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NSText Class Reference

Class at a Glance

NSText declares the most general programmatic interface for objects that manage text. You usually use instances of its subclass, NSTextView.

Principal Attributes

• Draws text for user interface objects

• Uses a delegate

• Provides text editing capabilities

• Controls text attributes such as typesize, font, and color

Commonly Used Methods

readRTFDFromFile:

Reads an .rtf or .rtfd file.

writeRTFDToFile:atomically:

Writes the receiver’s text to a file.

string

Returns the receiver’s text without attributes.

RTFFromRange:

Returns the receiver’s text with attributes.

RTFDFromRange:

Returns the receiver’s text with attributes and attachments.

Overview

NSText declares the most general programmatic interface for objects that manage text. You usually use instances of its subclass, NSTextView.

NSTextView extends the interface declared by NSText and provides much more sophisticated functionality than that declared in NSText.

NSText initialization creates an instance of a concrete subclass, such as NSTextView. Instances of any of these classes are generically called text objects.

Text objects are used by the Application Kit wherever text appears in interface objects: A text object draws the title of a window, the commands in a menu, the title of a button, and the items in a browser. Your application can also create text objects for its own purposes.

Adopted Protocols

• – changeSpelling:

• – ignoreSpelling:

Tasks

Getting the Characters

• – string

Setting Graphics Attributes

• – setBackgroundColor:
• – backgroundColor
• – setDrawsBackground:
• – drawsBackground

Setting Behavioral Attributes

• – setEditable:
• – isEditable
• – setSelectable:
• – isSelectable
• – setFieldEditor:
• – isFieldEditor
• – setRichText:
• – isRichText
• – setImportsGraphics:
• – importsGraphics

Using the Font Panel and Menu

• – setUsesFontPanel:
• – usesFontPanel

Using the Ruler

• – toggleRuler:
• – isRulerVisible

Changing the Selection

• – setSelectedRange:
• – selectedRange

Replacing Text

• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTF:
• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTFD:
• – replaceCharactersInRange:withString:
• – setString:

Action Methods for Editing

• – selectAll:
• – copy:
• – cut:
• – paste:
• – copyFont:
• – pasteFont:
• – copyRuler:
• – pasteRuler:
• – delete:

Changing the Font

• – changeFont:
• – setFont:
• – setFont:range:
• – font

Setting Text Alignment

• – setAlignment:
• – alignCenter:
• – alignLeft:
• – alignRight:
• – alignment

Setting Text Color

• – setTextColor:
• – setTextColor:range:
• – textColor

Writing Direction

• – baseWritingDirection
• – setBaseWritingDirection:

Setting Superscripting and Subscripting

• – superscript:
• – subscript:
• – unscript:

Underlining Text

• – underline:

Reading and Writing RTF Files

• – readRTFDFromFile:
• – writeRTFDToFile:atomically:
• – RTFDFromRange:
• – RTFFromRange:

Checking Spelling

• – checkSpelling:
• – showGuessPanel:

Constraining Size

• – setMaxSize:
• – maxSize
• – setMinSize:
• – minSize
• – setVerticallyResizable:
• – isVerticallyResizable
• – setHorizontallyResizable:
• – isHorizontallyResizable
• – sizeToFit

Scrolling

• – scrollRangeToVisible:

Setting the Delegate

• – setDelegate:
• – delegate

Editing text

• – textShouldBeginEditing:  delegate method
• – textDidBeginEditing:  delegate method
• – textShouldEndEditing:  delegate method
• – textDidEndEditing:  delegate method

Changing text formatting

• – textDidChange:  delegate method

Instance Methods

alignCenter:

This action method applies center alignment to selected paragraphs (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object).

- (void)alignCenter:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – alignLeft:
• – alignRight:
• – alignment
• – setAlignment:

Declared In

NSText.h

alignLeft:

This action method applies left alignment to selected paragraphs (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object).

- (void)alignLeft:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – alignCenter:
• – alignRight:
• – alignment
• – setAlignment:

Declared In

NSText.h

alignment

Returns the alignment of the first paragraph (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object).

