How to make some specific items of a NSTableView in bold? - swift

Question

I would like to set some items of a non-editable, View Based NSTableView in bold. The items correspond to a specific index number of the array I use to populate the TableView.
I would like to set the change before the NSTableView is displayed to the users.
I tried to handle this change in this method but I can't find a way to do it:
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, objectValueFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> Any?

Answer 1

If you don't want to use Cocoa Bindings
It's very similar on how you do it on iOS. Configure the cell's view in tableView(_:viewFor:row:)
class ViewController: NSViewController, NSTableViewDataSource, NSTableViewDelegate {
#IBOutlet weak var tableView: NSTableView!
var daysOfWeek = ["Sunday", "Monday", "Tuesday", "Wednesday", "Thursday", "Friday", "Saturday"]
var boldDays = ["Monday", "Wednesday"]
override func viewDidLoad() {
self.tableView.dataSource = self
self.tableView.delegate = self
}
func numberOfRows(in tableView: NSTableView) -> Int {
return daysOfWeek.count
}
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, viewFor tableColumn: NSTableColumn?, row: Int) -> NSView? {
// Assuming that you have set the cell view's Identifier in Interface Builder
let cell = tableView.make(withIdentifier: "myCell", owner: self) as! NSTableCellView
let day = daysOfWeek[row]
cell.textField?.stringValue = day
if boldDays.contains(day) {
let fontSize = NSFont.systemFontSize()
cell.textField?.font = NSFont.boldSystemFont(ofSize: fontSize)
// if you require more extensive styling, it may be better to use NSMutableAttributedString
}
return cell
}
}
If you want to use Cocoa Bindings
Cocoa Bindings can make this very simple, but if you set the slightest things wrong, it's pretty hard to figure out where things went south. Heed the warning from Apple:
Populating a table view using Cocoa bindings is considered an advanced topic. Although using bindings requires significantly less code—in some cases no code at all—the bindings are hard to see and debug if you aren’t familiar with the interface. It’s strongly suggested that you become comfortable with the techniques for managing table views programmatically before you decide to use Cocoa bindings.
Anyhow, here's how to do it. First, the code:
// The data model must inherit from NSObject for KVO compliance
class WeekDay : NSObject {
var name: String
var isBold: Bool
init(name: String, isBold: Bool = false) {
self.name = name
self.isBold = isBold
}
}
class ViewController: NSViewController, NSTableViewDataSource, NSTableViewDelegate {
#IBOutlet weak var tableView: NSTableView!
let daysOfWeek = [
WeekDay(name: "Sunday"),
WeekDay(name: "Monday", isBold: true),
WeekDay(name: "Tuesday"),
WeekDay(name: "Wednesday", isBold: true),
WeekDay(name: "Thursday"),
WeekDay(name: "Friday"),
WeekDay(name: "Saturday")
]
override func viewDidLoad() {
self.tableView.dataSource = self
self.tableView.delegate = self
}
}
Then the Interface Builder config:
Make sure the Table Column and Table Cell View have the same identifier. Best is to leave both of them blank for automatic
Select the Table View, bind Table Content to View Controller, Model Key Path = self.daysOfWeek
Select the Table View Cell, bind Value to Table Cell View (no kidding), Model Key Path = objectValue.name
Scroll down, bind Font Bold to Table Cell View, Model Key Path = objectValue.isBold
Either way, you should end up with something like this:
Polish as needed.