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NSStatusBar Class Reference

Overview

The NSStatusBar class defines an object that manages a collection of NSStatusItem objects displayed within the system-wide menu bar. A status item can be displayed with text or an icon, can provide a menu and a target-action message when clicked, or can be a fully customized view that you create.

Use status items sparingly and only if the alternatives (such as a Dock menu, preference pane, or status window) are not suitable. Because there is limited space in which to display status items, status items are not guaranteed to be available at all times. For this reason, do not rely on them being available and always provide a user preference for hiding your application’s status items to free up space in the menu bar.

Tasks

Getting the System-Wide Instance

• + systemStatusBar

Managing Status Items

• – statusItemWithLength:
• – removeStatusItem:

Getting Status-Bar Attributes

• – isVertical
• – thickness

Class Methods

systemStatusBar

Returns the system-wide status bar located in the menu bar.

+ (NSStatusBar *)systemStatusBar

Discussion

The status bar begins at the right side of the menu bar (to the left of Menu Extras and the menu bar clock) and grows to the left as NSStatusItem objects are added to it.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared In

NSStatusBar.h

Instance Methods

isVertical

Returns YES if the receiver has a vertical orientation.

- (BOOL)isVertical

Discussion

The status bar returned by systemStatusBar is horizontal, so it always returns NO.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared In

NSStatusBar.h

removeStatusItem:

Removes the specified status item from the receiver.

- (void)removeStatusItem:(NSStatusItem *)item

Parameters

item

The NSStatusItem object to remove.

Discussion

Status items to the left of the specified one in the status bar shift to the right to reclaim its space.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

See Also

• – statusItemWithLength:

Declared In

NSStatusBar.h

statusItemWithLength:

Returns a newly created status item that has been allotted a specified space within the status bar.

- (NSStatusItem *)statusItemWithLength:(CGFloat)length

Parameters

length

A float specifying the number pixels of space alloted to the status item.

Return Value

An NSStatusItem object or nil if the item could not be created.

Discussion

The receiver does not retain a reference to the status item, so you need to retain it. Otherwise, the object is removed from the status bar when it is deallocated.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

See Also

• – removeStatusItem:

Declared In

NSStatusBar.h

thickness

Returns the thickness of the status bar.

- (CGFloat)thickness

Discussion

The status bar returned by systemStatusBar has a thickness of 22 pixels, the thickness of the menu bar.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared In

NSStatusBar.h

Constants

The following constants are defined as a convenience by NSStatusBar:

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