- (NSTextAlignment)alignment

Discussion

The returned value is one of the alignments described in NSTextAlignment.

Text using NSNaturalTextAlignment is actually displayed using one of the other alignments, depending on the natural alignment of the text’s script.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

alignRight:

This action method applies right alignment to selected paragraphs (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object).

- (void)alignRight:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – alignLeft:
• – alignCenter:
• – alignment
• – setAlignment:

Declared In

NSText.h

backgroundColor

Returns the receiver’s background color.

- (NSColor *)backgroundColor

Return Value

The receiver’s background color.

Availability

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

See Also

• – drawsBackground
• – setBackgroundColor:

Declared In

NSText.h

baseWritingDirection

Returns the initial writing direction used to determine the actual writing direction for text.

- (NSWritingDirection)baseWritingDirection

Discussion

The Text system uses this value as a hint for calculating the actual direction for displaying Unicode characters. You should not need to call this method directly. If no writing direction is set, returns NSWritingDirectionNatural.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

See Also

• – setBaseWritingDirection:

Declared In

NSText.h

changeFont:

This action method changes the font of the selection for a rich text object, or of all text for a plain text object.

- (void)changeFont:(id)sender

Discussion

If the receiver doesn’t use the Font panel, this method does nothing.

This method changes the font by sending a convertFont: message to the shared NSFontManager and applying each NSFont returned to the appropriate text. See the NSFontManager class specification for more information on font conversion.

Availability

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

See Also

• – usesFontPanel

Declared In

NSText.h

checkSpelling:

This action method searches for a misspelled word in the receiver’s text.

- (void)checkSpelling:(id)sender

Discussion

The search starts at the end of the selection and continues until it reaches a word suspected of being misspelled or the end of the text. If a word isn’t recognized by the spelling server, a showGuessPanel: message then opens the Guess panel and allows the user to make a correction or add the word to the local dictionary.

Availability

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

See Also

• – showGuessPanel:

Declared In

NSText.h

copy:

This action method copies the selected text onto the general pasteboard, in as many formats as the receiver supports.

- (void)copy:(id)sender

Discussion

A plain text object uses NSStringPboardType for plain text, and a rich text object also uses NSRTFPboardType.

Availability

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

See Also

• – copyFont:
• – copyRuler:
• – cut:
• – paste:

Declared In

NSText.h

copyFont:

This action method copies the font information for the first character of the selection (or for the insertion point) onto the font pasteboard, as NSFontPboardType.

- (void)copyFont:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – copy:
• – copyRuler:
• – cut:
• – paste:

Declared In

NSText.h

copyRuler:

This action method copies the paragraph style information for first selected paragraph onto the ruler pasteboard, as NSRulerPboardType, and expands the selection to paragraph boundaries.

- (void)copyRuler:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – copy:
• – copyFont:
• – cut:
• – paste:

Declared In

NSText.h

cut:

This action method deletes the selected text and places it onto the general pasteboard, in as many formats as the receiver supports.

- (void)cut:(id)sender

Discussion

A plain text object uses NSStringPboardType for plain text, and a rich text object also uses NSRTFPboardType.

Availability

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

See Also

• – delete:
• – copy:
• – copyFont:
• – copyRuler:
• – paste:

Declared In

NSText.h

delegate

Returns the receiver’s delegate.

- (id)delegate

Return Value

The receiver’s delegate, or nil if it has none.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setDelegate:

Declared In

NSText.h

delete:

This action method deletes the selected text.

- (void)delete:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – cut:

Declared In

NSText.h

drawsBackground

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver draws its background.

- (BOOL)drawsBackground

Return Value

YES if the receiver draws its background, otherwise NO.

Availability

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

See Also

• – backgroundColor
• – setDrawsBackground:

Declared In

NSText.h

font

Returns the font of the first character in the receiver’s text, or of the insertion point if there’s no text.

- (NSFont *)font

Availability

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

See Also

• – setFont:
• – setFont:range:

Related Sample Code

• Aperture Edit Plugin - Borders & Titles
• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

importsGraphics

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver allows the user to import files by dragging.

