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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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NSAccessibility Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for receiving accessibility-related messages.
Accessibility 2007-12-11
NSSpeechRecognizer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa command-and-control voice recognition system.
Accessibility 2007-04-03
NSSpeechSynthesizer Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa parser that converts text to speech.
Accessibility 2009-01-06
ABActionDelegate Protocol Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the informal protocol for populating the rollover menus of Address Book with custom items.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
ABAddressBook Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Provides a programming interface to the Address Book.
Apple Applications 2007-07-07
ABGroup Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how this class supports the concept of a "group" containing one or more persons.
Apple Applications 2007-07-07
ABIdentityPicker Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the identity picker, a dialog or sheet used to select groups and people for Identity Services.
Apple Applications 2006-08-23
ABImageClient Protocol Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to handle images loaded from an asynchronous fetch from ABPerson objects.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
ABMultiValue Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to use these classes to represent properties that might have multiple values.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
ABPeoplePickerView Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to customize the behavior of people-picker views in an application's user interface.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
ABPerson Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to encapsulate all information about a person in the Address Book database.
Apple Applications 2007-07-07
ABSearchElement Class Objective-C Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes how to specify a search query for records in the Address Book database.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
Address Book Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the constants found in the Address Book framework.
Apple Applications 2006-07-26
Address Book Data Types Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the data types and constants found in the Address Book framework.
Apple Applications 2006-07-26
Address Book Objective-C Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Cocoa API for supporting and working with Address Book.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
AddressBook Functions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the functions and function-like macros found in the Address Book framework.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
AMAction Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the abstract class that defines the interface and general characteristics of Automator actions.
Apple Applications 2007-03-01
AMAppleScriptAction Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to support Automator actions that are driven by AppleScript scripts.
Apple Applications 2006-10-26
AMBundleAction Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to support Automator actions that are loadable bundles.
Apple Applications 2006-10-26
AMShellScriptAction Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to support Automator actions driven by a shell script or by a Perl or Python script.
Apple Applications 2006-10-26
AMWorkflow Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to represent an Automator workflow within an application.
Apple Applications 2006-10-26
AMWorkflowController Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to control an Automator workflow in an application.
Apple Applications 2007-07-09
AMWorkflowView Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Apple Applications 2006-11-09
Apple Applications Schema Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the schemas used by Apple Applications to sync records such as contacts, calendars, and bookmarks.
Apple Applications 2007-10-31
Automator Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the constants defined in the Automator framework not described in individual classes.
Apple Applications 2007-05-10
Automator Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API for creating and working with actions used by the Automator application.
Apple Applications 2006-10-26
CalAlarm Class Reference (HTML)
Describes the class used to create and initialize alarms.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CalAttendee Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to to confirm status and obtain more information about an attendee.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalCalendar Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to get attributes about a calendar.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalCalendarItem Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to provide access to information about calendar objects associated with a calendar item.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalCalendarStore Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to retrieve calendar objects, including calendars, events and tasks.
Apple Applications 2009-04-08
Calendar Store Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
Calendar Store Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Calendar Store framework classes and methods used to access iCal data.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalEvent Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to get properties about an event.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CalNthWeekDay Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the CalNthWeekDay class that is used to define a weekly repeating pattern of an event.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalRecurrenceEnd Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a property of a CalRecurrenceRule that defines how long a recurrence is scheduled to repeat.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
CalRecurrenceRule Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to initialize and get recurrence rules and properties.
Apple Applications 2009-03-04
CalTask Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to get properties about a task.
Apple Applications 2007-10-31
IMAVManager Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the object that controls the auxiliary audio and video source to iChat Theater.
Apple Applications 2007-10-31
IMService Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the IMService objects that each represent one service available through iChat.
Apple Applications 2008-10-15
IMVideoDataSource Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the methods that a video data source implements to provide auxiliary audio and video source to iChat Theater.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
Instant Message Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the API for providing iChat presence information to Cocoa applications and using iChat Theater.
Apple Applications 2007-07-08
InstantMessage Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the constants found in the Instant Message framework.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
InstantMessage Data Types Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the data types found in the Instant Message framework.
Apple Applications 2006-05-23
Message Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the Objective-C API for sending email messages through the Mail application.
Apple Applications 2008-04-08
Sync Services Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API for the Sync Services framework used to sync applications and devices.
Apple Applications 2007-10-31
Audio Codec Services Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the programming interface for configuring audio codecs and for encoding and decoding audio data.
Audio 2007-10-31
Audio File Services Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a C programming interface for reading and writing audio files.
