Application Kit Framework Reference

Introduction

The Application Kit is a framework containing all the objects you need to implement your graphical, event-driven user interface: windows, panels, buttons, menus, scrollers, and text fields. The Application Kit handles all the details for you as it efficiently draws on the screen, communicates with hardware devices and screen buffers, clears areas of the screen before drawing, and clips views. The number of classes in the Application Kit may seem daunting at first. However, most Application Kit classes are support classes that you use indirectly. You also have the choice at which level you use the Application Kit:

• Use Interface Builder to create connections from user interface objects to your application objects. In this case, all you need to do is implement your application classes—implement those action and delegate methods. For example, implement the method that is invoked when the user selects a menu item.

• Control the user interface programmatically, which requires more familiarity with Application Kit classes and protocols. For example, allowing the user to drag an icon from one window to another requires some programming and familiarity with the NSDragging... protocols.

• Implement your own objects by subclassing NSView or other classes. When subclassing NSView you write your own drawing methods using graphics functions. Subclassing requires a deeper understanding of how the Application Kit works.

To learn more about the Application Kit, review the NSApplication, NSWindow, and NSView class specifications, paying close attention to delegate methods. For a deeper understanding of how the Application Kit works, see the specifications for NSResponder and NSRunLoop (NSRunLoop is in the Foundation framework).