- (BOOL)importsGraphics

Return Value

YES if the receiver allows the user to import files by dragging, otherwise NO.

Discussion

A text object that accepts dragged files is also a rich text object.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isRichText
• – setImportsGraphics:

Declared In

NSText.h

isEditable

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver allows the user to edit text, NO if it doesn’t.

- (BOOL)isEditable

Return Value

YES if the receiver allows the user to edit text, otherwise NO.

Discussion

You can change the receiver’s text programmatically regardless of this setting.

If the receiver is editable, it’s also selectable.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isSelectable
• – setEditable:

Declared In

NSText.h

isFieldEditor

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver interprets Tab, Shift-Tab, and Return (Enter) as cues to end editing and possibly to change the first responder.

- (BOOL)isFieldEditor

Return Value

YES if the receiver interprets Tab, Shift-Tab, and Return (Enter) as cues to end editing and possibly to change the first responder; NO if it accepts them as text input.

Discussion

See the NSWindow class specification for more information on field editors. By default, NSText objects don’t behave as field editors.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setFieldEditor:

Declared In

NSText.h

isHorizontallyResizable

Returns YES if the receiver automatically changes its width to accommodate the width of its text, NO if it doesn’t.

- (BOOL)isHorizontallyResizable

Discussion

By default, an NSText object is not horizontally resizable.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isVerticallyResizable
• – setHorizontallyResizable:

Related Sample Code

• Sketch-112

Declared In

NSText.h

isRichText

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver allows the user to apply attributes to specific ranges of the text.

- (BOOL)isRichText

Return Value

YES if the receiver allows the user to apply attributes to specific ranges of the text, otherwise NO.

Availability

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

See Also

• – importsGraphics
• – setRichText:

Declared In

NSText.h

isRulerVisible

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver’s enclosing scroll view shows its ruler.

- (BOOL)isRulerVisible

Return Value

YES if the receiver’s enclosing scroll view shows its ruler, otherwise NO.

Availability

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

See Also

• – toggleRuler:

Declared In

NSText.h

isSelectable

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver allows the user to select text, NO if it doesn’t.

- (BOOL)isSelectable

Return Value

YES if the receiver allows the user to select text, otherwise NO.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isEditable
• – setSelectable:

Declared In

NSText.h

isVerticallyResizable

Returns YES if the receiver automatically changes its height to accommodate the height of its text, NO if it doesn’t.

- (BOOL)isVerticallyResizable

Discussion

By default, an NSText object is vertically resizable.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isHorizontallyResizable
• – setVerticallyResizable:

Declared In

NSText.h

maxSize

Returns the receiver’s maximum size.

- (NSSize)maxSize

Availability

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

See Also

• – minSize
• – setMaxSize:

Declared In

NSText.h

minSize

Returns the receiver’s minimum size.

- (NSSize)minSize

Availability

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

See Also

• – maxSize
• – setMinSize:

Declared In

NSText.h

paste:

This action method pastes text from the general pasteboard at the insertion point or over the selection.

- (void)paste:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – copy:
• – cut:
• – pasteFont:
• – pasteRuler:

Declared In

NSText.h

pasteFont:

This action method pastes font information from the font pasteboard onto the selected text or insertion point of a rich text object, or over all text of a plain text object.

- (void)pasteFont:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – copyFont:
• – pasteRuler:

Declared In

NSText.h

pasteRuler:

This action method pastes paragraph style information from the ruler pasteboard onto the selected paragraphs of a rich text object.

- (void)pasteRuler:(id)sender

Discussion

It doesn’t apply to a plain text object.

Availability

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

See Also

• – copyFont:
• – pasteRuler:

Declared In

NSText.h

readRTFDFromFile:

Attempts to read the RTFD file at path, returning YES if successful and NO if not.

- (BOOL)readRTFDFromFile:(NSString *)path

Discussion

path should be the path for an .rtf file or an .rtfd file wrapper, not for the RTF file within an .rtfd file wrapper.

Availability

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

See Also

• – writeRTFDToFile:atomically:

Declared In

NSText.h

replaceCharactersInRange:withRTF:

Replaces the characters in the given range with RTF text interpreted from the given RTF data.

