Construct and manage a graphical, event-driven user interface for your macOS app using AppKit.

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NSAlert accessory view
I need to add an accessory view with a text field to an NSAlert. This works as expected but as my app comes in different languages, the alert looks a bit different depending on the language used: So I wonder how I can make the text field automatically use the full width of the alert window. I tried to call the alert's layout method and then resize the text field but this seems not work in all cases. Any help would be highly appreciated. Thanks!
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Oct ’24
Applying Custom Rounded Corners to a macOS Window
Which method allows me to apply larger-than-default rounded corners to a macOS window while maintaining the system’s dynamic, contrasting border – similar to what’s seen in the Control Center popup? (Control Center has a corner radius of 16, the default system window is 10.) While I know how to closely achieve this effect manually for my plain panel, I'd like to leverage the built-in method and get it for free from the OS. I’ve spent way more time on this problem than I'm willing to admit, and searched extensively, but haven’t found any solution. I’d really appreciate any pointers. Thank you.
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Oct ’24
Updating a NSTableView
For a Cocoa project I have this table view controller: @interface TableViewController : NSObject <NSTableViewDataSource, NSTableViewDelegate> @property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *numbers; @property (nonatomic, strong) NSMutableArray *letters; @end #import "TableViewController.h" @implementation TableViewController - (NSMutableArray *)numbers { if (!_numbers) { _numbers = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray:@[@"1", @"2", @"3", @"4", @"5", @"6", @"7", @"8", @"9", @"10"]]; } return _numbers; } - (NSMutableArray *)letters { if (!_letters) { _letters = [NSMutableArray arrayWithArray: @[@"a", @"b", @"c", @"d", @"e", @"f", @"g", @"h", @"i", @"j"]]; } return _letters; } // NSTableViewDataSource Protocol Method - (NSInteger)numberOfRowsInTableView:(NSTableView *)tableView { return self.numbers.count; } // NSTableViewDelegate Protocol Method -(NSView *)tableView:(NSTableView *)tableView viewForTableColumn:(NSTableColumn *)tableColumn row:(NSInteger)row { NSString *identifier = tableColumn.identifier; NSTableCellView *cell = [tableView makeViewWithIdentifier:identifier owner:self]; if ([identifier isEqualToString:@"numbers"]) { cell.textField.stringValue = [self.numbers objectAtIndex:row]; } else { cell.textField.stringValue = [self.letters objectAtIndex:row]; } return cell; } In the storyboard I created a NSTableView and set up the connection, after running it I get what I expected: okay, cool, but I have a question: why is this working even though I haven't created a NSTableView as a property for my ViewController or for my TableViewController? Also, there's another problem, now I want to add a button to this window such that, every time I click it, a new item should be added to this table(for now it can be anything) So I created a button and a method for this and linked the action to the story board: -(IBAction) addNewNumber:(id)sender { [_numbers addObject:@"1234"]; [_letters addObject:@"testing"]; } Now, every time I click this button I can see that this method is indeed being called and that indeed IT IS adding a new member to these arrays, the thing is, the table is not being updated, what gives? Any advice on how I can fix this behavior?
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Oct ’24
NSApplicationDelegate open URLs only called after second drop
I want to make a simple droplet application. I've set the document types to include com.adobe.pdf files, and I am now receiving callbacks to the app delegate's application(_:open:) callback when I drop PDFs on the app icon… But not the first time. It doesn't matter how long I wait, or whether the app is already open—the first drop never triggers the callback. All subequent drops work as expected, and I get URLs to all the files dropped. What might be wrong? How can I debug this?
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248
Oct ’24
Cocoa application duplicated view
I have a Cocoa application and I'm trying to set up an NSImageView without using story board (using storyboard works just fine tho). Also, I'm kinda new to Cocoa so any advice is appreciated. Anyway so here's the deal, I created a class to encapsulate this image: @interface MyView : NSView { @private NSImageView* imageView; } @end @implementation MyView -(id) initWithFrame:(NSRect)frameRect { self = [super initWithFrame:frameRect]; if(self) { NSRect rect = NSMakeRect(10, 10, 100, 200); imageView = [[NSImageView alloc] initWithFrame:rect]; NSImage* image = [NSImage imageNamed:@"bob.jpeg"]; [imageView setImageScaling:NSImageScaleNone]; [imageView setImage: image]; [self addSubview: imageView]; } return self; } -(id) init { return [self initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(10, 10, 100, 100)]; } - (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect { [super drawRect:dirtyRect]; // Drawing code here. } @end Now, in the view controller file, in the viewDidLoad I tried to load add this as a subview to get it to display my image: - (void)viewDidLoad { [super viewDidLoad]; MyView *customView = [[MyView alloc] init]; [self.view addSubview:customView]; } This kinda works, except that it loads the image twice, I ended up with two images instead of just one like I intended, what gives? what am I doing wrong here?
