NSScriptKeyValueCoding Protocol Reference

(informal protocol)

Framework
/System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework
Declared in
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h
Companion guides
Cocoa Scripting Guide
Key-Value Coding Programming Guide

Overview

Cocoa scripting takes advantage of key-value coding to get and set information in scriptable objects. The methods in this category provide additional capabilities for working with key-value coding, including getting and setting key values by index in multivalue keys and coercing (or converting) a key value. Additional methods allow the implementer of a scriptable container class to provide fast access to elements that are being referenced by name and unique ID.

Because Cocoa scripting invokes setValue:forKey: and mutableArrayValueForKey:, changes to model objects made by AppleScript scripts are observable using automatic key-value observing.

Tasks

Indexed Access

Access by Name, Key, or ID

Coercion

Instance Methods

coerceValue:forKey:

Uses type info from the class description and NSScriptCoercionHandler to attempt to convert value for key to the proper type, if necessary.

- (id)coerceValue:(id)value forKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method coerceValueFor<Key>: is used if it exists.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.0 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

insertValue:atIndex:inPropertyWithKey:

Inserts an object at the specified index in the collection specified by the passed key.

- (void)insertValue:(id)value atIndex:(NSUInteger)index inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method insertIn<Key>:atIndex: is invoked if it exists. If no corresponding scripting-KVC-compliant method (insertIn<Key>:atIndex: ) is found, this method invokes mutableArrayValueForKey: and mutates the result.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.0 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

insertValue:inPropertyWithKey:

Inserts an object in the collection specified by the passed key.

- (void)insertValue:(id)value inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method insertIn<Key>: is used if it exists. Otherwise, raises an NSUndefinedKeyException. This is part of Cocoa’s scripting support for inserting newly-created objects into containers without explicitly specifying a location.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.2 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

removeValueAtIndex:fromPropertyWithKey:

Removes the object at the specified index from the collection specified by the passed key.

- (void)removeValueAtIndex:(NSUInteger)index fromPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method removeFrom<Key>AtIndex: is invoked if it exists. If no corresponding scripting-KVC-compliant method (-removeFrom<Key>AtIndex:) is found, this method invokes -mutableArrayValueForKey: and mutates the result.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.0 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

replaceValueAtIndex:inPropertyWithKey:withValue:

Replaces the object at the specified index in the collection specified by the passed key.

- (void)replaceValueAtIndex:(NSUInteger)index inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key withValue:(id)value
Discussion

The method replaceIn<Key>:atIndex: is invoked if it exists. If no corresponding scripting-KVC-compliant method (-replaceIn<Key>atIndex:) is found, this method invokes -mutableArrayValueForKey: and mutates the result.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.0 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

valueAtIndex:inPropertyWithKey:

Retrieves an indexed object from the collection specified by the passed key.

- (id)valueAtIndex:(NSUInteger)index inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

This actually works with a single-value key as well if index is 0. The method valueIn<Key>AtIndex: is used if it exists.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.0 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

valueWithName:inPropertyWithKey:

Retrieves a named object from the collection specified by the passed key.

- (id)valueWithName:(NSString *)name inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method valueIn<Key>WithName: is used if it exists. Otherwise, raises an NSUndefinedKeyException.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.2 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

valueWithUniqueID:inPropertyWithKey:

Retrieves an object by ID from the collection specified by the passed key.

- (id)valueWithUniqueID:(id)uniqueID inPropertyWithKey:(NSString *)key
Discussion

The method valueIn<Key>WithUniqueID: is invoked if it exists. Otherwise, raises an NSUndefinedKeyException. The declared type of uniqueID in the constructed method must be id, NSNumber *, NSString *, or one of the scalar types that can be encapsulated by NSNumber.

Availability
  • Available in OS X v10.2 and later.
Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h

Constants

NSScriptKeyValueCoding Exception Names

NSScriptKeyValueCoding defines the following exception.

extern NSString *NSOperationNotSupportedForKeyException;
Constants
NSOperationNotSupportedForKeyException

Can be raised by key-value coding methods that want to explicitly disallow certain manipulations or accesses.

For instance, a setKey: method for a read-only key can raise this exception.

Available in OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h.

Declared In
NSScriptKeyValueCoding.h


© 2009 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved. (Last updated: 2009-11-13)

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