- (void)replaceCharactersInRange:(NSRange)aRange withRTF:(NSData *)rtfData

Parameters

aRange

The range of characters to be replaced.

rtfData

The RTF data from which to derive the replacement string.

Discussion

This method applies only to rich text objects.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

This method is designed for transferring text from out-of-process sources such as the pasteboard. In most cases, programmatic modification of the text is best done by operating on the text storage directly, using the general methods of NSMutableAttributedString.

Availability

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

See Also

• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTFD:
• – replaceCharactersInRange:withString:

Declared In

NSText.h

replaceCharactersInRange:withRTFD:

Replaces the characters in the given range with RTFD text interpreted from the given RTFD data.

- (void)replaceCharactersInRange:(NSRange)aRange withRTFD:(NSData *)rtfdData

Parameters

aRange

The range of characters to be replaced.

rtfdData

The RTFD data from which to derive the replacement string.

Discussion

This method applies only to rich text objects.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

This method is designed for transferring text from out-of-process sources such as the pasteboard. In most cases, programmatic modification of the text is best done by operating on the text storage directly, using the general methods of NSMutableAttributedString.

Availability

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

See Also

• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTF:
• – replaceCharactersInRange:withString:

Declared In

NSText.h

replaceCharactersInRange:withString:

Replaces the characters in the given range with those in the given string.

- (void)replaceCharactersInRange:(NSRange)aRange withString:(NSString *)aString

Parameters

aRange

The range of characters to be replaced.

aString

The replacement string.

Discussion

For a rich text object, the text of aString is assigned the formatting attributes of the first character of the text it replaces, or of the character immediately before aRange if the range’s length is 0. If the range’s location is 0, the formatting attributes of the first character in the receiver are used.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

In most cases, programmatic modification of the text is best done by operating on the text storage directly, using the general methods of NSMutableAttributedString.

Availability

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

See Also

• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTF:
• – replaceCharactersInRange:withRTFD:

Declared In

NSText.h

RTFDFromRange:

Returns an NSData object that contains an RTFD stream corresponding to the characters and attributes within aRange.

- (NSData *)RTFDFromRange:(NSRange)aRange

Discussion

Raises an NSRangeException if any part of aRange lies beyond the end of the receiver’s characters.

When writing data to the pasteboard, you can use the NSData object as the first argument to NSPasteboard's setData:forType: method, with a second argument of NSRTFDPboardType.

Availability

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

See Also

• – RTFFromRange:

Declared In

NSText.h

RTFFromRange:

Returns an NSData object that contains an RTF stream corresponding to the characters and attributes within aRange, omitting any attachment characters and attributes.

- (NSData *)RTFFromRange:(NSRange)aRange

Discussion

Raises an NSRangeException if any part of aRange lies beyond the end of the receiver’s characters.

When writing data to the pasteboard, you can use the NSData object as the first argument to NSPasteboard's setData:forType: method, with a second argument of NSRTFPboardType.

Availability

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

See Also

• – RTFDFromRange:

Declared In

NSText.h

scrollRangeToVisible:

Scrolls the receiver in its enclosing scroll view so the first characters of aRange are visible.

- (void)scrollRangeToVisible:(NSRange)aRange

Availability

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

Related Sample Code

• BackgroundExporter

Declared In

NSText.h

selectAll:

This action method selects all of the receiver’s text.

- (void)selectAll:(id)sender

Availability

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

Related Sample Code

• Aperture Edit Plugin - Borders & Titles

Declared In

NSText.h

selectedRange

Returns the range of selected characters.

- (NSRange)selectedRange

Availability

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

See Also

• – setSelectedRange:

Related Sample Code

• TextLinks

Declared In

NSText.h

setAlignment:

Sets the alignment of all the receiver’s text to mode.

- (void)setAlignment:(NSTextAlignment)mode

Discussion

The value of mode must be one of the alignments described in NSTextAlignment.

Text using NSNaturalTextAlignment is actually displayed using one of the other alignments, depending on the natural alignment of the text’s script.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – alignment
• – alignLeft:
• – alignCenter:
• – alignRight:

Declared In

NSText.h

setBackgroundColor:

Sets the receiver’s background color to a given color.

