CODEWITHSUNDEEP
objective-ccocoanswindow
Steve McLeod
Steve McLeod

Reputation: 52448

How do I create a Cocoa window programmatically?

My Cocoa app needs some small dynamically generated windows. How can I programmatically create Cocoa windows at runtime?

This is my non-working attempt so far. I see no result whatsoever.

NSRect frame = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 200, 200);
NSUInteger styleMask =    NSBorderlessWindowMask;
NSRect rect = [NSWindow contentRectForFrameRect:frame styleMask:styleMask];

NSWindow * window =  [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:rect styleMask:styleMask backing: NSBackingStoreRetained    defer:false];
[window setBackgroundColor:[NSColor blueColor]];
[window display];

Upvotes: 76

Views: 62502

Answers (5)

Jeff Younker
Jeff Younker

Reputation: 157

Translating the top rated answer to modern swift (5) gives you something akin to this:

var mainWindow: NSWindow!

...

mainWindow = NSWindow(
    contentRect: NSMakeRect(0, 0, 200, 200),
    styleMask: [.titled, .resizable, .miniaturizable, .closable],
    backing: .buffered,
    defer: false)
mainWindow.backgroundColor = .blue
mainWindow.makeKeyAndOrderFront(mainWindow)

Upvotes: 5

Jason Coco
Jason Coco

Reputation: 78353

The problem is that you don't want to call display, you want to call either makeKeyAndOrderFront or orderFront depending on whether or not you want the window to become the key window. You should also probably use NSBackingStoreBuffered.

This code will create your borderless, blue window at the bottom left of the screen:

NSRect frame = NSMakeRect(0, 0, 200, 200);
NSWindow* window  = [[[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:frame
                    styleMask:NSBorderlessWindowMask
                    backing:NSBackingStoreBuffered
                    defer:NO] autorelease];
[window setBackgroundColor:[NSColor blueColor]];
[window makeKeyAndOrderFront:NSApp];

//Don't forget to assign window to a strong/retaining property!
//Under ARC, not doing so will cause it to disappear immediately;
//  without ARC, the window will be leaked.

You can make the sender for makeKeyAndOrderFront or orderFront whatever is appropriate for your situation.

Upvotes: 152

johndpope
johndpope

Reputation: 5249

A side note, if you want to programatically instantiate the application without a main nib, in the main.m file / you can instantiate the AppDelegate as below. Then in your apps Supporting Files / YourApp.plist Main nib base file / MainWindow.xib delete this entry. Then use Jason Coco's approach to attach the window in your AppDelegates init method. 

#import "AppDelegate.h":

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{

  NSAutoreleasePool * pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
  [NSApplication sharedApplication];

  AppDelegate *appDelegate = [[AppDelegate alloc] init];
  [NSApp setDelegate:appDelegate];
  [NSApp run];
  [pool release];
  return 0;
}

Upvotes: 46

Rich Catalano
Rich Catalano

Reputation: 1147

Try 

[window makeKeyAndOrderFront:self];

instead of 

[window display];

Is that what you're aiming for?

Upvotes: 7

Steve McLeod
Steve McLeod

Reputation: 52448

This is what I've come up with myself:

NSRect frame = NSMakeRect(100, 100, 200, 200);
NSUInteger styleMask =    NSBorderlessWindowMask;
NSRect rect = [NSWindow contentRectForFrameRect:frame styleMask:styleMask];
NSWindow * window =  [[NSWindow alloc] initWithContentRect:rect styleMask:styleMask backing: NSBackingStoreBuffered    defer:false];
[window setBackgroundColor:[NSColor blueColor]];
[window makeKeyAndOrderFront: window];

This displays a blue window. I hope this is the optimal approach.

Upvotes: 3

Related Questions