Change the text of a NSTextView programmatically

Question

I can't find any parameter that seems to be related with the text value showed in a NSTextView. I understood that a NSTextView uses a complex structure (with NSLayoutManager etc...), but I can't find a valid way to modify the current text value.

score 28 · Accepted Answer · edited Jul 24 '13 at 18:12

28

The right method is "setString" [textView setString:@"the string"];

edited Jul 24 '13 at 18:12

Keith Smiley

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answered May 12 '13 at 08:57

MatterGoal

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This method doesn't exist as of iOS 8 (not sure when it stopped) – AndrewSmiley Aug 29 '15 at 14:36
3

@AndrewSmiley I'm talking about OS X not iOS. – MatterGoal Aug 29 '15 at 18:18
Whoops. Didn't see that tag there! – AndrewSmiley Aug 29 '15 at 21:09

score 24 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 30 '16 at 15:37

24

Setting text on outlet textView Swift Xcode 8.0

textView.string = newString

answered Sep 30 '16 at 15:37

Peter Ahlberg

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Thank you! used textview.string? = newstring – BriOnH Jan 10 '17 at 00:45

score 6 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 17 '15 at 22:16

6

Something like this:

[textView setString:@"new value"];

edited Nov 17 '15 at 22:16

Mogsdad

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answered Feb 01 '13 at 12:21

Ramy Al Zuhouri

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I'm speaking about NSTextView not NSTextField. – MatterGoal Feb 01 '13 at 12:22
but... you point me to the right solution that is probably simpler than what I was trying to do. – MatterGoal Feb 01 '13 at 12:23
The right method is "setString" `[textView setString:@"the string"];` – MatterGoal Feb 01 '13 at 12:24

score 6 · Answer 4 · edited Aug 07 '13 at 06:41

6

If you want to set attributed text (formatted text) them try

[myTextView setAttributedString:(NSAttributedString*)attrString].

NSTextView contains a NSTextStorage object that actually holds the text...

edited Aug 07 '13 at 06:41

kleopatra

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answered Aug 07 '13 at 06:31

Duncan Groenewald

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This method is on NSTextStorage now - so, in Swift, `myTextView.textStorage?.setAttributedString(attrString)` – Giles Sep 06 '19 at 08:36

Ivan Kholod · Answer 5 · 2018-07-13T07:31:42.110

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Objective C / Xcode 9

[myTextView setString:@"The string"];
self.myTextView.string = @"My String";

Swift / Xcode 9

self.myTextView.setString("MyString")
self.myTextView.string = "My String"

edited Jul 13 '18 at 07:31

answered May 03 '18 at 10:10

Ivan Kholod

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 26 '15 at 13:39

Almost there - the program is below - this almost works. There are two outstanding problems:

1) It takes two mouse click to set the correct selection point in the text the first always goes to the end of the text. The second to the required
position

2) A strange error is printed in the shell - Assertion failure in -[LUPresenter animationControllerForTerm:atLocation:options:], /SourceCache/Lookup/Lookup-160/Framework/Classes/LUPresenter.m:

  import Cocoa


  class MyAppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {

      let window = NSWindow()


      func applicationDidFinishLaunching(aNotification: NSNotification) {

          window.setContentSize(NSSize(width:600, height:200))
          window.styleMask = NSTitledWindowMask | NSClosableWindowMask |
                             NSMiniaturizableWindowMask |
                             NSResizableWindowMask





          window.opaque = false
          window.center();
          window.title = "My window"

          let ed = NSTextView(frame: NSMakeRect(20, 10, 180, 160))
          ed.font = NSFont(name:"Helvetica Bold", size:20)
          ed.string = "edit me"
          ed.editable = true
          ed.selectable = true

          window.contentView!.addSubview(ed)

          window.makeKeyAndOrderFront(window)
          window.level = 1
      }

      func applicationWillTerminate(aNotification: NSNotification) {
          // Insert code here to tear down your application
      }

  }

  let app = NSApplication.sharedApplication()
  app.setActivationPolicy(.Regular)

  let obj = MyAppDelegate()

  app.delegate = obj
  app.run()

I think adding `aNotification.object!.activateIgnoringOtherApps(true)` to end of `applicationDidFinishLaunching` will fix 1). Not sure about 2) — Jeff Peterson, Dec 26 '15 at 13:55

Change the text of a NSTextView programmatically

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