- (void)setBackgroundColor:(NSColor *)aColor

Parameters

aColor

The background color for the receiver.

Discussion

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setDrawsBackground:
• – backgroundColor

Declared In

NSText.h

setBaseWritingDirection:

Sets the initial writing direction used to determine the actual writing direction for text.

- (void)setBaseWritingDirection:(NSWritingDirection)writingDirection

Discussion

If you know the base writing direction of the text you are rendering, you can use this method to specify that direction to the text system.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

• Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

See Also

• – baseWritingDirection

Declared In

NSText.h

setDelegate:

Sets the receiver’s delegate.

- (void)setDelegate:(id)anObject

Parameters

anObject

The delegate for the receiver.

Availability

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

See Also

• – delegate

Declared In

NSText.h

setDrawsBackground:

Controls whether the receiver draws its background.

- (void)setDrawsBackground:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver fills its background with the background color, if flag is NO, it doesn’t.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setBackgroundColor:
• – drawsBackground

Declared In

NSText.h

setEditable:

Controls whether the receiver allows the user to edit its text.

- (void)setEditable:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver allows the user to edit text and attributes; if flag is NO, it doesn’t.

Discussion

You can change the receiver’s text programmatically regardless of this setting. If the receiver is made editable, it’s also made selectable. NSText objects are by default editable.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setSelectable:
• – isEditable

Declared In

NSText.h

setFieldEditor:

Controls whether the receiver interprets Tab, Shift-Tab, and Return (Enter) as cues to end editing and possibly to change the first responder.

- (void)setFieldEditor:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver interprets Tab, Shift-Tab, and Return (Enter) as cues to end editing and possibly to change the first responder; if flag is NO, it doesn’t, instead accepting these characters as text input.

Discussion

See the NSWindow class specification for more information on field editors. By default, NSText objects don’t behave as field editors.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isFieldEditor

Declared In

NSText.h

setFont:

Sets the font of all the receiver’s text to aFont.

- (void)setFont:(NSFont *)aFont

Discussion

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setFont:range:
• – font

Related Sample Code

• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

setFont:range:

Sets the font of characters within aRange to aFont.

- (void)setFont:(NSFont *)aFont range:(NSRange)aRange

Discussion

This method applies only to a rich text object.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setFont:
• – font

Declared In

NSText.h

setHorizontallyResizable:

Controls whether the receiver changes its width to fit the width of its text.

- (void)setHorizontallyResizable:(BOOL)flag

Discussion

If flag is YES it does; if flag is NO it doesn’t.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setVerticallyResizable:
• – isHorizontallyResizable

Related Sample Code

• Quartz Composer WWDC 2005 TextEdit
• Sketch-112
• TextEditPlus
• TipWrapper
• TrackBall

Declared In

NSText.h

setImportsGraphics:

Controls whether the receiver allows the user to import files by dragging.

- (void)setImportsGraphics:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver allows the user to import files by dragging; if flag is NO, it doesn’t.

Discussion

If the receiver is set to accept dragged files, it’s also made a rich text object. Subclasses may or may not accept dragged files by default.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setRichText:
• – importsGraphics

Declared In

NSText.h

setMaxSize:

Sets the receiver’s maximum size to aSize.

- (void)setMaxSize:(NSSize)aSize

Availability

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

See Also

• – setMinSize:
• – maxSize

Related Sample Code

• Quartz Composer WWDC 2005 TextEdit
• Sketch-112
• TextEditPlus
• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

setMinSize:

Sets the receiver’s minimum size to aSize.

- (void)setMinSize:(NSSize)aSize

Availability

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

See Also

• – setMaxSize:
• – minSize

Related Sample Code

• Quartz Composer WWDC 2005 TextEdit
• Sketch-112
• TextEditPlus
• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

setRichText:

Controls whether the receiver allows the user to apply attributes to specific ranges of the text.

- (void)setRichText:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES the receiver allows the user to apply attributes to specific ranges of the text; if flag is NO it doesn’t.

