Efficiently Access numerous Cocoa Controls

Answer 1

You should look into NSMatrix. This is exactly what it's designed to solve.

Answer 2

Either NSMatrix, as Rob suggests, or re-think the UI so you have fewer controls on it :-)

Answer 3

NSTableView looks like the UI you need. The visual rendering will be a bit different but it will look more 'Mac'.

Answer 4

You could build the entire interface programmatically, with a few lines of code in a loop:

const int numRows = 11;
const int rowWidth = 400;
const int rowHeight = 20;
const int itemSpacing = 5;
const int nameFieldWidth = 120;
const int smallFieldWidth = 30;

NSMutableArray * rowList = [[NSMutableArray alloc] initWithCapacity:numRows];

int rowIndex;
NSRect rowFrame = [controlView bounds];
rowFrame.origin.y = rowFrame.size.height - rowHeight;
rowFrame.size.height = rowHeight;
NSRect itemRect
for (rowIndex = 0; rowIndex < 11; rowIndex++)
{
    // create a new controller for the current row
    MyRowController * rowController = [[MyRowController alloc] init];
    [rowList addObject:rowController];
    [rowController release];

    // create and link the checkbox
    itemRect = rowFrame;
    itemRect.size.width = 20;
    NSButton * checkBox = [[NSButton alloc] initWithFrame:itemRect];
    [controlView addSubview:checkBox];
    [rowController setCheckBox:checkBox];
    [checkBox release];

    // create and link the name field
    itemRect.origin.x += itemRect.size.width + itemSpacing;
    itemRect.size.width = nameFieldWidth;
    NSTextField * nameField = [[NSTextField alloc] initWithFrame:itemRect];
    [controlView addSubview:nameField];
    [rowController setNameField:nameField];
    [nameField release];

    // create and link the smaller fields
    itemRect.origin.x += itemRect.size.width + itemSpacing;
    itemRect.size.width = smallFieldWidth;
    NSTextField * smallField_1 = [[NSTextField alloc] initWithFrame:itemRect];
    [controlView addSubview:smallField_1];
    [rowController setSmallField_1:smallField_1];
    [smallField_1 release];

    //.. continue for each item in a row ..

    // increment the main rectangle for the next loop
    rowFrame.origin.y -= (rowFrame.size.height + itemSpacing);
}