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Oct ’24
Setting value of NSSlider resets mouse cursor
Hi, in my macOS app I am modifying the mouse cursor image for some user interactions. I also have an NSSlider in the app which can be changed programmatically by setting its doubleValue. I've noticed that whenever the slider is set programmatically the custom mouse cursor is lost and changes back to an arrow. This doesn't happen if other controls are changed programmatically, e.g. the progress bar. Any ideas on how I can prevent this happening?
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Sep ’24
NSRuleEditor only allow criterion row to be added once
I have an object that is an NSRuleEditorDelegate for an NSRuleEditor whose nestingMode is NSRuleEditorNestingModeList. There are 8 different possible criteria. Each criterion is optional but at least 1 is required (ruleEditor.canRemoveAllRows = NO). Each criterion should only be added once. How can I limit adding a criterion for a row if it is already in the editor at a different row? Thanks!
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Sep ’24
NSMenuToolbarItem not showing first menu item when using NSMenuDelegate
I am using NSMenuToolbarItem to show a drop-down menu in my NSToolbar. This works as expected when creating an NSMenu beforehand and assign it to the menu property of NSMenuToolbarItem. However, my menu needs to be built dynamically when the user clicks the dropdown button. To do that, I am using NSMenuDelegate. When creating the menu in the menuNeedsUpdate of the delegate, the first menu item isn't shown to the user. Why? Menu when using delegate: Menu when pre-assigning menu: I also cannot just add a placeholder menu item at the start of the NSMenuToolbarItem as all menu items do show in the overflow menu. Example code: import Cocoa class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate, NSToolbarDelegate, NSMenuDelegate { var window: NSWindow! func applicationDidFinishLaunching(_ aNotification: Notification) { window = NSWindow(contentRect: NSRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 400, height: 300), styleMask: [.titled, .closable, .resizable], backing: .buffered, defer: false) window.makeKeyAndOrderFront(nil) let toolbar = NSToolbar(identifier: "MainToolbar") toolbar.delegate = self window.toolbar = toolbar } func toolbarAllowedItemIdentifiers(_ toolbar: NSToolbar) -> [NSToolbarItem.Identifier] { return [NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item1"), NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item2")] } func toolbarDefaultItemIdentifiers(_ toolbar: NSToolbar) -> [NSToolbarItem.Identifier] { return [NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item1"), NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item2")] } func toolbar(_ toolbar: NSToolbar, itemForItemIdentifier itemIdentifier: NSToolbarItem.Identifier, willBeInsertedIntoToolbar: Bool) -> NSToolbarItem? { let item = NSMenuToolbarItem(itemIdentifier: itemIdentifier) if itemIdentifier == NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item1") { let menu = NSMenu() fillMenuWithItems(menu) item.menu = menu } else if itemIdentifier == NSToolbarItem.Identifier("item2") { item.menu = NSMenu() item.menu.delegate = self } return item } func menuNeedsUpdate(_ menu: NSMenu) { menu.removeAllItems() fillMenuWithItems(menu) } func fillMenuWithItems(_ menu: NSMenu) { menu.addItem(NSMenuItem(title: "Option 1", action: nil, keyEquivalent: "")) menu.addItem(NSMenuItem(title: "Option 2", action: nil, keyEquivalent: "")) } }
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Sep ’24
ViewBridge to RemoteViewService Terminated (...)
After updating to Sonoma, the following is logged in the Xcode console when an editable text field becomes key. This doesn't occur on any text field, but it seems to happen when the text field is within an NSPopover or an NSSavePanel. ViewBridge to RemoteViewService Terminated: Error Domain=com.apple.ViewBridge Code=18 "(null)" UserInfo={com.apple.ViewBridge.error.hint=this process disconnected remote view controller -- benign unless unexpected, com.apple.ViewBridge.error.description=NSViewBridgeErrorCanceled} What does this mean?
