NSSharingService Class Reference

Inherits from	NSObject
Conforms to	NSObject (NSObject)
Framework	/System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework
Availability	Available in OS X v10.8 and later.
Declared in	NSSharingService.h
Related sample code	SharingServices

Overview

The NSSharingService class is used to provide a consistent user experience when sharing items on OS X. For example, items can be: NSURL objects, NSString objects, NSImage objects, video (through file URLs), or any object which implements the NSPasteboardWriting protocol.

For any item or group of items, the NSSharingService will display a sharing sheet to allow the user to pre-visualize what will be shared to the service. A sharing service can: create a post on a social network like Twitter or Facebook, send a message by email or iMessage, upload videos to viewing services, or send a file by AirDrop.

It's possible for developers to use NSSharingService directly. For instance, they can create a button that will trigger a service as shown in this code snippet:

- (void)awakeFromNib

    NSSharingService * service = [NSSharingService sharingServiceNamed:NSSharingServiceNamePostOnTwitter];

    [myShareOnTwitterButton setTitle:service.title];

    [myShareOnTwitterButton setEnabled:[service canPerformWithItems:nil]];

- (IBAction)shareOnTwitter:(id)sender

    // Items to share

    NSAttributedString *text = [self.textView attributedString];

    NSImage *image = [self.imageView image];

    NSArray * shareItems = [NSArray arrayWithObjects:text, image, nil];

    NSSharingService *service = [NSSharingService sharingServiceNamed:NSSharingServiceNamePostOnTwitter];

    service.delegate = self;

    [service performWithItems:shareItems];

Tasks

Creating a Sharing Service

Available Sharing Services

Sharing Items

Setting Content Attributes

Getting and Setting the Delegate

Properties

alternateImage

The alternate image representing the sharing service. (read-only)

@property(readonly, retain) NSImage *alternateImage

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

delegate

Specifies the delegate of the sharing service.

@property(assign) id<NSSharingServiceDelegate> delegate

Discussion

The delegate class must conform to the NSSharingServiceDelegate protocol.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

image

The primary image representing the sharing service. (read-only)

@property(readonly, retain) NSImage *image

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

title

The title of the sharing service. (read-only)

@property(readonly, copy) NSString *title

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

Class Methods

sharingServiceNamed:

Returns a sharing service instance representing the specified service name.

+ (NSSharingService *)sharingServiceNamed:(NSString *)serviceName

Parameters

serviceName: The service name. The possible system provided values are listed in “Available Sharing Services.”

Return Value

An instance of NSSharingService for the specified service name.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

sharingServicesForItems:

Returns a list of sharing services which could share all the provided items together.

+ (NSArray *)sharingServicesForItems:(NSArray *)items

Parameters

items: The items to share.

Return Value

An array of sharing services to allow for items.

Discussion

This method can be used to build a custom user interface or to populate a contextual menu.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

Instance Methods

canPerformWithItems:

Returns whether the service can share all the specified items..

- (BOOL)canPerformWithItems:(NSArray *)items

Parameters

items: The items to share.

Return Value

YES if the service can share all the items; NO otherwise. If items is nil, the method will return YES when the service is configured.

Discussion

This method can be used to validate a custom user interface such as a dedicated Twitter button. Therefore you could call it once at launch time with nil items to check whether to display the button or not, and then with real items to enable and disable the button depending on the context or selection.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

initWithTitle:image:alternateImage:handler:

Creates a custom sharing service object.

- (id)initWithTitle:(NSString *)title image:(NSImage *)image alternateImage:(NSImage *)alternateImage handler:(void (^)(void))block

Parameters

title: The custom sharing service name.
image: The image that represents the sharing service
alternateImage: The alternate image that represents the sharing service
block: The block that actually interacts with the service.

Return Value

An instance of the custom sharing object.

Discussion

Custom sharing services can be added to the NSSharingServicePicker with the sharingServicePicker:sharingServicesForItems:proposedSharingServices: delegate method.

When implementing this method, consider subclassing NSSharingService so the canPerformWithItems: and sharingServicesForItems: can provide accurate results.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Related Sample Code

SharingServices

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

performWithItems:

Manually performs the service on the provided items.

- (void)performWithItems:(NSArray *)items

Parameters

items: The items to share.

Discussion

In most cases this will display a sharing window.

Availability

Available in OS X v10.8 and later.

Declared In

NSSharingService.h

Constants

Available Sharing Services

These constants list the available sharing services.

NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostOnTwitter;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostOnSinaWeibo;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameComposeEmail;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameComposeMessage;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameSendViaAirDrop;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameAddToSafariReadingList;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameAddToIPhoto;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameAddToAperture;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostOnFacebook;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameUseAsTwitterProfileImage;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNameUseAsDesktopPicture;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostImageOnFlickr;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostVideoOnVimeo;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostVideoOnYouku;
NSString * const NSSharingServiceNamePostVideoOnTudou;