empty area of the text field. When dragging across text in the text field, the normal editing (i.e. selection) behavior should be used instead.
In theory, moving a window by its background is easy:
window.isMovableByWindowBackground = true
However, this behavior does not work with NSTextField, because it intercepts dragging and attempts to select text instead.
Spotlight does it somehow. Here's an example:
A couple of options that I considered without success:
Tried overriding hitTest: returning nil
Tried overriding mouseDown|Up|Dragging: and forwarding to superview
Tried to use autolayout to have text field shrink to tightly wrap around its text (could not figure this one out)
For reference, I finally found a way:
Part 1: get NSTextField to grow/shrink with its content
Override intrinsicContentSize and measure its content:
private func measure(_ string:NSAttributedString) -> NSSize
{
let cell = NSTextFieldCell(textCell: stringValue)
cell.attributedStringValue = string
return cell.cellSize
}
Part 2: view setup
Add a placeholder view right after the text field
Set up auto layout to have the placeholder view to grow and shrink
Part3: all about the details
Set up the placeholder view to use the iBeam cursor to make it appear like a text field
If the user clicks in the placeholder view, make the text field the first responder
That's it.
Related
I have simple chat application with text messages view-based NSTableView as you can see at the picture below.
Each message contains NSTextView instance having height to fit all the text.
All I need is to start NSScrollView (which NSTableView-instance is enclosed by) autoscrolling while the user selecting text dragging mouse far enough. Unfortunately, autoscrolling doesn't appear. In case of dragging somewhere outside of the text views all succeed.
I tried to call autoscroll:-method directly by simply push NSEvent-instance from NSTextView-subclass "mouse dragged"-event (like in example from this article):
- (void)mouseDragged:(NSEvent *)event
{
[self.scrollView autoscroll:event];
}
As I've overrode all the mouse events and implemented all the text selecting, this method often invokes. But the autoscrolling doesn't seem to work.
UPDATE
I figured out that before calling -autoscroll:-method there must be -mouseDown: of the same object. But it breaks my text selecting mechanism. The point even not in being first responder, there must be nothing but the mouseDown:-method.
Normally, a text view is within a scroll view of its own. Even if that's big enough to show all of the text without scrolling, it's still there. A call of -autoscroll: on anything within that scroll view (possibly including that scroll view itself?) will just try to scroll that scroll view, not the scroll view that contains the table view.
Try calling -autoscroll: on a view higher up in the hierarchy. Either self.scrollView.superview, the table cell view, or the table view.
Note, though, that the table view's scroll view will keep scrolling even after the cell view containing the text view is fully on-screen. In fact, it may keep scrolling it so far that it's off the screen in the other direction. Basically, it doesn't know that you're trying to select within the text view so it doesn't know to stop when the selection extends all the way to the edge of the text view.
Another approach might be to try to use a "bare" text view with no enclosing scroll view. I don't think IB will let you do that, so you'd have to do it programmatically. Bare text views don't play well with auto layout, though.
I'm writing an OS X app and have a problem with font smoothing in separate window.
I have a text field where you put text and suggestion window which pops up with a list of suggestions according to what you wrote. I'm using View-cell based NSTableView to display those suggestions and SFBPopoverWindowController to display it as a "popup" window (tried other classes with the same effect). When rows are first drawn they look fine but after I select them (keyboard or mouse) the font changes it's weight. It's only visual - like you would change smoothing method on the font, not it's bold setting.
"Music note" is the selected cell here
What's even more strange is that after I hide and show the window 3 times everything works fine from that point on.
Again - "Music note" is the selected cell.
The selection is done by overwriting NSTableRowView class and its drawSelectionInRect: method but I tried with drawing everything inside custom NSTableCellView class and it didn't help. The text is standard NSTextField - nothing's changed there.
The SFBPopoverWindow (and it's controller) are created once and reused with styleMask NSBorderlessWindowMask, backing NSBackingStoreBuffered, defer set to YES. The only change in SFBPopoverWindowController I made was to turn off window becoming key window but it doesn't change anything.
