How do I create a custom borderless NSWindow in Objective-C + Cocoa?

Question

Let me start off by saying that this is my first real Cocoa app. It's a simple app that pretty much displays my website in a borderless window. The way I'm currently creating a borderless window is using the following:

- (void) awakeFromNib {
    [window setStyleMask:NSBorderlessWindowMask];
    [window setAcceptsMouseMovedEvents:YES];
    [window setMovableByWindowBackground:YES];
    [window setLevel:NSNormalWindowLevel];
}

The problem with this is that as a result, the WebView within the window does not pass mouse over events to elements on the loaded page, nor does it provide the ability to type in text fields. I know that I'm supposed to create a custom window instead and move the contentView into it but I'm too new to Objective-C to figure out how.

I've also tried declaring all of these with no luck:

@implementation specikAppDelegate

@synthesize window;
@synthesize webView;

- (BOOL) canBecomeKeyWindow { return YES; }
- (BOOL) canBecomeMainWindow { return YES; }
- (BOOL) acceptsFirstResponder { return YES; }
- (BOOL) becomeFirstResponder { return YES; }
- (BOOL) resignFirstResponder { return YES; }

...

@end

Additionally, I'd like to be able to move the window by clicking and dragging it anywhere but that's a side thought. I've searched extensively online, and cannot find a solution to this.

Contents of my .h file (just in case):

@interface specikAppDelegate : NSObject <NSApplicationDelegate> {
    IBOutlet NSWindow *window;
    IBOutlet WebView *webView;
}

@property (assign) IBOutlet NSWindow *window;
@property (nonatomic, retain) IBOutlet WebView *webView;

- (IBAction)openAboutPanel:(id)sender;

@end

Any help would be appreciated, and like I said, I'm super new to the world of Objective-C and Cocoa, but I do come from a PHP development background.

In which class have you declared/defined `-canBecomeKeyWindow`? — , Feb 16 '11 at 07:35
Bavarious: @implementation specikAppDelegate @synthesize window; @synthesize webView; - (BOOL) canBecomeKeyWindow { return YES; } - (BOOL) canBecomeMainWindow { return YES; } - (BOOL) acceptsFirstResponder { return YES; } - (BOOL) becomeFirstResponder { return YES; } - (BOOL) resignFirstResponder { return YES; } — specik, Feb 16 '11 at 07:37

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

9

As explained in this answer, windows without title or resize bar (including borderless windows) cannot become key windows.

You were right about overriding -canBecomeKeyWindow, but you’ve missed the correct place. You shouldn’t do it in your application delegate. You need to create an NSWindow subclass and then override that method.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:01

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answered Feb 16 '11 at 07:46

Gotcha. I figured I needed to create a subclass, but have not been able to figure it out nor do I know how I'd move the window contentView into it. – specik Feb 16 '11 at 07:50
1

@specik Create an `NSWindow` subclass in your Xcode project, e.g. `MyWindow`, and override that method. In Interface Builder, set your window class to `MyWindow`: select the window, open the Identity Inspector (menu Tools > Identity Inspector) and type `MyWindow` in Class Identity > Class. – Feb 16 '11 at 07:54
Wow that was super easy. And I learned a lot about how classes behave. Thanks a lot for that! – specik Feb 16 '11 at 08:07

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 16 '11 at 07:47

This sample code of apple should give you the information you need, its really easy to change the way it works and change it into your own drawn NSWindow ( without a border :D )

http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#samplecode/RoundTransparentWindow/Introduction/Intro.html

How do I create a custom borderless NSWindow in Objective-C + Cocoa?

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