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Reference Library: Cocoa
User experience encompasses the visual appearance, interactive behavior, and assistive capabilities of software. From an application's graphical user interface to its use of additional technologies such as speech recognition and speech synthesis, a cohesive and professional user experience is what Mac users have come to expect. Cocoa provides a complete suite of Interface Builder palettes and programmatic interfaces that developers can use to deliver this experience in their applications.

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NSScrollView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that allows the user to scroll a document view that's too large to display in its entirety.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSearchField Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for managing search-field controls.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSecureTextField Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the subclass of NSTextField that hides its text from display or other user interface access.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSegmentedCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for managing cells in a segmented control.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSegmentedControl Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for managing a segmented control.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSlider Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to display a range of values using a bar or circular dial.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSSliderCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Descibes the class that controls the appearance and behavior of an NSSlider object.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSStepper Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to display two small arrows that can increment and decrement a value beside them.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSStepperCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to control the appearance and behavior of an NSStepper object.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSTableHeaderCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that provides the cell used to draw the column headers in a table view.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSTableHeaderView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that displays and handles mouse events in the headers of a table view.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSTabView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that allows a view to switch between multiple content views.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSTabViewItem Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that encapsulates a single view in a tab view.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSToolbarItemValidation Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the informal protocol that an image-style toolbar item's target object class must implement to provide customized disabling and enabling.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSToolTipOwner Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the informal protocol that a class must implement to provide the text to a tool tip dynamically.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSUserInterfaceValidations Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the formal protocol that works with the NSValidatedUserInterfaceItem protocol to enable or disable a control automatically.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSViewAnimation Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for animating views and windows.
Reference 2006-05-23
NSWindowScripting Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the category on NSWindow for scripting basic properties and commands of windows in scriptable applications.
Reference 2006-05-23
Preference Panes Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API for supporting and working with preference panes.
Reference 2006-05-23
Screen Saver Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API for supporting and working with screen effects.
Reference 2006-05-23
Screen Saver Functions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes functions and function-like macros available in the Screen Saver framework.
Reference 2006-05-23
ScreenSaverDefaults Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that defines a set of methods for saving and restoring user defaults for screen savers.
Reference 2006-05-23
ScreenSaverView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class that defines the interface for subclassers to interact with the screen saver infrastructure.
Reference 2006-05-23
Web Kit Objective-C Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API used to display web content in windows.
Reference 2006-05-23
Web Kit Objective-C Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use the Web Kit to embed web content in both Cocoa and Carbon applications.
Guides 2006-05-23
WebArchive Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for archiving a web page and all of its related resources.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDataSource Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for encapsulating web content for display in a web frame view.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDocumentRepresentation Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by document representation classes that handle specific MIME types.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDocumentSearching Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by document view objects to support searching.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDocumentText Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by document view objects to support working with text.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDocumentView Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by document view objects to display data of different MIME types.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebDownload Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for providing an authentication sheet before a download begins.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebEditingDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by WebView objects to change the view's default editing behavior.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebHistory Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for maintaining a set of pages visited by users.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebHistoryItem Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for encapsulating information about a visited page.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebJavaPlugIn Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol for running Java applets from within a WebView.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebOpenPanelResultListener Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by WebView delegates to communicate with an Open dialog.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebPlugIn Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by an application using the Web Kit and any Web Kit-based plug-ins.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebPlugInContainer Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol that enables a plug-in to send messages to an application.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebPlugInViewFactory Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol used to create an NSView object for a plug-in.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebPolicyDecisionListener Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol for handling download decisions asynchronously.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebPolicyDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol used to modify the policy decisions that are made when handling URLs or the data they represent.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebResource Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for downloaded data and its related properties, such as its URL and MIME type.
Reference 2006-05-23
WebUndefined Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to represent the JavaScript "undefined" value.
Reference 2006-05-23
Table View Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa table views.
Guides 2006-04-04
Segmented Controls Programming Guide for Cocoa (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa segmented controls.
Guides 2006-02-07
Search Kit Programming Guide (HTML) (PDF)
Describes Search Kit architecture and workflow, and how to add search capabilities to Carbon and Cocoa applications.
Guides 2005-12-06
Reducer (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Simple utility for rescaling bitmapped images. Demonstrates use of Core Image, NSAnimation, view drawing redirection.
Sample Code 2005-06-06
iSpend (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to incorporate a number of Cocoa Tiger features into a simple application.
Sample Code 2005-06-01
SearchKit Release Notes (HTML)
Release Notes 2005-04-29
Finding an NSView's current magnification. (HTML)
QA1346: How to discover the current magnification (zoom level) of any NSView.
Technical Q&As 2005-03-08
Why aren't my tracking rects working? (HTML)
QA1355: Describes a common mistake in setting up cursor-tracking rectangles.
Technical Q&As 2004-12-02
Browsers (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa browsers.
Guides 2004-08-31
Font Panel (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use the Cocoa Font panel.
Guides 2004-08-31
Binding your Preferences in Cocoa (HTML)
Learn to use bindings by creating a simple app.
Articles 2004-04-26
Using the Web Kit for Application Registration (HTML)
Learn how to use the Web Kit to handle your application's online registration.
Articles 2004-03-09
Spell Checking (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use the spell-checking facilities in the Cocoa text system.