Audio 2008-07-08
Disc Recording Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the Objective-C and C API for burning audio and data CDs and DVDs.
Audio 2008-04-08
Disc Recording UI Framework Reference (HTML)
Describes the Objective-C and C API for presenting a user interface when burning audio and data CDs and DVDs.
Audio 2008-04-08
NSSound Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that loads and plays audio files.
Audio 2008-10-15
Apple Applications Schema Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the schemas used by Apple Applications to sync records such as contacts, calendars, and bookmarks.
Data Management 2007-10-31
Calendar Store Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Calendar Store framework classes and methods used to access iCal data.
Data Management 2007-07-08
Core Data Framework Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Objective-C API for the Core Data framework.
Data Management 2007-07-24
Core Endian Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the C API for creating and installing callbacks to byte swap custom data.
Data Management 2007-05-29
Find By Content Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Deprecated - Describes the legacy C API for performing relevance-ranked searches. Replaced by Search Kit.
Data Management 2006-07-13
Foundation Constants Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes constants in the Foundation framework.
Data Management 2009-05-06
Foundation Data Types Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the common data types in the Foundation framework.
Data Management 2008-09-09
Foundation Functions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes Foundation framework functions.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSArchiver Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a class that encodes objects into an architecture-independent format.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSArray Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to manage an immutable ordered collection of objects.
Data Management 2008-06-09
NSArrayController Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a Cocoa bindings-compatible manager of an array or set.
Data Management 2007-04-09
NSAtomicStore Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a Core Data atomic persistent store.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSAtomicStoreCacheNode Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a node in an atomic persistent store.
Data Management 2006-10-09
NSAttributedString Application Kit Additions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes additions for analyzing and using attributed strings.
Data Management 2007-12-04
NSAttributedString Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a character string with attributes.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSBundle Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a collection of resources used in a program.
Data Management 2007-07-19
NSCalendar Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a calendar.
Data Management 2009-02-04
NSCalendarDate Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a Gregorian date.
Data Management 2008-05-04
NSCharacterSet Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a set of Unicode characters used in scanning and searching operations.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSClassDescription Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for information about the relationships and properties of a class.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSCoder Application Kit Additions Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes additions for converting archived NXColor objects into NSColor objects.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSCoder Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the abstract class that provides the basis for archiving.
Data Management 2006-07-23
NSCoding Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for archiving.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSComparisonPredicate Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to define a predicate used to compare the results of two expressions.
Data Management 2007-04-30
NSCompoundPredicate Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a representation of logical gate and comparison operations.
Data Management 2006-07-04
NSController Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for controllers used with Cocoa bindings.
Data Management 2007-04-02
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
NSDate Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a single point in time.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSDateComponents Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the components of a date.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSDateFormatter Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a date formatter.
Data Management 2008-11-19
NSDecimalNumber Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a decimal number.
Data Management 2007-10-31
NSDecimalNumberBehaviors Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for controlling the behavior of NSDecimalNumber objects.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSDecimalNumberHandler Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an object that specifies decimal number rounding and error handling.
Data Management 2007-04-30
NSDictionary Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes an immutable collection of key-value pairs.
Data Management 2009-04-08
NSDictionaryController Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a Cocoa bindings-compatible manager of a dictionary.
Data Management 2008-06-05
NSDictionaryControllerKeyValuePair Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for managing key-value pairs used by a dictionary controller.
Data Management 2008-06-05
NSEditor Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface used to commit or discard edits.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSEditorRegistration Protocol Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for receiving uncommitted-change messages from Cocoa bindings-compatible views.
Data Management 2006-05-23
NSEntityMapping Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the mapping of an entity in a Core Data migration.
Data Management 2007-05-22
NSEntityMigrationPolicy Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the Core Data class used to customize the migration process for an entity mapping.
Data Management 2007-05-22
NSEnumerator Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a facility for sequentially returning the elements of a collection.
Data Management 2007-02-23
NSExpression Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a predicate expression.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSFetchRequest Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the class used to describe search criteria used to retrieve data from a persistent store in Core Data.
Data Management 2008-02-08
NSFetchRequestExpression Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a Core Data fetch request as an expression.
Data Management 2006-07-16
NSFileWrapper Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a representation of a file-system node.
Data Management 2008-10-15
NSFormatter Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes the interface for formatter objects.
Data Management 2007-07-09
NSHashTable Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a mutable unordered collection of distinct elements that may use weak references.
Data Management 2007-06-26
NSIndexPath Class Reference (HTML) (PDF)
Describes a path to a node in a tree.
Data Management 2008-10-15