It might be related to the way a table view draws it's selected cells (setSelectionHightLightStyle:). Try to set the style to None/ NSTableViewSelectionHighlightStyleNone in your code or IB / Storyboard-file and draw the selection yourself (in a NSTableRowView subclass).
Background: When you use NSTableViewSelectionHighlightStyleRegular or NSTableViewSelectionHighlightStyleSourceList the table view assumes that you use the standard selection behaviour and appearance and does some magic to support that.
==========
UPDATE
==========
My previous answer is still valid but since it only describes the problem and hints at a workaround, I wanted to add a real solution. If you want to use NSTableViewSelectionHighlightStyleRegular for your table view (with custom font and colors), you need a way to 'disable' the system magic that comes into place once your row is highlighted. One proposed solution is to decline the first responder status. It has a lot of drawbacks and isn't a good solution at all.
So, let's have a closer look at the system 'magic' that kicks in as soon as the row will be highlighted: NSTableRowView has a property interiorBackgroundStyle that is – according to the documentation – 'an indication of how the subviews should draw'. Furthermore 'This value is dynamically computed based on the set of properties set for the NSTableRowView. Subclassers can override this value when they draw differently based on the currently displayed properties. This method can also be called to determine what color a subview should use, or alternatively, NSControls can have the -backgroundStyle set on their cell to this value.'
I assume that this style will be handed down the subview hierarchy and causes your text fields to look odd. The system assumes that a highlighted cell has a dark background and changes the interiorBackgroundStyle to dark. Other controls try to adapt accordingly.
I think there are two solutions to this problem:
1) Override interiorBackgroundStyle in your NSTableRowView subclass and return the style that fits your interface (in my case it's .light because my highlight color is a very bright blue). This worked for me.
2) If changing the whole style is a bit too much because you only want certain elements to not change their style, you may only need to adjust these subclasses. I haven't tried this yet.
I'm working on an app that presents an NSPopover containing a number of NSTextFields. While I can tab between these fields as I expect, the popover is selecting a particular text field to be in the editing state when it appears, and it's not the field I want to edit; I'd like to be able to define which text field is editing on popover appearance programmatically (or in Interface Builder). How can I do this?
I've set up the appropriate key view loop by connecting IB outlets for all the various text fields involved, and I've hooked up the popover's nextResponder property to the text field I want to edit first, but that doesn't seem to have an effect - the popover will still select its preferred text field instead of mine. The Window Programming Guide suggests that I set the initialFirstResponder outlet of the window to the view I want selected, but an NSPopover is not an NSWindow and has no initialFirstResponder property (unless I'm missing something obvious).
Is there any way to specify which NSTextField I want to be editing when an NSPopover appears?
I think you said you tried using -makeFirstResponder: and passing the text field. This will set the window's firstResponder, but that's not the same as initialFirstResponder and the window must have initialFirstResponder set to something other than nil in order to respect the key view loop. (Source) A slight tweak to what you tried worked for me:
- (void)popoverWillShow:(NSNotification *)notification
{
// Set the window's initialFirstResponder so that the key view loop isn't auto-recalculated.
[[myField window] setInitialFirstResponder:myField];
}
I think you can make this work by setting all the text field's that you don't want to have focus to "selectable" instead of "Editable" in IB, this should leave the one text field you want to start with as the first responder. Then, in your popoverDidShow: method, set them all back to editable, and you should be able to tab between them as usual.
I have a custom view in a .xib file, which I use as the contentViewController for an MAAttachedWindow. The view has several NSTextFields in it.
When I open the MAAttachedWindow first time, everything is fine. Text shows up in all relevant text fields. Then, if I close the window (which sets it to nil) and then call it again (which reinitializes, using the same custom view as the contentViewController), the last firstResponder text field is now blank.
The strange thing is that if I click the "empty" text field, it shows the correct text. This can be edited, and behaves appropriately as long as this text field has focus. As soon as something else becomes firstResponder, the text vanishes again.
