How to let multiple components/controls share similar action in Xcode - macos

I'm using Xcode 6 and Swift to develop an OS X app, not iOS.
Let's say we have two toggle buttons and each one controls a combobox. Everytime press the button, it will enable or disable the combobox it controls. I can definately set up separate actions for each button. Since I have ten buttons, this approach seems to contain a lot of redundant code.
#IBAction func clickBtn1 (sender: NSButton){
if combobox1.enabled == true
{
combobox1.enabled = faulse;
}
else
{
combobox1.enabled = true;
}
}
#IBAction func clickBtn2 (sender: NSButton){
//same codes for combobox 2
}
Is there any way to make this simpler, such as share the action code by identify different sender, Similar to VB.NET?
UPDATE:
I found a imcomplete solution for it from https://stackoverflow.com/a/24842728/2784097
now I control+drag the two buttons to the same action in ViewController.swift and also give those two buttons different tag. button1.tag=1, button2.tag = 2. The code now looks like,
//button1.tag=1, button2.tag = 2.
#IBAction func clickButton(sender:NSButton) {
switch(sender.tag){
case 0:
combobox1.enabled = !combobox1.enabled;
break;
case 1:
combobox2.enabled = !combobox2.enabled;
break;
default:
break;
}
}
This solves a part of my problem. Next, I wonder is there any way to access/find the controls/components by reference, for example a string or tag or name anything. Pseudo code would like following,
//button1.tag=1, button2.tag = 2.
#IBAction func clickButton(sender:NSButton) {
//pseudo code
combobox[button.tag].enabled = !combobox[button.tag].enabled;
}

You should be able to bind all of the NSButton (and NSComboBox) control events to the same buttonClicked: method. You can achieve this through Interface Builder or programmatically via the setAction: method.
Selectors in Swift are just strings, like "buttonClicked:", but I prefer to wrap them in Selector initializers for clarity (e.g. Selector("buttonClicked:")).

There are many ways to do this, here's one:
Extend the NSButton class to include a property for the combo box that it controls. That way, when in the action method, you can get a reference to the correct combo box from the instance of the button that is passed in.
Create a new class MyButton that extends NSButton
Add a public property to that class to hold an reference to a combo box.
Replace your NSButtons with MyButtons.
After the view loads, set the combo box property on each of your buttons to the correct combo box.
Write a new action method that accepts a MyButton object as the sender. Get the combo box property from the sender and call combobox.enabled = !combobox.enabled.

Related

How to align a toolbar (or its items) with the leading edge of a split view controller's child?