Discussion

If flag is NO, the receiver is also set not to accept dragged files. Subclasses may or may not let the user apply multiple attributes to the text and accept drag files by default.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isRichText
• – setImportsGraphics:

Declared In

NSText.h

setSelectable:

Controls whether the receiver allows the user to select its text.

- (void)setSelectable:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver allows the user to select text; if flag is NO, it doesn’t.

Discussion

You can set selections programmatically regardless of this setting. If the receiver is made not selectable, it’s also made not editable. NSText objects are by default editable and selectable.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setEditable:
• – isSelectable

Declared In

NSText.h

setSelectedRange:

Selects the receiver’s characters within aRange.

- (void)setSelectedRange:(NSRange)aRange

Availability

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

See Also

• – selectedRange

Declared In

NSText.h

setString:

Replaces the receiver’s entire text with aString, applying the formatting attributes of the old first character to its new contents.

- (void)setString:(NSString *)aString

Discussion

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

Related Sample Code

• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

setTextColor:

Sets the text color of all characters in the receiver to aColor.

- (void)setTextColor:(NSColor *)aColor

Discussion

Removes the text color attribute if aColor is nil.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setTextColor:range:
• – textColor

Declared In

NSText.h

setTextColor:range:

Sets the text color of characters within aRange to aColor.

- (void)setTextColor:(NSColor *)aColor range:(NSRange)aRange

Discussion

Removes the text color attribute if aColor is nil. This method applies only to rich text objects.

This method does not include undo support by default. Clients must invoke shouldChangeTextInRanges:replacementStrings: or shouldChangeTextInRange:replacementString: to include this method in an undoable action.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setTextColor:
• – textColor

Related Sample Code

• TextViewDelegate

Declared In

NSText.h

setUsesFontPanel:

Controls whether the receiver uses the Font panel and Font menu.

- (void)setUsesFontPanel:(BOOL)flag

Parameters

flag

If flag is YES, the receiver responds to messages from the Font panel and from the Font menu and updates the Font panel with the selection font whenever it changes. If flag is NO the receiver doesn’t do any of these actions.

Discussion

By default, an NSText object uses the Font panel and menu.

Availability

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

See Also

• – usesFontPanel

Declared In

NSText.h

setVerticallyResizable:

Controls whether the receiver changes its height to fit the height of its text.

- (void)setVerticallyResizable:(BOOL)flag

Discussion

If flag is YES it does; if flag is NO it doesn’t.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setHorizontallyResizable:
• – isVerticallyResizable

Related Sample Code

• Quartz Composer WWDC 2005 TextEdit
• Sketch-112
• TextEditPlus
• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

showGuessPanel:

This action method opens the Spelling panel, allowing the user to make a correction during spell checking.

- (void)showGuessPanel:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – checkSpelling:

Declared In

NSText.h

sizeToFit

Resizes the receiver to fit its text.

- (void)sizeToFit

Discussion

The text view will not be sized any smaller than its minimum size, however.

Availability

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

See Also

• – isHorizontallyResizable
• – isVerticallyResizable

Related Sample Code

• TipWrapper

Declared In

NSText.h

string

Returns the characters of the receiver’s text.

- (NSString *)string

Return Value

The characters of the receiver’s text.

Discussion

For performance reasons, this method returns the current backing store of the text object. If you want to maintain a snapshot of this as you manipulate the text storage, you should make a copy of the appropriate substring.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setString:

Related Sample Code

• SearchField
• TextViewDelegate
• TrackBall

Declared In

NSText.h

subscript:

This action method applies a subscript attribute to selected text (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object), lowering its baseline offset by a predefined amount.

- (void)subscript:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – subscript:
• – unscript:
• – lowerBaseline: (NSTextView)

Declared In

NSText.h

superscript:

This action method applies a superscript attribute to selected text (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object), raising its baseline offset by a predefined amount.

- (void)superscript:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – subscript:
• – unscript:
• – raiseBaseline: (NSTextView)

Declared In

NSText.h

textColor

Returns the color of the receiver’s first character, or for the insertion point if there’s no text.