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Sep ’24
Failed to find localization for values: All, of the following are true
After each macOS update come new annoying log messages. So after updating to Sonoma and Xcode 16, I see the following logged in the Xcode console whenever my app shows an NSPredicateEditor. Failed to find localization for values: All, of the following are true I tried setting the "localize" attribute to "never" in the attributes inspector of the corresponding menu/text fields from interface builder, to no avail. Any suggestions ?
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Sep ’24
Possible to have NSWindow *without* NSWindowStyleMaskTitled to make the screen its on the main screen?
I have a NSWindow subclass. The window has a custom shape, and thus has a custom contentView which overrides drawRect to draw . Since the window has a custom shape it cannot use the system provided titlebar. The problem I'm having is when there are multiple screens, if my window is on the inactive screen (not mainScreen with menu bar) and I move the mouse over to the second monitor and click the window....the menu bar doesn't travel to the screen my app is on after the window is clicked. This does not happen with any other window. In all other windows, the menu bar moves to the screen once you click a window on that screen. So it appears this is because my window is not using NSWindowStyleMaskTitled. As far as I know, I can't use the system title bar and draw my custom window shape. Abandoning the custom window shape is not an option. Without going into too many details as to why I care, the menu bar really should travel with first click on my window like other apps.. Is there a way to tell the system (other than using the NSWindowStyleMaskTitled) that clicking on my window should make that screen the "main screen" (bring the menu bar over? I tried programmatically activating the application, ordering the window to the front, etc. but none of this works. This forces the user to click outside my app window, say on the desktop, to move the menu bar over, which feels wrong. Thanks in advance if anyone has any suggestions.
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Sep ’24
Wait for some completion in main thread using Catalyst environment
I need to bring an iOS application to macOS using Catalyst. This application contain parts where it waits for a button to be pressed in the main thread, using [[NSRunLoop mainRunLoop] runUntilDate:[NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:0.1]]; in a while loop to allow some dispatching while waiting. I know that this is not good style, but I need to convert this old source code and mentioned that when using this part of code under Catalyst, the main thread will not dispatch. So the button cannot be clicked, and a beach ball appears after two seconds. I saw a similar construct for native macOS applications: NSEvent *event= [[NSApplication sharedApplication] nextEventMatchingMask:NSEventMaskAny untilDate:[NSDate dateWithTimeIntervalSinceNow:0.1] inMode:NSDefaultRunLoopMode dequeue:YES]; if (event) { [[NSApplication sharedApplication] sendEvent:event]; } but I do not have access to NSEvent and NSApplication in a Catalyst environment. Question: I there any code snippet which I can use to achieve the above? I do not want to completely rewrite old code if there is a solution for this. Any ideas or hints are highly appreciated. Thank you! Markus
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Sep ’24
[macOS Sequoia] Using RegisterEventHotkey with option and shift modifiers doesn't working anymore
Hello. In my app, I use RegisterEventHotkey to implement global keyboard shortcuts to trigger actions. Up until macOS Sequoia, I was able to use a keyboard shortcut with option and shift as the modifiers, like option shift 2 (⌥ ⇧ 2). Now, on macOS Sequoia, using RegisterEventHotkey to register a hotkey with those exact modifiers (option and shift), regardless of the key, fails with the error -9868 (eventInternalErr). Is this a documented and wanted change, or is this a bug? Other modifier keys (just command, command option, command shift, command control, control shift, etc), all work. Any insight into this would be appreciated. (Feedback filed: FB15163561) Thank you, Matthias
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Sep ’24
Printing to a label printer (from macOS)
