I have some code to control some buttons for an interface, but I would like to add a small text label that continuously displays time by hh:mm:ss. How do I do that?
well, i think you should take a look at some cocoa development related books or websites - like cocoadev cocoadevcentral cocoabuilder ...
in short:
define your
IBOutlet NSTextField* timeLabel;
in your controller class and hook it up to the NSTextField in your NIB.
take a look at NSDate and update it (via a NSTimer or your draw loop)
Related
Hi I've seen this question asked a few times already but with no definite answer yet so I created it for xcode 7 and swift2 (which may have changed things a bit anyway).
I created a project using Xcode 7 and Cocoa OSX Story boards + swift2, so my project started with a NSWindowController that Connects to a NSViewController (as expected!). I added a NSToolbar to my window controller and added a NSButton to the toolbar. I changed my NSViewController to be one of the new NSSplitViewController that links to three NSViewControllers and displays their views horizontally - with vertical dividers - (similar to the layout you see in the photo app or pages in Yosemite +). My final goal will be that the button in My toolbar shows and hides the first split.
It is my understanding is, and I would expect that to achieve this I should create an action in the NSSplitViewController that changes the auto layout constrains more or less in the way they are working it out here: How to do collapse and expand view in mac application?.
And then somehow link this action to the NSButton that is in the Toolbar... which happens to be in the NSWindowController (far up and isolated in the hierarchy)...
I have already gone through other questions about NSToolbar and storyboards and failed to accomplish my goal:
The YouTube video: Cocoa Programming L17 - NSToolbar which is the closest I found to solve the problem, but his method does not work for storyboards, only creating your own xib file.
In this question: How to use NSToolBar in Xcode 6 and Storyboard? One person proposes to make the link using the first reponder and expecting everything to hook up at run-time (which looks a bit dodgy and not the way apple would implement it I think...). A second person suggested to create a view controller variable in the NSWindowController and manipulate its properties from there... but again, a bit dodgy too.
One latest comment I saw in that question which seems the best way to tackle the problem (but still not as good as I guess it could be) is to add a NSObjectController to the dock of each scene and when the scene loads, set the values of the objects to the other secene's controller. Is this really the best way to go ahead? If so, how could I achieve this one?
Apple did mention (again) in WWDC15 that they created storyboards for osx and the split-view controller that owns view-controllers so that you can move your logic and work to the specific view-controller, so I would be expecting to do everything from inside my split-view controller as this is the target that needs to change.
Does anyone know how to achieve this from the view controller itself? I really haven't been able to find a way to connect my ToolBarItem to it.
OK, I've created this question quite a few days ago and no answer so far so I've answer with what I recently did to overcome the problem.
After I created my Xcode project I did this:
Created a subclass MySplitViewController for the NSSplitViewController
Added an IBOutlet for each NSSplitViewItem. For example:
#IBOutlet weak var mySplitViewItem: NSSplitViewItem!
Created a subclass WindowController for the NSWindowController
Added an IBAction in the WindowController class that links to the NSToolbarItem (my button)
Added a property that gets the Window Controller's content as MySplitViewController
var mySplitViewController: MySplitViewController {
return self.window?.contentViewController as! MySplitViewController
}
Now I can access the split view controller's property from the Window Controller in the action I created:
mySplitViewController. mySplitViewItem.collapsed = true
I created some sample code that does this (but using a view controller and changing the text for a label here, just in case someone wants to see a working project with this behaviour. And a blog post about it too :)
One person proposes to make the link using the first reponder and expecting everything to hook up at run-time (which looks a bit dodgy and not the way apple would implement it I think...).
I think this first responder method is actually the proper way.
As an example:
Add something similar to the following, in whichever view controller makes sense.
#IBAction func doSomething(_ sender: AnyObject?) {
print("Do something.")
}
This will magically show up in the first responder:
In your storyboard, right-click the orange "first responder" icon above your window controller, and you should see doSomething in the very long list. You just need to connect that up to your toolbar button.
In the following screen capture, you can see my "Toggle Sidebar" button is connected to the toggleSidebar action in my first responder.
I didn't even have to write this method — it's provided by NSSplitViewController:
#IBAction open func toggleSidebar(_ sender: Any?)
So, I was working this same issue and finding no solution as you experienced. I read your post and was trying to figure how I would implement your solution when it occurred to me to use a notification. In about 30 seconds, I had a perfectly fine working solution:
In your windowController add an IBAction to post a notification like so
-(IBAction)toggleMasterViewClicked:(id)sender
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] postNotificationName:#"TestNotification" object:nil];
}
Hook up that action to your NSToolbarItem, then in the viewController add self as an observer for that notification like so
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(toggleMasterView:) name:#"TestNotification" object:nil];
In your case, selector would be updateMyLabelText
I don't really see any downside here. No reference to other objects needed, no dependancies. Works flawlessly for me
While connectiong IBActions works by using either the First Responder or by adding an "Object" to the scene, then changing its class to the window's view controller class, this doesn't help with IBOutlets and delegates that you'd like to point to the view controller.
