Idle Time

Inspired partly by tonight’s Hour of Code, here are some index-card-sized outlines of some simple app projects you can make as someone new to Cocoa.

Text editor/word processor

• Document-based Mac app
• In document window: NSTextView
• Use NSAttributedString to read/write document data
• Document types:
  • public.plain-text
  • public.rtf
  • com.apple.rtfd
  • com.microsoft.word.doc
• Extra credit:
  • Add a ruler (NSRulerView)

Picture viewer

• Document-based Mac app
• In document window: IKImageView
• Use CGImageSource to read image (picture) & its properties
• Document types:
  • public.png
  • public.jpeg
• Extra credit:
  • Floating inspector panel showing the properties in an NSTableView
  • Color-correction panel (IKImageEditPanel)
  • Support folders (public.folder): display images from folder in IKImageBrowserView

PDF viewer

• Document-based Mac app
• In document window: PDFView
• Use PDFDocument to read from .pdf file
• Document types:
  • com.adobe.pdf
• Extra credit:
  • Toolbar with zoom in/out buttons, zoom % field, page number field

You’ve probably tried searching Apple’s developer documentation like this:

Edit: That’s the filter field, which is not what this post is about. The filter sucks. This isn’t just an easy way to use the filter field; it’s an entirely different solution. Read on.

You’ve probably been searching it like this:

(And yes, I know about site:developer.apple.com. That often isn’t much better than without it. Again, read on.)

There is a better way.

Better than that: A best way.

Setup

First, you must use Google Chrome or OmniWeb.

Go to your list of custom searches. In Chrome, open the Preferences and click on Manage:

In OmniWeb, open the Preferences and click on Shortcuts:

Then add one or both of these searches:

For the Mac

For iOS

Result

Notice how the results page gives you both guides and references at once, even giving specific-chapter links when relevant. You even get relevant technotes and Q&As. No wild goose chases, no PDF mines, no third-party old backup copies, no having to scroll past six hits of mailing-list threads and Stack Overflow questions. You get the docs, the right docs, and nothing but the docs.

For this specific purpose, you now have something better than Google.

If you attended WWDC, you can head over to ADC on iTunes and see what you missed.

Simply set the Instances tab to outline view. Then you can connect the outlet to the window’s content view.

Technorati tags: Interface Builder.

I just discovered this — you can use the numeric keypad to move views in a nib. The benefit of this is that you can perform atomic diagonal moves (as opposed to a rapid sequence of, for example, up followed by left).

UPDATE 2008-11-29: This doesn’t work anymore in Interface Builder 3. Sad.

This bug is IB refuses to keep pop-up menus open. It was filed on 2006-05-12 at 02:33 PDT.

Summary:

IB closes a pop-up menu being edited in response to any key or mouse event in the menu.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Drag a pop-up button into a window in a nib.
2. Double-click on the pop-up button to edit it.
3. Change the selection by clicking on any item, or pressing up or down. Or, double-click on an item to rename it, then press return or enter or change the selection.

Expected Results:

The current selected item changes, or is renamed, or both.

Actual Results:

The current selected item changes, or is renamed, or both, and then IB closes the menu, interrupting any plans to further edit the menu until the menu is reopened by the user.

Regression:

This used to work, although I don’t know in what version.

Notes:

No Console output is emitted by IB.

UPDATE 2006-05-24: I got an email from Apple recently telling me that the bug was a duplicate, and just today, Xcode 2.3 came out, including IB 2.5.4 which fixes this bug.

Technorati tags: Apple Bug Friday, applebugfriday

This bug is Interface Builder should use +/- buttons for Outlets and Actions lists. It was filed on 2006-04-21 at 21:06 PDT.

Summary:

IB uses “Add” and “Remove” buttons on the Outlets and Actions lists; it should use +/- instead, like the Accounts prefpane.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Inspect a class in the nib.
2. Switch to the Attributes Inspector.

Expected Results:

IB shows small square buttons labeled + and – like the Accounts prefpane has.

Actual Results:

IB shows plain “Add” and “Remove” push buttons.

Regression:

None.

Notes:

None.

Technorati tags: Apple Bug Friday, applebugfriday.

This bug is ⌘W and ⌘⌥W close Inspectors too. It was filed on 2006-04-14 at 23:45 PDT.

Summary:

When the user presses ⌘W, IB will close a floating window if it has focus. When the user presses ⌘⌥W to close all nib windows, IB also closes all of the floating windows.

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Press ⌘W or ⌘⌥W.

Expected Results:

The frontmost non-floating window closes, or all non-floating windows and no floating windows close.

Actual Results:

The frontmost window (floating or not) closes, or all windows (including floating windows) close.

Regression:

None known.

Notes:

Floating windows in IB are the Palette, the Alignment palette, and the Inspector.

Technorati tags: Apple Bug Friday, applebugfriday.