Guides 2004-02-09
Text Fields (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa text fields.
Guides 2004-02-09
Text Views (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa text views.
Guides 2004-02-09
TipWrapper (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how to wrap long tool tips into multiple lines in Cocoa.
Sample Code 2003-12-18
OpenGL Screensaver (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to integrate OpenGL drawing into a standard Cocoa screen saver on Mac OS X.
Sample Code 2003-12-10
MungSaver (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates a simple Screen Saver module for Panther, using the Sequence Grabber DataProc mung technique.
Sample Code 2003-11-18
Tab Views (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa tab views.
Guides 2003-11-06
FancyAbout (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates several visual effects for "About..." panels such as scrolling text, window without a title bar, and ways to dismiss the window.
Sample Code 2003-10-27
How to remove the "Open Recent" menu item in a Document-based Cocoa application (HTML)
QA1289: Explains how to remove the "Open Recent" menu item in a Document-based Cocoa application.
Technical Q&As 2003-09-15
How to set a custom drag image when doing an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa (HTML)
QA1200: Explains how to set a custom drag image when doing an HFS Promise drag in Cocoa.
Technical Q&As 2003-09-15
Speech (HTML) (PDF)
Explains Cocoa's interfaces to the speech synthesis and speech recognition technologies.
Guides 2003-08-08
Dialogs and Special Panels (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to create alert panels. Includes links to documents about other types of panels.
Guides 2003-08-01
Sproing (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows how "springs" work to control view resizing behavior.
Sample Code 2003-05-20
FunkyOverlayWindow (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates several window layering, transparency and widget interaction techniques in Cocoa.
Sample Code 2003-05-08
CarbonInCocoa (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
How to use Carbon GUI code in a Cocoa application.
Sample Code 2003-03-26
Clock Control (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates creating a custom control by creating a clock control, implemented as a subclass of NSControl and NSCell.
Sample Code 2003-02-25
Guide to Creating Kiosks on Mac OS X (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
TN2062: Discusses techniques used in creating applications which require kiosk-like functionality on Mac OS X.
Technical Notes 2003-02-24
Boxes (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa boxes.
Guides 2003-02-15
Drawers (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa drawers.
Guides 2003-02-04
AnimatedSlider (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates the use of an NSTimer to animate a control in Cocoa.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
bMoviePalette (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Shows a rudimentary QuickTime movie editor in a Cocoa Interface Builder palette.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Color Sampler (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates one way to sample the color at a given point in an NSView.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Cropped Image (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates how to extract a sub-image from another image, and some ways of indicating a selection.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
DeskPictAppDockMenu (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
How to add a dynamic Dock menu to your Cocoa application
Sample Code 2003-01-14
MP3 Player (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
How to wrap a command-line UNIX/Linux application in a Cocoa GUI, calling a the command-line app through NSTask.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
RGB Image (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates compositing to separate an NSimage into its RGB components, and how to recombine those components.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
RoundTransparentWindow (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Creating (in Cocoa) custom-shaped windows and transparent window content; plus changing the shape of windows dynamically.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
SonOfSillyBalls (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Draws a bunch of randomly colored, randomly placed, silly balls in a window on the screen.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Tinted Image (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates the use of an NSImage as an off-screen drawing destination.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
ToolbarSample (HTML) (DMG) (ZIP)
Demonstrates using the Cocoa NSToolbar/NSToolbarItem API to add customizable toolbars to windows. Includes advanced custom views.
Sample Code 2003-01-14
Combo Boxes (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa combo boxes.
Guides 2002-11-12
Forms (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa forms.
Guides 2002-11-12
Image Views (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa image views.
Guides 2002-11-12
Progress Indicators (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa progress indicators.
Guides 2002-11-12
Status Bars (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa status bars.
Guides 2002-11-12
Steppers (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to use Cocoa steppers.
Guides 2002-11-12
System Services (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how Cocoa applications can extend their capabilities seamlessly to other applications.
Guides 2002-11-12
Undo Architecture (HTML) (PDF)
Explains how to record information in Cocoa so a user can reverse an operation's effect.
Guides 2002-11-12
Preventing crashes when using multiple disabled but editable NSComboBoxes (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1142: How to prevent a crash when using multiple disabled -- but editable --NSComboBoxes in a view.
Technical Q&As 2002-06-03
Solving NSTabView drawing problems in Mac OS X 10.1.x (HTML) (日本語 HTML)
QA1117: Explains how to work around NSTabView draw problems in Mac OS X 10.1.x
Technical Q&As 2002-02-14
Background-only apps with NSStatusItems become active in 10.1 on NSStatusItem clicks (HTML)
QA1081: Preventing background-only apps from activating when their NSStatusItem(s) are clicked in Mac OS X 10.1.
Technical Q&As 2001-10-30
Getting NSWindow's toolbar actions to show up in Interface Builder (HTML)
QA1030: How to add the missing -toggleToolbarShown: and -runToolbarCustomizationPalette actions to Interface Builder.
Technical Q&As 2001-05-03
How to get custom views to show up in NSToolbarItems (HTML)
QA1029: Why custom views may not show up in an NSToolBarItem and how to make it visible.
Technical Q&As 2001-05-03