Here's a work-around for that:
Add the Toolbar to the View Controller, not to its Window. That way, you can make all the IBOutlet connections in the View Controller Scene easily. I've done that for years and found no issues with it, even when using Tabs.
You'll have to assign the window's toolbar in code, then. E.g. like this:
#interface ViewController ()
#property (weak) IBOutlet NSToolbar *toolbar; // connect this in your storyboard to the Toolbar that you moved to the View Controller Scene
#end
- (void)viewWillAppear {
[super viewWillAppear];
self.view.window.toolbar = self.toolbar;
}
Is there a simple way to add a simple rectangle to a Custom View without using a custom NSView subclass for it? Something along the lines of:
Assign an IBOutlet (let's call it colorWheelView) of NSView type to the CustomView
In my NSViewController's initWithNibName use it to change draw the rectangle:
// pseudocode
self.colorWheelView.addRectangle(myRectangle);
self.redraw()
The only way I've seen it done (on this site, and in my book Cocoa Programming for Mac OSX, pp. 241) is by making a custom class for the Custom View and modifying its drawRect method... Is this really the only way to accomplish this?
Edit: not sure why formatting is not being rendered correctly. I'm trying to fix it.
It really isn't all that hard to roll your own..
Just add an NSArray property to your NSView subclass, then in your drawRect method draw them either manually or using one of the NSRectFillList* methods provided by AppKit already.
(Beware: those take a plain C array, not an NSArray).
You wouldn't want to manually trigger the redraw from outside the view as in your sample code, though. To keep things consistent your addRectangle would trigger a redraw of the view itself e.g. by calling setNeedsDisplay:.
I am using loading indicator with background image and label.
IBOutlet UIActivityIndicatorView *isLoading;
IBOutlet UIImageView *isLoadingImageView;
IBOutlet UILabel *loadingLabel;
In my app this loading set is called like 5 6 times from different controllers. Is there any easy way to write a class like:IndicatorClass and class methods like:showLoadingSet hideLoadingSet to bring this set infront of my view. For example in mapController, i just only want to call [IndicatorClass showLoadingSet] and [IndicatorClass hideLoadingSet].
What I am doing is that I am creating IBOutlets for each controller, it is totally waste of time.
Is there any suggestion?
Thanks
You can have a peak at the MBLoadingHUD example. It sounds like you are trying to implement something similar to this. If not, you can always see how that class is used.
Well, "not getting it" is too harsh; I've got it working in for what for me is a logical setup, but it does not seem to be what iOS deems logical. So I'm not getting something.
Suppose I've got an app that shows two pieces of information; a date and a table. According to the MVC approach I've got three MVC at work here, one for the date, one for the table and one that takes both these MCVs and makes it into a screen, wiring them up.
The master MVC knows how/where it wants to layout the two sub MVC's. Each detail MVC only takes care of its own childeren within the bounds that were specified by the master MVC. Something like:
- (void)loadView {
MVC* mvc1 = [[MVC1 alloc] initwithFrame:...]
[self.view addSubview:mvc1.view];
MVC* mvc2 = [[MVC2 alloc] initwithFrame:...]
[self.view addSubview:mvc2.view];
}
If the above is logical (which is it for me) then I would expect any MVC class to have a constructor "initWithFrame". But an MVC does not, only view have this.
Why?
How would one correctly layout nested MVCs? (Naturally I do not have just these two, but the detail MVCs have sub MVCs again.)
Thanks all for replying. I will study the links that were provided.
Let me try to explain my issue one more time, hopefully to making it more clear. Do note that I already figured out that my view does not match iOS's, since I do not like where my code is going.
Yes, I'm calling a UIViewController an "MVC", since it for me at the moment implements all aspects of a MVC; it has controller code and an embedded view, plus the controller usually also holds and provides the data (all TableView examples implement it like this).
MVC can be present on many levels; basically a UITextField could (should?) be a MVC; there is a view, but also controller logic involved that you do not want to mix with other code. Encapsulation. For example: Java's Swing JTextField has a MVC. So does a JTable, JList, ... Multiple MVC patterns nested in other MVC's to build a whole screen.
This what I expect when some platform says it uses the MVC pattern. So When I coded the table, I created a MVC and only send the loadData message with a date as the parameter to it. It needs to take care of the rest itself. I have a Detail MVC that can slide in; I then tell it the object it needs to show and it needs to take care of the rest itself. Encapsulation.
So I have a lot of UIViewControllers with embedded UIViews. And that is not the way to do it...
One more potential link is the great talk from WWDC 2010 on MVC.
http://developer.apple.com/videos/wwdc/2010/
It is Session 116 - Model-View-Controllr for iPhone OS
The session is chock full of practical advice on how MVC really works, what makes it tick, why it's good. But it also has a lot of intro stuff to help folks new to the concept to wrap their heads around it.
