Xcode completion doesn't recognize the type of my variable

Question

I'm creating an object with:

NSMenu *appMainMenu = [[NSMenu alloc] initWithTitle:@"MyApp"];

(Ignore the fact I'm creating this menu programmatically and not using a Nib File. I understand the disadvantages of doing so)

The menu appears correctly in the menubar.

However, when I try to call any instance method such as:

 [appMainMenu addItemWithTitle:@"MyTitle" action:@selector(myaction:) keyEquivalent:@"t"];

XCode offer some completions, but none appear to come from NSMenu.
I've tried both

#import <AppKit/AppKit.h> and #import <AppKit/NSMenu.h>

The instance methods are certainly there in NSMenu.h, and as I said, it installs my menu. It just doesn't install the menu item. That plus the lack of completions makes me think that my appMainMenu is not being recognized as a NSMenu object, even though it's obviously valid.

What obvious thing am I missing?

Answer 1

I start by creating an empty main menu, then attaching the menu items to it :-

// I am also entirely unsure about the difference between
// using AppKit directly vs the Cocoa framework
#import <cocoa/cocoa.h>

// create an empty main menu and set it as the apps main menu
[NSApp setMainMenu:[[NSMenu alloc] init]];
// The first (sub)menu of the app menu is always the app menu and is named automatically
NSMenu* appMenu = [[NSMenu alloc] initWithTitle:@""];
// Now, add an about entry
[appMenu addItemWithTitle:@"About MyApp" action:@selector(orderFrontStandardAboutPanel:) keyEquivalent:@""];

This works for me.

Answer 2

I'm creating an object with:

NSMenu *appMainMenu = [[NSMenu alloc] initWithTitle:@"MyApp"];

You should allocate it from [NSMenu menuZone].

(It's the same zone as the default as of 10.6.1, but as long as the documentation says you should use [NSMenu menuZone], you probably should use [NSMenu menuZone].)

However, when I try to call any instance method such as:

[appMainMenu addItemWithTitle:@"MyTitle" action:@selector(myaction:) keyEquivalent:@"t"];

XCode offer some completions, but none appear to come from NSMenu.

First, it's Xcode, with a lowercase c.

Try saving. Sometimes Xcode doesn't realize I've created a variable until I save the file, thereby provoking it to rebuild whatever the completions are coming from.