Get a reference to status menu item and change its title - xcode

Question

I have a Mac OS app with a status menu (made in Interface Builder). I want to change status menu item title when certain event happens. I can do it just fine inside the action handler, because I have a reference to the item there (sender):
- (IBAction)playPauseMusic:(id)sender {
// ...
[sender setTitle:#"New Title"];
}
But how to do it in other parts of my app? I don't know how to get a reference to menuItem in the following code:
- (void) someOtherMethod:(int)isPlaying {
menuItem = ...;
if(isPlaying) {
[menuItem setTitle:#"Pause"];
}
}
What to do to make the above work?
Update. Here's how I attach the status menu:
// MyAppDelegate.h:
#interface MyApp : NSApplication
#end
#interface MyAppDelegate : NSObject <NSApplicationDelegate>
{
NSMenu *statusMenu;
NSStatusItem *statusItem;
// ...
}
#property (strong) IBOutlet NSMenu *statusMenu;
// ...
#end
// MyAppDelegate.m:
#synthesize statusMenu;
- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(NSNotification *)aNotification
{
statusItem = [[NSStatusBar systemStatusBar]
statusItemWithLength:NSVariableStatusItemLength];
[statusItem setMenu:[self statusMenu]];
}

Answer 1

If you want to access an item within the menu, then set a tag on the menu item (in IB, for example) and use:
NSMenuItem *menuItem = [[statusItem menu] itemWithTag:100]; // 100 = example
menuItem.title = #"Something";
If the code that wants to set the title is not the same object that holds statusItem then you'll need to expose a setStatusMenuTitle:forItemWithTag: method which performs the above code.
I cannot tell you how to get access to that object without more details, however.

Answer 2

First, I created an outlet for the menu item in Xcode. I followed the "Create and connect a new outlet" video guide. I made a strong outlet for my menu item:
#property (strong) IBOutlet NSMenuItem *playMenuItem;
Then added it to the interface:
#interface MyAppDelegate ...
{
// ...
NSMenuItem *playMenuItem;
}
Then added #synthesize declaration in implementation:
#synthesize playMenuItem;
Finally, the following worked:
[playMenuItem setTitle:#"New Title"];
P.S. If anyone can show me how to make it simpler, I'll be grateful.