Sample code for creating a NSTextField "label"?

Question

In my desktop Mac OS X app, I'd like to programatically create a NSTextField "label" which has the same behavior and properties as a typical label created in Interface Builder.

I usually use (and very much like) IB, but in this case it must be done programatically.

Try as I might, I can't seem to find the combination of method calls that will programatically produce the same label-y behavior as a "Label" dragged from the IB View Library palette.

Can anyone provide or point out some example code of how to do this programatically? Thx.

Answer 1

Specifically, you will want to setBordered:NO, and set the bezel style to whatever that bezel style is which I forgot. Also setEditable:NO, and optionally setSelectable:NO. That should suffice.

Answer 2

A label is actually an instance of NSTextField, a subclass of NSView. So, since it is a NSView, it has to be added to another view.

Here's a working code:

- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(NSNotification *)aNotification
{
    NSTextField *textField;

    textField = [[NSTextField alloc] initWithFrame:NSMakeRect(10, 10, 200, 17)];
    [textField setStringValue:@"My Label"];
    [textField setBezeled:NO];
    [textField setDrawsBackground:NO];
    [textField setEditable:NO];
    [textField setSelectable:NO];
    [view addSubview:textField];
}

This will produce the following: http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/925956/label-test.png

Answer 3

This can be tricky to get right. I don't have the recipe for an exact replica handy, but when I've been stuck in a similar situation, here's what I do:

1. Create a UI element in IB.
2. Add an outlet to it from my controller class.
3. Break in gdb in awakeFromNib or whatever.
4. From the gdb prompt, "p *whateverOutlet" ... this will show you the C struct contents of the label NSTextField that IB set up.

By looking at all the myriad values in there, you can get a lot of guesses about what you're neglecting to set. Usually it ends up being some magic combination of bezel and border settings, that gets you where you want to be.

Answer 4

You could try using nib2objc to get all the properties that IB sets