NSTextField Fades Out After Subclassing - swift

Question

I've subclassed an NSTextField with the following code:
import Cocoa
class CustomSearchField: NSTextField {
override func draw(_ dirtyRect: NSRect) {
self.wantsLayer = true
let textFieldLayer = CALayer()
self.layer = textFieldLayer
self.backgroundColor = NSColor.white
self.layer?.backgroundColor = CGColor.white
self.layer?.borderColor = CGColor.white
self.layer?.borderWidth = 0
super.cell?.draw(withFrame: dirtyRect, in: self)
}
}
class CustomSearchFieldCell: NSTextFieldCell {
override func drawingRect(forBounds rect: NSRect) -> NSRect {
let minimumHeight = self.cellSize(forBounds: rect).height
let newRect = NSRect(x: rect.origin.x + 25, y: (rect.origin.y + (rect.height - minimumHeight) / 2) - 4, width: rect.size.width - 50, height: minimumHeight)
return super.drawingRect(forBounds: newRect)
}
}
This is all working fine and it draws my NSTextField just as I wanted. The only problem is, as soon as I make some other part of the interface the first responder (clicking outside the NSTextField), the text inside the NSTextField (placeholder or filled in text) is fading out. As soon as I click on it again, it fades back in. I've been searching for quiet a while now, but can't really figure out why this is happening. I just want the text to be visible all the time, instead of fading in and out.
It has to do with the CALayer that I'm adding to accomplish my styling.
Whenever I run the same settings from viewDidLoad on the textfield, it works like a charm. For example:
class ViewController: NSViewController {
#IBOutlet weak var searchField: NSTextField!
override func viewDidLoad() {
initCustomSearchField()
}
private func initCustomSearchField() {
searchField.wantsLayer = true
let textFieldLayer = CALayer()
searchField.layer = textFieldLayer
searchField.backgroundColor = NSColor.white
searchField.layer?.backgroundColor = CGColor.white
searchField.layer?.borderColor = CGColor.white
searchField.layer?.borderWidth = 0
searchField.delegate = self
}
}

Answer 1

draw method should really be used to draw the view not setting the properties.And for your problem don't set to self.layer directly use sublayer instead .
My suggestion for your code:
class CustomTextField :NSTextField {
override init(frame frameRect: NSRect) {
super.init(frame: frameRect)
setupView()
}
required init?(coder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: coder)
setupView()
}
func setupView(){
textColor = .green
}
}
class CustomTextFieldCell: NSTextFieldCell {
override init(textCell string: String) {
super.init(textCell: string)
setupView()
}
required init(coder: NSCoder) {
super.init(coder: coder)
setupView()
}
func setupView(){
backgroundColor = .red
}
override func drawingRect(forBounds rect: NSRect) -> NSRect {
let newRect = NSRect(x: (rect.width - rect.width/2)/2, y: 0, width: rect.width/2, height: 20)
return super.drawingRect(forBounds:newRect)
}
override func draw(withFrame cellFrame: NSRect, in controlView: NSView) {
super.draw(withFrame: cellFrame, in: controlView)
controlView.layer?.borderColor = NSColor.white.cgColor
controlView.layer?.borderWidth = 2
}
}