I have an NSWindow set up in Interface Builder. I have set the class of File's Owner to my NSWindowController and linked the window property of the controller to my NSWindow.
My controller implements NSWindowDelegate.
Now, in my controller, I have added the following:
- (void)windowDidLoad
{
[super windowDidLoad];
[self.window setDelegate:self];
}
- (void)windowDidBecomeMain:(NSNotification *)notification
{
NSLog(#"Did become main.");
}
Still, -windowDidBecomeMain: isn't called. Does anyone know why this is?
EDIT:
Trying to show a window from AppDelegate on launch. The main nib (declared in Info.plist) contains a menu item only which is linked to the AppDelegate. In the application delegate, I show an icon on the status bar and when this icon is clicked, I display the menu from the main nib.
In the application delegate, I also want to display a window which should have a window controller assigned to take care of the logic.
I believe that when this works, I will receive my window notifications.
Now, the following code doesn't show the window and I can't figure out why.
DemoWindowController *dwc = [[DemoWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"DemoWindowController"];
[dwc showWindow:self];
Note that self is the application delegate.
I suspect your problem is due to the fact that your window controller is not actually the object that is the nibs file owner.
When you change the class in interface builder you are telling it what outlets and actions are available (which is why you are able to drag to the window outlet) but you are still responsible for passing in this object yourself.
In the case of a non-document based application, you will have a main method which calls NSApplicationMain. What this does is basically look up and load the window nib that is specified in your info.plist file and pass the current NSApplication instance to this nib as the files owner (so even though you changed the class type to NSWindowController, the object being passed in is actually of type NSApplication).
The easiest way to fix your problem is to get rid of your window controller for now (as it isn't actually doing anything yet).
You should implement the -windowDidBecomeMain: method in your app delegate. Then Ctrl+drag from your window to your appDelegate to set it as the delegate of the window to get your notifications.
Update
To answer your question regarding the WindowController beware of the following two issues:
You are creating your window controller variable (dwc) in your applicationDidFinishLaunching: method. This is released the moment you leave the method taking your window with it. Create an instance variable to hold onto the window controller instead.
Ensure that your second window nib has its file owner set to NSWindowController (or your window controller type) and that its window outlet is connected to the window in the nib file.
Your window should now display.
Related
My app was converted from a non-document-based app to a document-based one. I did that by creating a subclass of NSDocument, called Document. I also created a Document.xib and set its "File's Owner" to Document.
Now in Document.xib, I can see there is a window outlet in its "File's Owner". I don't have a window outlet defined in Document. Where does it come from? I guess it is from the super class NSDocument, but I have no access to that variable in Document. What's up with this weird window outlet?
Have a look at the documentation for -[NSDocument setWindow:]
This method is invoked automatically during the loading of any nib for which this document is the file’s owner, if the file’s owner window outlet is connected in the nib. You should not invoke this method directly, and typically you would not override it either.
NSDocument doesn't deal with NSWindows directly, but it keeps a list of NSWindowControllers that you can access via the -[NSDocument windowControllers] method. My guess is that when setWindow: gets called, it wraps the window in a new NSWindowController and adds it to the list.
You should be able to access the window with something like this:
NSWindowController* controller = self.windowControllers.lastObject;
NSWindow* window = controller.window;
I just made a new project to test it, and this works:
- (void)windowControllerDidLoadNib:(NSWindowController *)aController {
[super windowControllerDidLoadNib:aController];
NSLog(#"%#", [self.windowControllers.lastObject window]);
}
I'm working with an NSWindowController to implement a preferences window. Apple's documentation states that by default the controller and window aren't deallocated, because it's useful to not have to reload everything, which makes sense. But their documentation goes on to say that you can override that behavior, but not explain how.
Apple's Docs:
When a window is closed and it is part of a document-based
application, the document removes the window’s window
controller from its list of window controllers. This results
in the system deallocating the window controller and the
window, and possibly the NSDocument object itself. When a
window controller is not part of a document-based application,
closing the window does not by default result in the
deallocation of the window or window controller. This is the
desired behavior for a window controller that manages something
like an inspector; you shouldn’t have to load the nib file
again and re-create the objects the next time the user requests
the inspector.
If you want the closing of a window to make both
window and window controller go away when it isn’t
part of a document, your subclass of NSWindowController
can observe the NSWindowWillCloseNotification notification
or, as the window delegate, implement the windowWillClose: method.
I can't find anywhere that explains what to "implement" in the windowWillClose: method.
