Synching Core Data with Two Xib Simultaneously - macos

Question

I am trying to create a Core Data app where the user is organizing a lot of information into sections. I have a main xib that has a popup menu and a non-bordered box. Into that box, a separate xib will be loaded with the view for the section chosen from the popup button.
I decided to make a second window/panel that's a sort of accessory window. The idea is that the main window shows a summary table, while the accessory view makes it easier to input data by taking the current selection in the summary table and displaying it in text fields, graphical date pickers (instead of forcing the user to use the correct format for typing a date into the table), etc. It also holds some optional fields and displays stats, so those don't clog up my main view.
My Document.m for the main xib has:
- (id)init
{
self = [super init];
if (self) {
viewControllers = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
accessoryViewControllers = [[NSMutableArray alloc] init];
ManagingViewController *vc;
ManagingViewController *accessoryVC;
vc = [[SummaryViewController alloc] init];
accessoryVC = [[SummaryAccessoryViewController alloc] init];
[vc setManagedObjectContext: [self managedObjectContext]];
[accessoryVC setManagedObjectContext: [self managedObjectContext]];
[viewControllers addObject: vc];
[accessoryViewControllers addObject: accessoryVC];
}
return self;
}
And so on for the other viewControllers/xib files that will be listed in the popup button. Making a selection in the popup returns its sender tag, then calls another method that takes the tag, and loads the objectAtIndex in the vc array into the main window box and accessoryVC array into the accessory window. In the actual SummaryViewController.m I have:
- (id) init {
self = [super initWithNibName: #"SummaryView" bundle:nil];
if (self) {
[self setTitle: #"Summary"];
}
return self;
}
I built all the views, then started binding. A column in the table in the main window might be bound to arrangedObjects.aaa and the accessory view's textfield will be bound to selection.aaa, but its selection won't change when the tableview selection changes. I'm guessing that's because technically they're using two separate NSArrayControllers.
I've seen examples in books where a secondary window had data synched to the main window, and it worked because both windows came from the same xib, so they used the same NSArrayController. My question is, which of these options can I use:
1) Is there a way to make the NSArrayControllers stay in synch across multiple xib files?
2) I could move the custom view in the SummaryAccessoryView.xib into SummaryView.xib so that the one xib contains both the view for the main and accessory windows. Then they would share NSArrayControllers. But then how do I get my popup to put one view in the main window and the other in the accessory window? My current method relies on [super initWithNibName: SummaryView.xib] so I don't see any way to specify which view.
3) I guess I could cave and rebuild the whole thing to a one-window model, scrap the redundant fields and put the extra fields at the bottom part of my main view, but the user won't be able to hide it or move it around and I have that issue again with having a user formatting their dates into a tableview... It might work if I knew how to have a graphical date picker come up when the user clicks a table cell. But I'd prefer to keep the two-window model if possible.
Any ideas on how to do option 1 or 2?
EDIT: I got option 3 working:
You need a few ivars first: a date picker (myDatePicker), your table (myTable), the pop-over that houses the date picker (myPopover), and the NSArrayController (myArray). Also in my example, the date column is the first column (column 0) and I've named it in IB as "date". If you have multiple dates (like start/end dates or two tables), you can add in an NSString ("tableAndColumn") that uses #define to set flags to identify which date you need, and turn your if statement into an if-else with multiple cases.
- (BOOL) tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView
shouldEditTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)tableColumn
row:(NSInteger)row {
if (tableColumn == [myTable tableColumnWithIdentifier: #"date"]) {
//tableAndColumn = myStartDate;
[myDatePicker setDateValue: [myArray valueForKeyPath: #"selection.date"]]; //this will set your date picker to the value already in the table column
NSRect rect = [myTable frameOfCellAtColumn: 0 row: [myTable selectedRow]];
[myPopover showRelativeToRect: rect ofView: myTable preferredEdge:NSMaxYEdge];
return NO;
// } else if (tableColumn == [myTable tableColumnWithIdentifier: #"endDate"]) {
// ...
} else {
return YES;
}
}
- (void) popoverWillClose:(NSNotification *)notification {
// if ([tableAndColumn isEqualToString: MyStartDate]) {
[myArray setValue: [myDatePicker dateValue] forKeyPath: #"selection.date"];
// } else if ([tableAndColumn isEqualToString: MyEndDate]) {
// ...
// }
}

Answer 1

You can bind to your array controllers across NIB files by using properties of your NIB file's owner that are key-value coding and key-value observing compliant. E.g. if one of your NIB files has your NSViewController subclass as the file's owner, you can bind controls to the file's owner using key paths that start with representedObject.
In your example, you could store your view controllers (which you initialized in -[Document.m init]) in dedicated properties, and set the NSViewController's representedObject to the document instance. Then, in your NIB file, you could bind your controls to the file's owner using a key path that starts with representedObject.myViewControllerProperty.myArrayControllerProperty etc.
In my own app, I initiate a custom window controller in -[Document makeWindowControllers] using -initWithWindowNibName and store it in a mainWC property. This main window controller creates subordinate view controllers (similar to how you've done it) and sets their representedObject property to itself ([vc setRepresentedObject:self]). All bindings in other NIB files are then routed thru this main window controller via bindings to file's owner using key paths that start with representedObject.
In a similar fashion, my MainMenu.xib file connects e.g. the "Enabled" property of some menu commands to appropriate array controller properties by binding to the Application object using key paths that start with mainWindow.windowController.document.mainWC.