If I understand your sentence on Java's Swing classes above are you talking about the anonymous classes that respond to events? If so those are not "MVC's", they are what is termed 'Observers', when they observe an event from the view they take some action (usually send a message to a controller). Cocoa Touch uses the Target/Action paradigm (and delegation) to achieve this.
I'd also strongly suggest you take Matthew and Stephen's advice and write a bunch of code. If you don't build that base of intuition, asking the right question (which is most of what is needed to get a good answer) is very difficult.
I really think the WWDC 2010 talk will help.
Good Luck!
If I understand your question -- and I may not, see my comments on it -- I think you're applying the MVC design pattern far too granularly. Most commonly in the setup you describe you'll have a single Model, a single Controller, and multiple Views that are grouped/combined, as in a .xib file.
In Cocoa Touch terms you'd have one UIView that contains a UILabel with the date and a UITableView for your table. These are your Views.
You'll certainly have a Model for the table data, likely an array of data. Your date data might be from its own model if it's a date retrieved from something or calculated or whatever, something entirely separate from the array of data. If it's instead associated with the array data -- they're both pulling from a database, or the date is calculated from the array data, or what have you -- then you have a single Model.
If the data is all coming from a single Model then a single Controller is likely fine. Even if the data is coming from more than one source/Model you likely only need/want one controller in this setup. The UITableView will have a UITableViewController, and that same controller can take care of providing your date as well.
To sum, the Model View Controller design pattern doesn't call for having a bunch of nested sets of models, views, and controllers. They could be, and sufficiently complex projects may call for it. Broadly, though, you'll have a controller that's associated with a model and one or more views, and that set of objects works together to provide a piece of functionality.
Tbee,
I'll post a tiny code example here, since it seems you're not really getting it.
#interface MyView : UIView
#property (retain) IBOutlet UIButton *button1;
#property (retain) IBOutlet UIButton *button2;
#property (assign) bool myData;
-(IBAction) doButton1:(id)sender;
-(IBAction) doButton2:(id)sender;
#end;
#implementation MyView
#synthesize button1 = _button1;
#synthesize button2 = _button2;
#synthesize myData = _myData;
// I'm leaving out the initWithNib, viewDidLoad, etc.
- (IBAction) doButton1:(id)sender
{
// do something as a result of clicking button1
_myData = YES;
}
- (IBAction) doButton2:(id)sender
{
// do something as a result of clicking button2
_myData = NO;
}
#end
Connect those up in InterfaceBuilder, and you've got a working "MVC." You don't need a completely new UIViewController for each button. The one for the View takes care of it.
UITableView and it's associated Views are more complex, and may require an additional UIViewController to help encapsulate. I really don't suggest starting out by using them, but this is a good tutorial here. It's got a lot of images which will show you how to connect things up in IB and the like. It's old, so your XCode may not look like the images, but it helps.
Thanks for the links, I'll look into them.
So far I've rewritten most of my application to using views instead of viewcontrollers (except the toplevel one) and it starts to match up with the API calls that are available like layoutSubviews. What I find disturbing that I need to do this now:
[tableDataSource loadData:date];
[tableView reloadData];
Where in my previous setup all I did was:
[tableViewController loadData:date];
But apparently that is the way to do it. One thing is unclear to me ATM. Since I construct and layout the view in loadView in my AppViewController, how do they get relayouted if the orientation changes. The VC does not have a layoutSubviews, so I should use the didRotateFromInterfaceOrientation and reposition the subviews from there?
BTW, I'm not mixing registering anonymous inner classes as listeners (observers). I'm very experienced with writing Swing components and JavaFX controls. And that probably is the culprit, in Java(FX) every component has a view and a controller (not always a model).
I am reading many posts about UIViewController managing but I can't find the solution to my problem. I am making an iPhone game. I have three screens (menu, game play and scores) constructed into the Interface Builder and from three UIViewController classes. Into the main menu I have two custom buttons that allow to go to the game play screen or to the scores screen. Actually I am using the next method to navigate but when I use it, even it changes the screen and takes me to the game play, I can't see the highlighted state of the custom button. Must I change the views like this? How can I show the custom state of my buttons? How can I show an animation while the views are changing?
- (IBAction)gotoPlayViewController:(id)sender {
//Navigation logic may go here.
PlayViewController *playViewController = [[PlayViewController alloc] initWithNibName:#"PlayViewController" bundle:nil];
self.view = playViewController.view;
[playViewController release];
}
Thanks for readding.
You want to use UINavigationController, don't you?
The UINavigationController class implements a specialized view controller that manages the navigation of hierarchical content. This class is not intended for subclassing. Instead, you use instances of it as-is in situations where you want your application’s user interface to reflect the hierarchical nature of your content. This navigation interface makes it possible to present your data efficiently and also makes it easier for the user to navigate that content.
Here is a nice tutorial.
Here is the class reference.
UINavigationController also provides a very easy way to add the slide transition you want.
Have fun!