The window controller can be seen here:
https://github.com/gngrwzrd/gwpreferences/blob/master/GWPreferences/GWPreferences/GWPreferences/GWPrefsWindowController.m
Using the controller can be seen here:
https://github.com/gngrwzrd/gwpreferences/blob/master/GWPreferences/GWPreferences/GWAppDelegate.m - you can see in this code where I'm trying some bridge casting to try and force release objects but it doesn't work.
So the GWPrefsWindowController.dealloc method never gets called. Any ideas?
I understand this question is old, but for those who came here from google, the answer is quite simple.
As stated in the documentation, for non document base applications, you can simply:
Keep a reference for your NSWindowController wherever your are calling it. (In the example below it's referenced by myWindowController;
Make the class calling your NSWindowController implement the protocol NSWindowDelegate;
Release your Window Controller by setting it to nil on windowWillClose: method
To answer the question more precisely. When lazy instantiating your controller, set your class as the delegate:
-(IBAction)showMyWindowAction:(id)sender
{
// If my window controller is not nil
if (!myWindowController)
{
//instantiate it
myWindowController = [[MyWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"myWindow"];
// set your class as delegate
[myWindowController setDelegate:self];
}
[myWindowController.window orderFront:self];
}
And then implement the windowWillClose: method from the NSWindowDelegate protocol
-(void)windowWillClose:(NSNotification *)notification
{
//Check if it's the right window that will close
if ([notification.object isEqualTo:myWindowController.window])
{
//Set your controller to nil
myWindowController = nil;
}
}
That's it, your window controller will now dealloc and since we are verifying if it's controller is nil before showing the window, everything will work!
I believe the reason why this is not implemented by default is because the initWithWindowNibName: is a somewhat heavy operation, and thus you have to think if dealloc'ing whatever is on your window will impact more or less than loading your window nib file.
I hope it helped
I would like to track each time a certain window appears (becomes visible to the user) in a OS X app. Where would be the most adequate place to call the tracker?
windowWillLoad, maybe?
I expected to find something like windowWillAppear but it seems I'm thinking too much iOS.
How about getting notification such as NSWindowDidBecomeMainNotification, By main I guess the one which is top most on screen directly visible by user.
see : Apple Documentation
Yes, one would expect that a window would notify its delegate or its controller with a windowWillAppear or windowDidAppear message, or post a documented notification like NSWindowDidAppearNotification. But alas, none of those exist. I filed a bug report with Apple and was given the advice to use a storyboard and a view controller instead. This is unhelpful in legacy apps that already use a bunch of window controllers and xibs.
You could subclass NSWindow and override orderWindow:relativeTo: to send a notification. Most, but not quite all, of the messages that make a window show itself ultimately go through this method, including orderBack:, orderFront:, makeKeyAndOrderFront:, and -[NSWindowController showWindow:]. But orderFrontRegardless does not go through orderWindow:relativeTo:, so you would also want to override that for completeness.
Another way to be notified is to make a subclass of NSViewController that controls some view that's always visible in the window. The view controller will receive viewWillAppear and viewDidAppear.
If you're subclassing NSWindow or NSViewController already for some other reason, either of these is a reasonable solution.
If you're not subclassing NSWindow already, and don't have an NSViewController subclass for a view that's always visible in the window, then another way is to use Cocoa bindings to connect the window's visible binding to a property one of your objects. For example, I have a custom NSWindowController subclass. I gave it a windowIsVisible property:
#interface MyWindowController ()
#property (nonatomic) BOOL windowIsVisible;
#end
and I implemented the accessors like this:
- (BOOL)windowIsVisible { return self.window.visible; }
- (void)setWindowIsVisible:(BOOL)windowIsVisible {
NSLog(#"window %# became %s", self.window, windowIsVisible ? "visible" : "hidden");
}
and in awakeFromNib, I bind the window's visible binding to the property like this:
- (void)awakeFromNib {
[super awakeFromNib];
[self.window bind:NSVisibleBinding toObject:self withKeyPath:NSStringFromSelector(#selector(windowIsVisible)) options:nil];
}
When the window becomes visible, the setWindowIsVisible: setter is called with an argument of YES. Note that if the whole app is hidden and reappears, the setter is called again, even though it wasn't called with argument NO when the app was hidden. So be careful not to assume the window was previously hidden.
Also, the binding might create a retain cycle, so you should probably unbind it when the window is closed, unless you want to keep the window and controller around. Note that the window does post NSWindowWillCloseNotification when it's closing, so you don't need any special magic to detect that.
