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Leopard Reference
Cocoa is an object-oriented application environment designed for developing Mac OS X native applications. The Cocoa frameworks support rapid development and high productivity. Cocoa provides developers starting new Mac OS X projects the fastest way to full-featured implementations. Applications from other platforms can also be brought to Mac OS X quickly using Cocoa.

A guided introduction and learning path for developers new to Cocoa.   Essential information for developers using Objective-C.   Objective-C API references organized by framework.
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Foundation Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes constants in the Foundation framework.
Data Management, Objective-C Language 2009-05-06
IMKServerInput Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the informal protocol used to receive text events.
Internationalization, Text & Fonts 2009-05-06
NSAnimatablePropertyContainer Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for an animatable proxy for views and windows.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-05-06
NSCountedSet Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an unordered collection of possibly identical elements.
Data Management 2009-05-06
NSData Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an immutable byte buffer.
Data Management 2009-05-06
NSError Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a representation of a runtime error.
Design Guidelines 2009-05-06
NSSegmentedCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an action cell that provides appearance and behavior for an NSSegmentedControl object.
User Experience 2009-05-06
NSSegmentedControl Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a horizontal button divided into multiple segments
User Experience 2009-05-06
QTCaptureDevice Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that represents a connected physical media capture device, such as a camera or microphone.
QuickTime 2009-05-06
Search Kit Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for supporting user searches of textual content.
Data Management, Text & Fonts, User Experience 2009-05-06
CalCalendarStore Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to retrieve calendar objects, including calendars, events and tasks.
Apple Applications 2009-04-08
NSButtonCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a cell that responds to mouse clicks.
Events & Other Input, User Experience 2009-04-08
NSDictionary Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an immutable collection of key-value pairs.
Data Management, Design Guidelines 2009-04-08
NSNetService Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a network service that an application publishes or uses as a client.
Interapplication Communication, Internet & Web, Networking 2009-04-08
NSNetServiceBrowser Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a query for published network services.
Interapplication Communication, Internet & Web, Networking 2009-04-08
NSScroller Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a control for scrolling a document view within a scroll view.
User Experience 2009-04-08
NSSplitView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a container for subviews with a user-controlled portion of each visible.
User Experience 2009-04-08
NSUserDefaults Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object for managing preference information.
Data Management, User Experience 2009-04-08
QTCaptureAudioPreviewOutput Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an output destination used to preview audio being captured.
QuickTime 2009-04-08
QTCaptureDeviceInput Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a wrapper for a QTCaptureDevice object.
QuickTime 2009-04-08
QTCaptureInput Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an input source connection for a capture session object.
QuickTime 2009-04-08
QTCaptureView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a view that displays a video preview of a capture session.
QuickTime 2009-04-08
QTDataReference Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the location of a QuickTime movie or other media data.
QuickTime 2009-04-08
WebArchive Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for archiving a web page and all of its related resources.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebEditingDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by WebView objects to change the view's default editing behavior.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebFrame Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for encapsulating the data displayed within a WebFrameView object.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebFrameLoadDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by WebView frame load delegates to be notified while frame loads are in progress.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebJavaPlugIn Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol for running Java applets from within a WebView.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebOpenPanelResultListener Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by WebView delegates to communicate with an Open dialog.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebPlugIn Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by an application using the Web Kit and any Web Kit-based plug-ins.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebPlugInContainer Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol that enables a plug-in to send messages to an application.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebPlugInViewFactory Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol used to create an NSView object for a plug-in.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebPolicyDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol used to modify the policy decisions that are made when handling URLs or the data they represent.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebResource Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for downloaded data and its related properties, such as its URL and MIME type.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebScripting Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol that defines methods that classes can implement to expose their interfaces to a WebScript environment.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebScriptObject Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for bridging a web view's scripting environment and the Objective-C runtime.
User Experience 2009-04-08
WebView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for embedding web content in a window.
User Experience 2009-04-08
CalAlarm Class Reference (HTML)
Describes the class used to create and initialize alarms.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CalEvent Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to get properties about an event.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CalRecurrenceRule Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to initialize and get recurrence rules and properties.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CAMediaTiming Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for the time behavior of an animation.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-03-04
IKSlideshowDataSource Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the methods that a slideshow object uses to access the contents of its data source object.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-03-04
NSATSTypesetter Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a typesetter that places glyphs for text layout.
Text & Fonts 2009-03-04
NSDockTile Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for customizing an application's dock tiles
User Experience 2009-03-04
NSPointerArray Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an ordered collection of pointers.
Data Management 2009-03-04
NSWindow Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a window.
Events & Other Input, Graphics & Imaging, User Experience 2009-03-04
QTCaptureOutput Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for connecting capture output destinations to a capture session object.
QuickTime 2009-03-04
QTCaptureVideoPreviewOutput Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object for previewing a video stream that is being captured.
QuickTime 2009-03-04
QTMedia Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a QuickTime media object.