Bit of a stream of consciousness below. I discovered after writing all that that I needed to switch width & height when setting values, and print landscape. That gets things to print as expected. But I really need to be able to set the Brother's notion of tape width in the Basic Options portion of the print panel. I've got this Brother QL-800 USB label printer that takes spools of either die-cut labels, or continuous paper of a given width. It can cut between labels or the continuous paper at any point. My app is intended to print small labels for small parts drawers. The app has a DB of parts, and I want to print dozens of unique labels of a specific height and width. Ideally, you'd set things up once, and then print one or more specific part labels without further UI interaction. The NSPrintPanel is far too complex, and allows the user to ***** things up, so I'd like to forego it altogether. I've written some simple code that does succeed in printing via the NSPrintPanel, but it’s positioning the text ultimately incorrectly. I can't figure out how to properly size a view to print a label. I can get an NSPrintInfo object that knows the label printer is selected (e.g. it shows the right name for NSPrintInfo.printer.name). But it states the paperSize is (612.0, 792.0), which if I assume 72 ppi, comes out to 8.5" x 11", which this paper clearly is not. func printLabel() { Task { let printInfo = NSPrintInfo() let printer = printInfo.printer print("Paper size: \(printInfo.paperSize)") // printInfo.paperSize = CGSize(width: 47 / 25.4 * 72.0, height: 12.0 / 25.4 * 72.0) printInfo.topMargin = 0.0 printInfo.bottomMargin = 0.0 printInfo.leftMargin = 0.0 printInfo.rightMargin = 0.0 printInfo.orientation = .landscape printInfo.isHorizontallyCentered = false printInfo.isVerticallyCentered = false printInfo.scalingFactor = 1.0 let view = NSHostingView(rootView: createLabelPrintView()) view.frame.size = CGSize(width: 25 / 25.4 * 72.0, height: 12.0 / 25.4 * 72.0) let op = NSPrintOperation(view: view, printInfo: printInfo) op.showsPrintPanel = true op.showsProgressPanel = true op.printPanel.options.insert(.showsPaperSize) op.printPanel.options.insert(.showsOrientation) op.run() } } @ViewBuilder func createLabelPrintView() -> some View { VStack(spacing: 0) { Text("Line 1") Text("Line 2") } .padding(0) } If I set the pageSize explicitly (uncommenting the line above), The printer offers a long list of available sizes (although none I've found corresponds to the 0.47"/12 mm x continuous spool). By the way, it never remembers the size I selected, and always reverts to 8.5 x 11, which it will then refuse to print, hanging in Print Center with an error about mismatched page sizes. I don’t know why the available page sizes have multiple sizes that don’t seem to match. E.g. 0.47" In the printer’s “Basic Options,” it shows the notion of a Width that's "not found," if I use a custom size: I don't really understand where those printer options can be found and set. Hmm, maybe I found a clue: I ran an NSPrintPanel by itself and examined the NSPrintInfo afterward: let panel = NSPrintPanel() panel.options.insert(.showsPaperSize) panel.options.insert(.showsOrientation) let result = await panel.beginSheet(using: printInfo, on: NSApplication.shared.windows.first!) print("Result: \(result)") print("Paper size: \(printInfo.paperSize)") print("Settings: \(printInfo.printSettings)") Paper size: (283.44000244140625, 82.08000183105469) Settings: { "AP_D_InputSlot" = ""; BrAutoTapeCut = ON; BrBiDiPrint = ON; BrBrightness = 0; BrContrast = 0; BrCutAtEnd = ON; BrCutLabel = 1; BrHalftonePattern = BrErrorDiffusion; BrMargin = "3.0"; BrMultiColor = BrMultiColorMonochrome; BrRedLevel = 0; BrRemoveBlkSpace = OFF; BrResolution = BrSpeed300x300dpi; BrTapeLength = "69.1"; ColorModel = Gray; Duplex = None; PaperInfoIsSuggested = 0; Resolution = 300x300dpi; "com_apple_print_DialogDismissedBy" = Print; "com_apple_print_DocumentTicket_PMSpoolFormat" = "application/pdf"; "com_apple_print_PDEsUsed" = "Printer Options"; "com_apple_print_PageToPaperMappingMediaName" = 29mm; "com_apple_print_PageToPaperMappingType" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMCopies" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMCopyCollate" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMDestinationType" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMDuplexing" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMFirstPage" = 1; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMLastPage" = 2147483647; "com_apple_print_PrintSettings_PMPageRange" = ( 1, 2147483647 ); "com_apple_print_ticket_type" = "com.apple.print.PrintSettingsTicket"; "com_apple_print_totalPages" = 2147483647; } It has added a bunch of Br-prefixed keys that clearly correspond to some of the options in the UI. But I'm not sure if I can set those programmatically and get things to print the way I expect. And I don't see anything for tape width. How do I get an NSPrintPanel to show the preview without an NSPrintOperation? I want to react to any changes the user might make before things go to print.
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205
Sep ’24
How can I set my window title in Cocoa?