Updates:
Changing the color did not change the aforementioned behavior.
The text color does not change at any time during this process.
Placeholder text also is subject to the aforementioned behavior.
No errors are occurring at any time during this process.
This does not happen to NSSecureTextFields.
I first encountered this problem about 5 years ago with accessory view of a NSSavePanel.
The solution that I've found was to move the first responder to the panel itself, before it's closed. Here's my exact method:
- (void)windowDidEndSheet:(NSNotification *)notification
NSSavePanel *savePanel = [(XSDocument *)[self document] savePanel];
if (!savePanel)
return;
// this fixes a bug where on next opening one of accessory view's text field will be blank and behave strangely
[savePanel makeFirstResponder:savePanel];
}
Try changing color of textfield text to red color (or any other color) you may get what happens here.
I got it!
I simply needed to explicitly remove the viewController from its superview before closing (and subsequently deallocating) the MAAttachedWindow.
Try resigning all first responders before setting the window to nil.
What I'm looking for is a way with CA to dynamically lay out a window. Imagine the following SQL query in a window, each name between +PLUSSIGNS+ being a NSPopUpButton, rest is static text.
Select *
from +BURRITOS/TACOS1+ +AND/OR1+
+BURRITOS/TACOS2+ +AND/OR2+
Where
+TOPPING1+ +EQUALS/LT/GT1+ +TOPPINGLIST1+ +AND/OR3+
+TOPPING2+ +EQUALS/LT/GT2+ +TOPPINGLIST2+ +AND/OR4+
Ok: So the window starts showing "Select *" and "from" plain text labels, and BURRITOS/TACOS1 selected to "--" instead of a valid value.
When I set BURRITOS/TACOS1 to a valid value (BURRITOS), I want the AND/OR1 NSPopUpButton to appear, selected to "--". I also want the "Where" label to appear and I want "TOPPING1" "EQUALS/LT/GT1" "TOPPINGLIST1" to appear. All 3 of those will be selected to "--".
When I put AND/OR1 to a valid value (AND or OR), I want BURRITOS/TACOS2 to appear. If I select that to a value, I want AND/OR2 to appear. If I set that to a value, I want BURRITOS/TACOS3 to appear ....
If I set TOPPING1, EQUALS/LT/GT1, and TOPPINGLIST1 to valid values I want AND/OR3 to appear (as "--"). If I set AND/OR3 to a valid value, I want TOPPING2, EQUALS/LT/GT2, TOPPINGLIST2 to appear. If I set them to valid values, I want AND/OR4 to appear...
If for instance AND/OR3 is set to -- and there was a line under it, I'd want that entire line to disappear.
At the bottom of the entire Window I need a static checkbox "enable", always appears. I also want a left and right arrow button - clicking left would make the entire window "flip" to the left. Clicking right would make the entire window "flip" to the right to new queries.
I'd like these new NSPopUpButtons to appear similar to Mail.app where a new text entry for CC BCC etc appears based on your settings using that picker control thing.
Ends up this is truly 2 questions.
1 - Dynamic layout of window. In simplest way this is done by putting an NSView in an NSWindow and then using NSView's addSubview.. example:
NSRect rect = NSMakeRect(0, y, 100, 10);
NSButton *button = [[NSButton alloc] initWithFrame:rect];
y += 15;
[topView addSubview:button];
Here an NSButton is put every 15 pixels inside the view. Note that y has to be maintained by me, it's not automatic. If we overrun our NSView bounds we have to manage that size ourselves as well.
2 - Animating this transition. Using Core Animation isn't that smart, the more sensible route is NSAnimation and specifically NSViewAnimation. There's a great example thanks to Apple here. For my purpose I need to use this to resize and also move NSViews. Also If I want a Button to "fade in" what I can do is copy the NSView, keep that as "old", modify my NSView, and fade between those.
...thanks to #cocoa on freenode..