- (NSColor *)textColor

Availability

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

See Also

• – setTextColor:
• – setTextColor:range:

Declared In

NSText.h

toggleRuler:

This action method shows or hides the ruler, if the receiver is enclosed in a scroll view.

- (void)toggleRuler:(id)sender

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

underline:

Adds the underline attribute to the selected text attributes if absent; removes the attribute if present.

- (void)underline:(id)sender

Discussion

If there is a selection and the first character of the selected range has any form of underline on it, or if there is no selection and the typing attributes have any form of underline, then underline is removed; otherwise a single simple underline is added.

Operates on the selected range if the receiver contains rich text. For plain text the range is the entire contents of the receiver.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

unscript:

This action method removes any superscripting or subscripting from selected text (or all text if the receiver is a plain text object).

- (void)unscript:(id)sender

Availability

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

See Also

• – subscript:
• – superscript:
• – raiseBaseline: (NSTextView)
• – lowerBaseline: (NSTextView)

Declared In

NSText.h

usesFontPanel

Returns a Boolean value that indicates whether the receiver uses the Font panel.

- (BOOL)usesFontPanel

Return Value

YES if the receiver uses the Font panel, otherwise NO.

Availability

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

See Also

• – setUsesFontPanel:

Declared In

NSText.h

writeRTFDToFile:atomically:

Writes the receiver’s text as RTF with attachments to a file or directory at path.

- (BOOL)writeRTFDToFile:(NSString *)path atomically:(BOOL)atomicFlag

Discussion

Returns YES on success and NO on failure. If atomicFlag is YES, attempts to write the file safely so that an existing file at path is not overwritten, nor does a new file at path actually get created, unless the write is successful.

Availability

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

See Also

• – RTFFromRange:
• – RTFDFromRange:
• – readRTFDFromFile:

Declared In

NSText.h

Delegate Methods

textDidBeginEditing:

Informs the delegate that the text object has begun editing (that the user has begun changing it).

- (void)textDidBeginEditing:(NSNotification *)aNotification

Discussion

The name of aNotification is NSTextDidBeginEditingNotification.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

textDidChange:

Informs the delegate that the text object has changed its characters or formatting attributes.

- (void)textDidChange:(NSNotification *)aNotification

Discussion

The name of aNotification is NSTextDidChangeNotification.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

textDidEndEditing:

Informs the delegate that the text object has finished editing (that it has resigned first responder status).

- (void)textDidEndEditing:(NSNotification *)aNotification

Discussion

The name of aNotification is NSTextDidEndEditingNotification.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

textShouldBeginEditing:

Invoked when a text object begins to change its text, this method requests permission for aTextObject to begin editing.

- (BOOL)textShouldBeginEditing:(NSText *)aTextObject

Discussion

If the delegate returns YES, the text object proceeds to make changes. If the delegate returns NO, the text object abandons the editing operation. This method is also invoked when the user drags and drops a file onto the text object.

Availability

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

See Also

• – makeFirstResponder: (NSWindow)
• – becomeFirstResponder (NSResponder)

Declared In

NSText.h

textShouldEndEditing:

Invoked from a text object’s implementation of resignFirstResponder, this method requests permission for aTextObject to end editing.

- (BOOL)textShouldEndEditing:(NSText *)aTextObject

Discussion

If the delegate returns YES, the text object proceeds to finish editing and resign first responder status. If the delegate returns NO, the text object selects all of its text and remains the first responder.

Availability

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

See Also

• – resignFirstResponder (NSResponder)

Declared In

NSText.h

Constants

NSTextAlignment

These constants specify text alignment.

typedef enum _NSTextAlignment {
   NSLeftTextAlignment      = 0,
   NSRightTextAlignment     = 1,
   NSCenterTextAlignment    = 2,
   NSJustifiedTextAlignment = 3,
   NSNaturalTextAlignment   = 4
} NSTextAlignment;

Constants

NSLeftTextAlignment

Text is visually left aligned.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSRightTextAlignment

Text is visually right aligned.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSCenterTextAlignment

Text is visually center aligned.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSJustifiedTextAlignment

Text is justified.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSNaturalTextAlignment

Use the natural alignment of the text’s script.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

Declared In

NSText.h

NSWritingDirection

These constants specify the writing directions:

typedef enum _NSWritingDirection {
   NSWritingDirectionNatural     = -1,
   NSWritingDirectionLeftToRight = 0,
   NSWritingDirectionRightToLeft
} NSWritingDirection;

Constants

NSWritingDirectionNatural

The writing direction is determined using the Unicode Bidi Algorithm rules P2 and P3. Default.