I am using a custom subclass of NSDocument and a custom subclass of NSWindowController. The problem is that I cannot reference my custom document from my custom window controller.
In IB, in the TKDocument NIB I have File's Owner set to TKWindowController.
In my TKDocument subclass I have:
- (void) makeWindowControllers {
TKWindowController *controller = [[TKWindowController alloc] init];
[self addWindowController:controller];
}
Then in my TKWindowController subclass I overrode setDocument to make sure it was being called:
- (void) setDocument(NSDocument *) document {
NSLog(#"setDocument:%#", document);
[super setDocument:document];
}
and then (again in TKWindowController) my action which references the document itself:
- (IBAction) plotClicked:(id) sender {
TKDocument *doc = [self document];
NSLog(#"plotClicked %#", doc);
}
The NSLog in setDocument outputs the string returned by my [TKDocument description] override as I'd expect; I only put it there to see if it was being called. However, doc in plotClicked is null.
What might I have done wrong?
EDIT: I believe the problem is to do with NIBs. My Document has its own NIB with File's Owner set to the custom controller as mentioned above. The plotClicked action is fired from a menu item in MainMenu.xib. I believe it's hitting a new instance of the controller which isn't associated with the current, active document.
So, how do I link the two? My question is really this: How do I obtain a handle to the current active document (or its windowcontroller) from MainMenu.xib?
Thanks
My Document has its own NIB with File's Owner set to the custom controller as mentioned above.
The File's Owner of a document nib should be the document. Consider that suspect #1.
The plotClicked action is fired from a menu item in MainMenu.xib. I believe it's hitting a new instance of the controller which isn't associated with the current, active document.
Did you put a window controller inside your main menu nib? If not, then that isn't the problem, since you must have wired up your plotClicked: menu item to the First Responder, and the window controller and its document will be in the responder chain.
If you did, then there's the solution: delete the window controller from the MainMenu nib and hook up your menu item to the First Responder, so that the action message goes down the responder chain, which will enable it to hit the document or window controller.
How do I obtain a handle to …?
The only Handles on the Mac come from Carbon; those Handles do not exist in Cocoa.
init is not a designated initializer of NSWindowController. You want one of these: – initWithWindow:, – initWithWindowNibName:, – initWithWindowNibName:owner:, or – initWithWindowNibPath:owner:.
Also, from the docs:
In your class’s initialization method,
be sure to invoke on super either one
of the initWithWindowNibName:...
initializers or the initWithWindow:
initializer. Which one depends on
whether the window object originates
in a nib file or is programmatically
created.
I'm having a problem with my Cocoa app. I'm using my app delegate as a controller, and opening one window in a NIB file. Clicking a toolbar button opens another window from another NIB. Clicking save on this second window calls a method on the app delegate/controller. All this works fine.
The strange thing is that I can't figure out is that the app delegate points to one memory location when I click the toolbar button and to a different memory location after clicking save on the second window. It's as if a second app delegate/controller is being created, though stepping through the code doesn't give me any indication of that occurring.
Is there a better way to architect this type of application? Any idea of where I'm going wrong?
It sounds like you're creating a second instance of your AppController class in your window's nib file. You can't do that, each instance of an object in a nib file will be instantiated when a nib is unarchived at runtime. This means if you have an AppController instance in MainMenu.xib and also one your MyWindow.xib file, the AppController object will be alloced and initialized twice.
Normally the way you'd handle this is by using the responder chain. In your Window nib, you assign First Responder as the target of your actions. This means that when the action method is called, the app will ask the currently focused view/control (the one that has first responder status) if it responds to the method by calling the -respondsToSelector: method and passing in the action selector.
If the first responder doesn't respond to the method, the message travels up the responder chain until an object that does respond to the method is found. If no object responds to the method, the NSApplication instance handles it and calls NSBeep().
Just before the method is sent to the NSApplication instance, the application delegate is asked if it responds to the selection. In this case, if your AppController object is set as the application delegate, it will receive the message sent as the action from your object in the window nib.
If this isn't clear enough, it's worth reading the Event Handling guide
You don't have to use the responder chain. You can call a method on the application delegate by calling [[NSApp delegate] yourMethod]. You could also store a reference to the app controller by adding it as an instance variable to your NSWindowController object that loads the nib and setting it at creation time, like so:
- (id)initWithAppController:(id)aController
{
self=[super initWithWindowNibName:#"YourWindowNibName"];
if(self)
{
appController = [aController retain];
}
return self;
}
Your window controller can then call methods of your AppController directly.