In iOS, a toolbar can be added to any view. In macOS however, it seems only possible to add a toolbar to a window.
I'm working on an app with a split view controller with a toolbar but the toolbar's items only have a meaning with respect to the right view controller's context.
E.g. let's say I have a text editor of some sort, where the left pane shows all documents (like in the Notes app) and the right pane shows the actual text which can be edited. The formatting buttons only affect the text in the right pane. Thus, it seems very intuitive to place the toolbar within that right pane instead of stretching it over the full width of the window.
Is there some way to achieve this?
(Or is there a good UX reason why this would be a bad practice?)
I've noticed how Apple solved this problem in terms of UX in their Notes app: They still use a full-width toolbar but align the button items that are only related to the right pane with the leading edge of that pane.
So in case, there is no way to place a toolbar in a view controller, how can I align the toolbar items with the leading edge of the right view controller as seen in the screenshot above?
Edit:
According to TimTwoToes' answer and the posts linked by Willeke in the comments, it seems to be possible to use Auto Layout for constraining a toolbar item with the split view's child view. This solution would work if there was a fixed toolbar layout. However, Apple encourages (for a good reason) to let users customize your app's toolbar.
Thus, I cannot add constraints to a fixed item in the toolbar. Instead, a viable solution seems to be to use a leading flexible space and adjust its size accordingly.
Initial Notes
It turns out this is tricky because there are many things that need to be considered:
Auto Layout doesn't seem to work properly with toolbar items. (I've read a few posts mentioning that Apple has classified this as a bug.)
Normally, the user can customize your app's toolbar (add and remove items). We should not deprive the user of that option.
Thus, simply constraining a particular toolbar item with the split view or a layout guide is not an option (because the item might be at a different position than expected or not there at all).
After hours of "hacking", I've finally found a reliable way to achieve the desired behavior that doesn't use any internal / undocumented methods. Here's how it looks:
How To
Instead of a standard NSToolbarFlexibleSpaceItem create an NSToolbarItem with a custom view. This will serve as your flexible, resizing space. You can do that in code or in Interface Builder:
Create outlets/properties for your toolbar and your flexible space (inside the respective NSWindowController):
#IBOutlet weak var toolbar: NSToolbar!
#IBOutlet weak var tabSpace: NSToolbarItem!
Create a method inside the same window controller that adjusts the space width:
private func adjustTabSpaceWidth() {
for item in toolbar.items {
if item == tabSpace {
guard
let origin = item.view?.frame.origin,
let originInWindowCoordinates = item.view?.convert(origin, to: nil),
let leftPane = splitViewController?.splitViewItems.first?.viewController.view
else {
return
}
let leftPaneWidth = leftPane.frame.size.width
let tabWidth = max(leftPaneWidth - originInWindowCoordinates.x, MainWindowController.minTabSpaceWidth)
item.set(width: tabWidth)
}
}
}
Define the set(width:) method in an extension on NSToolbarItem as follows:
private extension NSToolbarItem {
func set(width: CGFloat) {
minSize = .init(width: width, height: minSize.height)
maxSize = .init(width: width, height: maxSize.height)
}
}
Make your window controller conform to NSSplitViewDelegate and assign it to your split view's delegate property.1 Implement the following NSSplitViewDelegate protocol method in your window controller:
override func splitViewDidResizeSubviews(_ notification: Notification) {
adjustTabSpaceWidth()
}
This will yield the desired resizing behavior. (The user will still be able to remove the space completely or reposition it, but he can always add it back to the front.)
1 Note:
If you're using an NSSplitViewController, the system automatically assigns that controller to its split view's delegate property and you cannot change that. As a consequence, you need to subclass NSSplitViewController, override its splitViewDidResizeSubviews() method and notify the window controller from there. Your can achieve that with the following code:
protocol SplitViewControllerDelegate: class {
func splitViewControllerDidResize(_ splitViewController: SplitViewController)
}
class SplitViewController: NSSplitViewController {
weak var delegate: SplitViewControllerDelegate?
override func splitViewDidResizeSubviews(_ notification: Notification) {
delegate?.splitViewControllerDidResize(self)
}
}
Don't forget to assign your window controller as the split view controller's delegate:
override func windowDidLoad() {
super.windowDidLoad()
splitViewController?.delegate = self
}
and to implement the respective delegate method:
extension MainWindowController: SplitViewControllerDelegate {
func splitViewControllerDidResize(_ splitViewController: SplitViewController) {
adjustTabSpaceWidth()
}
}
There is no native way to achieve a "local" toolbar. You would have to create the control yourself, but I believe it would be simpel to make.
Aligning the toolbar items using autolayout is described here. Align with custom toolbar item described by Mischa.
The macOS way is to use the Toolbar solution and make them context sensitive. In this instance the text attribute buttons would enable when the right pane has the focus and disable when it looses the focus.

NSClickGestureRecognizer.location(in:) and hitTest()

I have the following view:
which has a custom class based on NSVisualEffectView, and contains an image view, a label (NSTextField) and a popup button. isFlipped of the custom view is always false.
The custom view also contains a NSClickGestureRecognizer which uses a delegate. The delegate implements just one method:
func gestureRecognizerShouldBegin(_ gestureRecognizer: NSGestureRecognizer) -> Bool {
let thePoint = gestureRecognizer.location(in: view)
if let theView = view.hitTest(thePoint) {
return !theView.handlesMouseEvents
}
else {
return true
}
}
If I click in the middle of the popup menu, location(in:) returns the value (182, 16) for instance. This seems correct for me for a non-flipped view. But hitTest() returns the background view for that point as result and not the popup button.
What am I doing wrong?
If I use the manually flipped point (y := height - y) for hit-testing I get the popup button as result. But I don't want to use that approach because it seems ugly to me.
If seems to work if I use the window's content view for hit-testing. But I would still like to know why the approach shown does not work.
The parameter point of hitTest(_:) is
A point that is in the coordinate system of the view’s superview, not of the view itself.
Solution: pass a point in superview coordinates.

Dismissing keyboard in UITextField with RAC(5)?

