Add (addsubview) custom/reusable view from XIB OS X App - swift

Question

Here is the code for my custom view. I also have a custom XIB file with the view mainView in it. I need to use this 3 times in a stackView in a view controller. How do I do that?
class PlatformView: NSView {
#IBOutlet weak var mainView: NSView!
#IBOutlet weak var currentPriceLabel: NSTextField!
//Here is the button
#IBAction func testButtonPressed(_ sender: Any) {
}
override func draw(_ dirtyRect: NSRect) {
super.draw(dirtyRect)
// Drawing code here.
}
required init?(coder decoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: decoder)
NSNib(nibNamed: NSNib.Name(rawValue: "PlatformView"), bundle: nil)?.instantiate(withOwner: self, topLevelObjects: nil)
addSubview(mainView)
self.mainView.frame = self.bounds
}
}
Here is the code for my mainViewController
class ViewController: NSViewController {
#IBOutlet weak var platformStackView: NSStackView!
var platformView1:PlatformView!
var platformView2:PlatformView!
var platformView3:PlatformView!
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
//This part is not working in a macOS app
if let tempView = Bundle.main.loadNibNamed(NSNib.Name(rawValue: "PlatformView"), owner: self, topLevelObjects: nil)?.first as? PlatformView {
self.platformView1 = tempView
self.platformView1.currentPriceLabel = "$1.35"
self.platformStackView.addArrangedSubview(self.platformView1)
self.platformStackView.addSubview()
self.platformStackView.addView(tempView, in: self)
//Which one of these three methods should I use?
}
}
}
I have buttons in the Platform View which I would like to connect via IBAction outlets. How would I handle those?
I also added three ways to add a view to stack view. Which one is best to use?
It also says that .loadNibNamed will return a Bool not a instance of a view. How do I load the view multiple times in this View controller? I obviously also need to make changes through the life of the VC so I need to keep the instance of that view.

Answer 1

First you should use:
self.platformStackView.addArrangedSubview(self.platformView1)
because this will add self.platformView1 as both a sub view (as per addSubView) and add it to the list of views the stack view arranges.
Second the XIB file can contain multiple top level objects so can't expect it to return a single object. The Bool return indicates if the XIB file as a whole was successfully loaded and the contents of the top level objects will be put in the topLevelObjects parameter which is an array.
So you do something like this:
var topLevelObjects: NSArray?
if Bundle.main.loadNibNamed(NSNib.Name(rawValue: "TestView"), owner: self, topLevelObjects: &topLevelObjects) {
// Use the objects as you need including searching for a specific one you may require.
}
As an alternative you can also do this:
if let nib = NSNib(nibNamed: NSNib.Name(rawValue: "TestView"), bundle: nil) {
if nib.instantiate(withOwner: self, topLevelObjects: &temp) {
// Use the objects as you need including searching for a specific one you may require.
}
}
When used this is the result:
Here is a worked example of loading a custom class from a XIB file and adding it to the current view controllers view three times. The button action will load the XIB file instantiate three copies of it and add the TestView class it finds to the view controllers main view (at 0, 110 & 220):
#IBAction func buttonAction(_ sender: Any) {
var objectArray: NSArray?
if let nib = NSNib(nibNamed: NSNib.Name(rawValue: "TestView"), bundle: nil) {
if nib.instantiate(withOwner: self, topLevelObjects: &objectArray),
let topLevelObjects = objectArray {
for object in topLevelObjects {
if let testView = object as? TestView {
self.view.addSubview(testView)
testView.frame = CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100)
testView.testLabel.stringValue = "Test Label 1"
}
}
}
if nib.instantiate(withOwner: self, topLevelObjects: &objectArray),
let topLevelObjects = objectArray {
for object in topLevelObjects {
if let testView = object as? TestView {
self.view.addSubview(testView)
testView.frame = CGRect(x: 110, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100)
testView.testLabel.stringValue = "Test Label 2"
}
}
}
if nib.instantiate(withOwner: self, topLevelObjects: &objectArray),
let topLevelObjects = objectArray {
for object in topLevelObjects {
if let testView = object as? TestView {
self.view.addSubview(testView)
testView.frame = CGRect(x: 220, y: 0, width: 100, height: 100)
testView.testLabel.stringValue = "Test Label 3"
}
}
}
}
}
The TestView code looks like this:
class TestView: NSView {
#IBOutlet var testLabel: NSTextField!
required init?(coder decoder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: decoder)
}
override func awakeFromNib() {
super.awakeFromNib()
self.testLabel.stringValue = "Init"
}
override func draw(_ dirtyRect: NSRect) {
super.draw(dirtyRect)
// Drawing code here.
}
}
Nothing too complex with that custom view. It has a single NSTextField which is all setup correctly and so can just have it's string value set.
That all works for me so should be the way to go (this is the first MacOS app I have actually done as I am normally an iOS guy).