Swift: How can I update NSMenuItem while it is active (visible)?

Question

I created a simple timer which updates a counter within a NSMenuItem.

func timerUpdate(){
    dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue()){

        // calculating time
        let timeLeft = self.lxTimeLeft() // returns a double of remaining seconds
        let hoursLeft = Int(timeLeft/3600)
        let minLeft = Int(timeLeft/60) - (hoursLeft*60)
        let secLeft = Int(timeLeft) - (hoursLeft*3600) - (minLeft*60)

        let hoursLeftStr = String(format:"%02d", hoursLeft)
        let minLeftStr = String(format:"%02d", minLeft)
        let secLeftStr = String(format:"%02d", secLeft)

        println("timeLeft \(hoursLeftStr):\(minLeftStr):\(secLeftStr)")
        self.menuActiveFor.title = "\(self.activatedFor) \(hoursLeftStr):\(minLeftStr):\(secLeftStr)h"

        self.statusMenu.update() // not working
    }
}

Basically it works, but when I open the NSMenu it won't refresh the NSMenuItem (UI). I found a solution for Objective-C (How to update NSMenu while it's open?) but sadly, I am not able to adapt this using Swift.

Use Runloop or Dispatch https://github.com/onmyway133/blog/issues/213 — onmyway133, Apr 23 '19 at 19:15

qwerty_so · Accepted Answer · 2020-12-18T20:07:20.853

2

You need to read the docu about NSRunLoop when your menu is displayed none of your threads will get control. You need to tell the OS you want to participate.

edited Dec 18 '20 at 20:07

answered Jan 05 '15 at 19:55

qwerty_so

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Thanks! Adding `NSRunLoop.currentRunLoop().addTimer(yourTimer, forMode: NSRunLoopCommonModes)` solved my problem. – ixany Jan 12 '15 at 09:19

Swift: How can I update NSMenuItem while it is active (visible)?

1 Answers1