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# NSCollectionElementCategory

Constants specifying the type of element in the collection view.

```
enum NSCollectionElementCategory
```

## Topics

### Constants

[`NSCollectionElementCategory.item`](/documentation/AppKit/NSCollectionElementCategory/item)

The element is an item. Items represent the main content of your collection view.

[`NSCollectionElementCategory.supplementaryView`](/documentation/AppKit/NSCollectionElementCategory/supplementaryView)

The element is a supplementary view. Use supplementary views for single views that contain some data but are associated with an entire section. For example, use them to specify header or footer views for a section.

[`NSCollectionElementCategory.decorationView`](/documentation/AppKit/NSCollectionElementCategory/decorationView)

The element is a decoration view. Decoration views represent visual adornments that do not contain any data of their own.

[`NSCollectionElementCategory.interItemGap`](/documentation/AppKit/NSCollectionElementCategory/interItemGap)

The element is an inter-item gap. An inter-item gap element is a custom visual indicator that is displayed between items when dropping items into the collection view.


---

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