Available in Mac OS X v10.4 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSWritingDirectionLeftToRight

The writing direction is left to right.

Available in Mac OS X v10.2 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSWritingDirectionRightToLeft

The writing direction is right to left.

Available in Mac OS X v10.2 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

Declared In

NSText.h

Movement Codes

These constants specify the reason for a change of editing focus among text fields, in essence answering the question “why am I leaving the field?”

enum {
   NSIllegalTextMovement = 0,
   NSReturnTextMovement  = 0x10,
   NSTabTextMovement     = 0x11,
   NSBacktabTextMovement = 0x12,
   NSLeftTextMovement    = 0x13,
   NSRightTextMovement   = 0x14,
   NSUpTextMovement      = 0x15,
   NSDownTextMovement    = 0x16,
   NSCancelTextMovement  = 0x17,
   NSOtherTextMovement    = 0
};

Constants

NSIllegalTextMovement

Currently unused.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSReturnTextMovement

The Return key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSTabTextMovement

The Tab key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSBacktabTextMovement

The Backtab (Shift-Tab) key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSLeftTextMovement

The left arrow key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSRightTextMovement

The right arrow key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSUpTextMovement

The up arrow key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSDownTextMovement

The down arrow key was pressed.

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSCancelTextMovement

The user cancelled the completion.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSOtherTextMovement

The user performed some undefined action.

Available in Mac OS X v10.3 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

Discussion

They are the possible values for the NSTextMovement key of the NSTextDidEndEditingNotificationuserInfo dictionary. The field editor makes sure that these are the values sent when the user presses the Tab, Backtab, or Return key while editing. The control then uses this information to decide where to send focus next.

Declared In

NSText.h

Commonly-used Unicode characters

These constants specify several commonly used Unicode characters.

enum {
   NSParagraphSeparatorCharacter = 0x2029,
   NSLineSeparatorCharacter      = 0x2028,
   NSTabCharacter                = 0x0009,
   NSFormFeedCharacter           = 0x000c,
   NSNewlineCharacter            = 0x000a,
   NSCarriageReturnCharacter     = 0x000d,
   NSEnterCharacter              = 0x0003,
   NSBackspaceCharacter          = 0x0008,
   NSBackTabCharacter            = 0x0019,
   NSDeleteCharacter             = 0x007f
};

Constants

NSParagraphSeparatorCharacter

The paragraph separator character: 0x2029

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSLineSeparatorCharacter

The line separator character: 0x2028

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSTabCharacter

The tab character: 0x0009

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSBackTabCharacter

The back tab character: 0x0019

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSFormFeedCharacter

The form feed character: 0x000c

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSNewlineCharacter

The newline character: 0x000a

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSCarriageReturnCharacter

The carriage return character: 0x000d

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSEnterCharacter

The enter character: 0x0003

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSBackspaceCharacter

The backspace character: 0x0008

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

NSDeleteCharacter

The delete character: 0x007f

Available in Mac OS X v10.0 and later.

Declared in NSText.h.

Declared In

NSText.h

Notifications

NSTextDidBeginEditingNotification

Posted when an NSText object begins any operation that changes characters or formatting attributes.

The notification object is the notifying NSText object. This notification does not contain a userInfo dictionary.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

NSTextDidChangeNotification

Posted after an NSText object performs any operation that changes characters or formatting attributes.

The notification object is the notifying NSText object. This notification does not contain a userInfo dictionary.

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

NSTextDidEndEditingNotification

Posted when focus leaves an NSText object, whether or not any operation has changed characters or formatting attributes.

The notification object is the notifying NSText object. The userInfo dictionary contains the following information:

Availability

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

Declared In

NSText.h

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