In older Xcode I have a little window where I could mark braces and band things to control how a NSView behaves when its parent is resized. In the new Xcode that is missing and the controls are doing whatever they feel like.
Is there any way to get this control back? (current version: Version 4.3.2 (4E2002))
Starting with Xcode 4.3 when you create a Cocoa application project, the xib file uses auto layout. Auto layout replaces the size inspector's autosizing mask.
If you want to use the autosizing mask, the solution is to turn off auto layout. Select the xib file from the project navigator, open the file inspector, and deselect the Use Auto Layout checkbox.
Read Constraints Express Relationships Between Views to learn how views are constrained in Xcode 4. In fact, you probably want the entire Cocoa Auto Layout Guide.
Briefly, when you add a view to your view hierarchy, it comes with some constraints. Select the view in the and you'll see some blue lines that look a bit like I-beams -- these represent the constraints. Click on one of them and you can edit its properties in the attributes inspector. But how you should set the attributes probably won't make much sense until you've read about how constraints work in the document linked above.
Related
As I know, before XCode 7 appear, we have Auto Resizing go with Auto Layout (appear in XCode 5), but when XCode 7 appear, Auto Resizing be removed and this appeared again in XCode 8. My question are:
Why Apple put back this feature in XCode 8? Do this feature have
some new functions than previous?
We can use Auto Resizing with Auto Layout in the same page. What are
the benefits of using parallelism like that?
I searched in Apple document but not find info about Auto Resizing
Supply any document link or keyword will be appreciated. Thanks
Autoresizing wasn't removed previously, when autolayout was introduced. But in Interface Builder it was available only at the level of the individual xib or storyboard file: such a file either used exclusively autoresizing or exclusively autolayout. Your views configured in code could use either, but you couldn't mix and match with Interface Builder. The change in Xcode 8 is that now you can: one and the same xib or storyboard file can contain views some of which use autoresizing and some of which use autolayout (as you rightly say in your point 2).
The advantage is just what you think it is: freedom of choice, plus easy of use: sometimes autoresizing is all you need, and it can be much faster and simpler to configure. For example, if you want a button to be in the top left corner and stay in the top left corner, you just drag a button from the Library into the top left corner and leave it there; the button's autoresizing configuration is top-left by default, and this configuration won't be turned into autolayout constraints, but will simply be left as is.
However, if you then make a constraint to that button, you have involved it in autolayout, it will now use autolayout, and you will have to add proper constraints for it. In the past, an autoresizing view was "translated" automatically by Interface Builder into an autolayout view if it became involved in autolayout, with automatically generated "autoresizing constraints", but that no longer happens — and this too is a good thing, as it makes it less likely that you'll end up with an accidental conflict between manual constraints and autoresizing constraints.
I have a nib. It has an NSScrollView with an NSTableView inside it. I would like this tableview to automatically expand to fill its entire superview.
I'm trying to use autolayout but I have no idea how to add the constraints. Since the nib has no view objects other than the scroll view - I don't get how you reference the superview.
None of the auto layout buttons at the bottom of the nib editor give me any options, everything is grayed out.
I'm using Interface Builder, Xcode 5, OS X 10.9.2.
Not iOS!
You can't. But you probably have the code where this view controller is instantiated. There you need to add constraints manually.
To get started have a look at the WWDC sessions, in particular
Auto Layout by Example (https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2012/)
Best Practices for Mastering Auto Layout (https://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2012/)
The learning curve is a bit steep but it'll be worth your while.
Check out the Content Hugging setting for your view to make sure it's allowed to expand.
Also check the warnings in the Interface Builder editor and let it add missing constraints if you're not sure what to do.
And always pay attention to the Autolayout warnings in the Xcode console!
This blog post has some nice hints as well:
http://oleb.net/blog/2013/03/things-you-need-to-know-about-cocoa-autolayout/
Some more specific tips:
Autolayout is enabled for your .nib/.xib, right? Just making sure.
The super view is referenced kind of implicitly when you set the constraints for your view, you don't set constraints for the top-level view in the .xib (if I recall correctly, no Xcode at hand right now).
There is a way to change the graphics of a component type (such as all buttons) in the storyboard without changing it one by one?
I have to change the look of all components using a design purchased.
My views in storyboard, however, are many and I would put too much to change them one by one.
In the left of your screen in xcode there is a list of all view controllers, you can expand all of them and press command + select the control that you want , then you can make some of change.
so these changes affect to all controls.
I think this is the only way.
I've been making iOS apps for awhile, but I'm trying my hand at MacOS development. I'm adding an NSTextField to my UI and I noticed in Xcode that one of the options in the graphical widgets is "NSTextField with NSNumberFormatter" which implies to me that I'll be able to restrict the input of the field to numbers and configure the formatter in some way.
When I add the NSTextField with NSNumberFormatter to my UI, I can see it has a formatter outlet which appears to be kind of linked to an NSNumberFormatter (although the name is a little grayed out). However, I can't figure out any way to interact with or configure that NSNumberFormatter.
Any help?
To access the NSNumberFormatter, you have to select it in the dock (that list of objects on the left side of the XCode 4 Interface Builder [IB] window).
If the dock isn't in outline view, e.g., it just shows about 4 icons, click the triangle-in-a-square-button at the bottom of the dock. The dock should now show a "Placeholders" section and an "Objects" section; the objects are your UI objects in a hierarchical outline view.
In the IB window, click your NSTextField; that'll highlight the corresponding Text Field Cell in the outline (you may have to twiddle down some disclosure triangles to see it). The Text Field Cell should have a disclosure triangle; twiddle it down to reveal the Number Formatter. Select it, and you should now be able to manipulate it in the Inspector panel.
(There are a lot of things non-obvious like that in XCode. When in doubt, examine your UI object in the Dock's outline view, or prowl the menus with that object selected. It's amazing--and often useful--what you can discover lurking there!
to configure the number formatter, you can ( after you've selected the formatter ) open the Attributes inspector, select the behavior you want and customize the formatter. At least that worked for me in XCode 4.
– moritz
In XCode 3.2.x's Interface Builder this was simple enough, selecting the text cell displayed a small icon for the formatter that could be selected to configure the formatter in the attributes pane.
Now in XCode 4, the formatter icon is gone! If I drag an instance of NSTextField with an NSTextFormatter from the library OR drop and NSTextFormatter into an existing cell there is no way I can figure out to select the formatter to configure it!
Add to this the fact that Core Data entities UI prototype assistant was removed and I would say IB integration into XC4 is half baked at best!
Any luck with this anyone?
you can access the formatter from the jump bar at the top of the window. if you select the component you added the formatter to, click and hold and it will turn into a drop down menu. move to the sub menu and the formatter should show up where you can select it.
it seems that you can treat the whole ui like a cascading set of menus that way.
now removing the formatter, that's a different question...
... which after further looking revealed:
over on the left side of the IB window in xcode4 is a 'dock' containing the icons for file owner, first responder etc. this column is expandable, and when you do so will show a hierarchical view of the nib file. through which you can navigate like the finder.
also, see this article:
http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/ToolsLanguages/Conceptual/Xcode4UserGuide/InterfaceBuilder/InterfaceBuilder.html%23//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40010215-CH6-SW3