QuickTime 2009-03-04
QTTrack Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a QuickTime movie track.
QuickTime 2009-03-04
WebDocumentText Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol adopted by document view objects to support working with text.
User Experience 2009-03-04
WebFrameView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for displaying the actual web content contained in a frame.
User Experience 2009-03-04
WebHistory Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for maintaining a set of pages visited by users.
User Experience 2009-03-04
WebPolicyDecisionListener Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol for handling download decisions asynchronously.
User Experience 2009-03-04
WebUIDelegate Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the protocol used to control user interface-related aspects, such as opening windows and augmenting default menus.
User Experience 2009-03-04
CALayer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a node of animated visual content.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-02-04
DOMNode Additions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the API added to the DOMNode class to facilitate communication between WebKit and the DOM API.
User Experience 2009-02-04
Mac OS X ABI Mach-O File Format Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the data structures that make up the Mach-O file format.
Runtime Architecture 2009-02-04
NSApplication Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the responder object that manages an application's events and resources.
Runtime Architecture 2009-02-04
NSCalendar Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a calendar.
Data Management, Internationalization 2009-02-04
NSCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for cell objects.
User Experience 2009-02-04
NSEvent Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an input action such as a mouse click.
Events & Other Input 2009-02-04
NSHelpManager Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an application-level help system.
Events & Other Input, Resource Management, User Experience 2009-02-04
NSKeyValueCoding Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for accessing object properties indirectly by key name or key path.
Data Management, Design Guidelines 2009-02-04
NSMenuView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a deprecated class replaced by the NSMenu class.
User Experience 2009-02-04
NSObject Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa root class.
Design Guidelines, Objective-C Language 2009-02-04
NSOpenPanel Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the panel that a user employs to locate and open a file.
Events & Other Input, File Management, User Experience 2009-02-04
NSOutlineView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a row-and-column format view for displaying hierarchical data.
User Experience 2009-02-04
NSSavePanel Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the panel that a user employs to set a file-system location and save a file.
Events & Other Input, File Management, User Experience 2009-02-04
NSShadow Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a drop shadow for a drawing operation.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-02-04
NSString Application Kit Additions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes additions for drawing strings.
Data Management, Text & Fonts 2009-02-04
NSString Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an immutable character string.
Data Management 2009-02-04
NSURL Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a string that uniquely identifies a resource.
Internet & Web, Networking 2009-02-04
NSURLHandle Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a deprecated technology replaced by the NSURLDownload class.
Internet & Web, Networking 2009-02-04
NSView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for drawing, event handling, and printing in views.
Events & Other Input, Graphics & Imaging, Printing 2009-02-04
WebBackForwardList Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class for tracking a list of visited pages with relation to the most recent page.
User Experience 2009-02-04
DOMHTMLDocument Additions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the API added to the DOMHTMLDocument class to facilitate communication between WebKit and the DOM API.
User Experience 2009-01-26
QTMovie Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a QuickTime movie and movie controller.
QuickTime 2009-01-07
IBDocument Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an Interface Builder document, which visually represents a nib file.
Tools 2009-01-06
NSBitmapImageRep Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that draws an image from bitmap data.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSColor Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a representation of color and opacity.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSCursor Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the appearance of the user interface cursor.
User Experience 2009-01-06
NSDocument Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for managing content using Cocoa's document system.
Design Guidelines 2009-01-06
NSGlyphStorage Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface between a glyph generator and glyph storage.
Text & Fonts 2009-01-06
NSGradient Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a color gradient to use when drawing.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSImage Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a graphical image that includes facilities for drawing and compositing.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSImageCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that displays an image in a frame, usually in a control.
User Experience 2009-01-06
NSImageRep Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for managing and drawing image data.
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSOutputStream Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a write-only data stream.
Data Management, File Management, Networking 2009-01-06
NSPanel Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a window for performing auxiliary functions in an application.
Events & Other Input, Graphics & Imaging, User Experience 2009-01-06
NSPrintInfo Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the print settings used for a print job.
Printing 2009-01-06
NSScreen Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a representation of a screen (computer monitor).
Graphics & Imaging 2009-01-06
NSSpeechSynthesizer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa parser that converts text to speech.
Accessibility, Text & Fonts, User Experience 2009-01-06
NSTextField Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a control that displays editable text.
User Experience 2009-01-06
NSTextFieldCell Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the user interface of a text field.
User Experience 2009-01-06
Objective-C 1 Runtime Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Deprecated - Describes the data structures and functions of the Objective-C 1.0 runtime support library.
Objective-C Language 2009-01-06
SFAuthorization Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to restrict a user's access to particular features in a Mac OS X application or daemon.
Security 2009-01-06
Web Services Core Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the client-side APIs for accessing web services.
Internet & Web 2009-01-06
NSAutoreleasePool Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface to the deferred-release mechanism in Cocoa's reference-counted memory management system.
Objective-C Language, Performance 2009-01-02
NSObject Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface used to define basic object behavior.
Design Guidelines, Objective-C Language 2008-12-22