I have a simple cocoa project, it has the default files like AppDelegate.m, AppDelegate.h , ViewController.h and ViewController.m what I want is to set the Window title to the dimension of the current window and update it as the user resizes it. My Storyboard has an Application Scene, a Window Controller Scene and a test Scene which contains my view: how do I go about this? should my ViewController or AppController implement NSWindowDelegate ?
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Sep ’24
items property on NSToolbar returning empty collection for macOS15
We have a xib file that contains a toolbar with some items in it. The toolbar has an IBOutlet defined in its files owner. Before macOS 15 - we were able to reach the items in the toolbar by using the items property. The File Owner for the xib containing the toolbar is a NSViewController e.g. @IBOutlet var theToolbar: NSToolbar! required init?(coder: NSCoder) { super.init(coder: coder) Bundle.main.loadNibNamed("ToolbarDesign", owner: self, topLevelObjects:nil) } and then later in code... func getItems() { let items:[NSToolbarItem]? = mainRightToolbar?.items } Prior to macOS15 - items would contain the NSToolbarItems specified in the xib design. Now, in macOS 15 - the items array is not nil but doesn't contain any items either. What needs to be don't for macOS15 specifically to enable the items property of NSToolbar to work again?
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Sep ’24
NSTextList not rendering on MacOS
In the WWDC22 talk "What's new in TextKit and text views" (https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2022/10090?time=408), it was announced (at minute 6:45) that TextKit 2 & NSTextList is supposed to be working on both UIKit and AppKit. While NSTextLists are correctly rendering on iOS, they are not working on macOS. The paragraphs aren't inset and the numbers/bullets do not render in front of the list items. Any help? let textView = NSTextView(frame: self.view.bounds) textView.translatesAutoresizingMaskIntoConstraints = false self.view.addSubview(textView) let safeArea = view.safeAreaLayoutGuide NSLayoutConstraint.activate([ textView.topAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.topAnchor), textView.bottomAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.bottomAnchor), textView.leadingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.leadingAnchor), textView.trailingAnchor.constraint(equalTo: safeArea.trailingAnchor) ]) let paragraphStyle = NSMutableParagraphStyle() paragraphStyle.textLists = [NSTextList(markerFormat: NSTextList.MarkerFormat("{decimal}."), options: 0)] let attributedText = NSMutableAttributedString("Item 1\nItem 2\nItem 3\nItem 4f") attributedText.addAttribute(.paragraphStyle, value: paragraphStyle, range: NSRange(location: 0, length: attributedText.length)) textView.textStorage?.setAttributedString(attributedText)
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Sep ’24
NSClickGestureRecognizer not working to invoked the registered event method
I have created a NSView inside the NSWindow. I m trying to identify when the view gets clicked by the user. For this I m using NSClickGestureRecognizer, but the registered method is not getting invoked. I have tried adding this for other widgets like button but it does not work either. Am I missing something? class SelectionList :NSObject, NSTextFieldDelegate{ let containerView = NSView() func createSelectionList (pWindow: NSWindow) { // created container View ... let clickRecognizer = NSClickGestureRecognizer() clickRecognizer.target = self clickRecognizer.buttonMask = 0x2 // right button clickRecognizer.numberOfClicksRequired = 1 clickRecognizer.action = #selector(ClickGestured) containerView .addGestureRecognizer(clickRecognizer) } @objc func clickRecognizer() { print("clicked") } }
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190
Sep ’24
App was crashing in xcode 16 due to Quicklook UI framework
QLPreviewView was used in the app to display the file previews. But the following crash was happening. Date/Time: 2024-09-13 22:03:59.056 +0530 OS Version: Mac OS X 10.13.6 (17G14042) Report Version: 12 Anonymous UUID: 7CA3750A-2BDD-3FFF-5940-E5EEAE2E55F5 Time Awake Since Boot: 4300 seconds System Integrity Protection: disabled Notes: Translocated Process Crashed Thread: 0 Exception Type: EXC_CRASH (SIGABRT) Exception Codes: 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000 Exception Note: EXC_CORPSE_NOTIFY Termination Reason: DYLD, [0x1] Library missing Application Specific Information: dyld: launch, loading dependent libraries Dyld Error Message: Library not loaded: /System/Library/Frameworks/QuickLookUI.framework/Versions/A/QuickLookUI Referenced from: /private/var/folders/*/Notebook (Beta).app/Contents/MacOS/Notebook (Beta) Reason: image not found
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Sep ’24