Newbie to ReactiveCocoa and ReactiveSwfit here... Sorry if the answer is obvious.
I am trying to adapt the Start Developing iOS Apps with Swift sample to ReactiveSwift / ReactiveCocoa, and I am running into an issue with "translating" the UITextField's Delegate method -- which gets rid of the keyboard and essentially ends the editing (so I can capture the text field in the mealNameLabel) :
func textFieldShouldReturn(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool
I am using
nameTextField.reactive.textValues.observeValues { value in
viewModel.mealName.swap(value ?? "")
}
// Setup bindings to update the view's meal label
// based on data from the View Model
mealNameLabel.reactive.text <~ viewModel.mealLabel
to get the value from the text field into the view model and percolate the view model's label back to the UILabel (convoluted...)
That works fine, as long as I maintain the viewController as the UITextField's delegate and I still implement the method depicted in the tutorial and mentioned above. Essentially :
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
nameTextField.delegate = self
// view controller logic
...
}
func textFieldShouldReturn(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool {
// Hide the keyboard.
textField.resignFirstResponder()
return true
}
I tried using
nameTextField.reactive.controlEvents
but that failed miserably due to my lack of understanding of controlEvents (docs anywhere ?).
So what do I need to do to make the keyboard disappear when the user is done editing, the "reactive way" ?
Thanks !!!
(Of course right after I post my question...)
It looks like this might actually do the trick :
nameTextField.reactive.controlEvents(UIControlEvents.primaryActionTriggered)
.observeValues { textField in
textField.resignFirstResponder()
}
After fiddling with the different event types, it looks like .primaryActionTriggered is what gets triggered when the "Done" button is pressed.
Any better way to do this ?

Simple displaying of second window: OS X & Swift

I'm trying to find how to bring up a second view/window after pushing a button on my primary window. I have read about segues and I can get the first window to display the second but the second is not connected to a view controller so I can't add any code to any controls on the second view. Try as I might I cannot create a SecondViewController.swift file and connect it to a window controller or a view controller. The tutorials I have found all deal with iOS and I want OS X which means there are just enough differences to keep me from figuring this out.
Can anyone show me how to do this?
Ta,
A.
First make new file like:
After that, put these codes in your classes and that should do it.
class SecondWindowController: NSWindowController {
convenience init() {
self.init(windowNibName: "SecondWindowController")
}
}
class ViewController: NSViewController {
private var secondWindowController: SecondWindowController?
#IBAction func showSecondWindow(sender: AnyObject) {
if secondWindowController == nil {
secondWindowController = SecondWindowController()
}
secondWindowController?.showWindow(self)
}
}

Adding Click Handler to NSTextField in Swift

I am having trouble detecting a user's double click in swift, I want to detect when they double click on an NSTextField.
func someFunc() {
y.target = self
y.action = "editLabel:"
}
#IBAction func editLabel(obj:AnyObject?) {
NSLog("here");
}
The above code doesn't work, I can't seem to find the basic documentation that shows how to add event handlers. Is there a simpler way to do this?
I guess your text field is a label, not an editable text field in its normal state. Starting with OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), you can use NSClickGestureRecognizer:
func applicationDidFinishLaunching(aNotification: NSNotification) {
let gesture = NSClickGestureRecognizer()
gesture.buttonMask = 0x1 // left mouse
gesture.numberOfClicksRequired = 2
gesture.target = self
gesture.action = "editLabel:"
myLabel.addGestureRecognizer(gesture)
}
func editLabel(sender: NSGestureRecognizer) {
if let label = sender.view as? NSTextField {
print("Hello world")
}
}
A text field does not handling editing, as such. When a text field has focus, a text view is added to the window, overlapping the area of the text field. This is called the "field editor" and it is responsible for handling editing.
It seems the most likely place for you to change the behavior of a double-click is in the text storage object used by that text view. NSTextStorage inherits from NSMutableAttributedString which inherits from NSAttributedString which has a -doubleClickAtIndex: method. That method returns the range of the text that should be selected by a double-click at a particular index.
So, you'll want to implement a subclass of NSTextStorage that overrides that method and returns a different result in some circumstances. NSTextStorage is a semi-abstract base class of a class cluster. Subclassing it requires a bit more than usual. You have to implement the primitive methods of NSAttributedString and NSMutableAttributedString. See the docs about it.
There are a few places to customize the field editor by replacing its text storage object with an instance of your class:
You could implement a custom subclass of NSTextFieldCell. Set your text field to use this as its cell. In your subclass, override -fieldEditorForView:. In your override, instantiate an NSTextView. Obtain its layoutManager and call -replaceTextStorage: on that, passing it an instance of your custom text storage class. (This is easier than putting together the hierarchy of objects that is involved with text editing, although you could do that yourself.) Set the fieldEditor property of the text view to true and return it.
In your window delegate, implement -windowWillReturnFieldEditor:toObject:. Create, configure, and return an NSTextView using your custom text storage, as above.

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