Xcode/iTunes/Instruments central toolbar item; what's it called and how do I create one?

Question

I'd like to create a toolbar item like the central item seen in Xcode/iTune/Instruments/etc:

central toolbar item

Can anyone tell me what it's called and how to go about creating my own?

Also, will I face problems getting my app approved by Apple when I submit it to the Mac App Store, for imitating Apple's own apps too much?

I haven't tried it before, but it seems plausible to create a toolbar, then make your own custom view to imitate what you want. — TheAmateurProgrammer, Jan 28 '12 at 11:56
@theAmateurProgrammer I agree. Any idea what Apple call this view? — trojanfoe, Jan 28 '12 at 12:18
Not sure. I guess it wouldn't really matter anyways. It's up to what you want to do with it. — TheAmateurProgrammer, Jan 28 '12 at 14:07
It's a custom control built into some private framework for use by Apple apps. It should be perfectly fine (and probably easier than you think) to create your own for your app. — Michael Dautermann, Jan 29 '12 at 10:05
@MichaelDautermann Ok thanks - I'll have a crack at it then. — trojanfoe, Jan 29 '12 at 11:13
@trojanfoe http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5951196/itunes-style-box-in-cocoa might help — Damien, Jan 29 '12 at 13:57
@Damien good find - many thanks. This question can be closed as a duplicate, but I don't seem able to do it. — trojanfoe, Jan 29 '12 at 21:22

score 3 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

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I finally implemented the solution from here:

iTunes or Xcode style information box at top of window

Here are the initial results:

enter image description here

edited May 23 '17 at 10:30

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answered Apr 11 '12 at 08:14

trojanfoe

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Uncommon · Answer 2 · 2013-05-24T16:27:59.740

I've noticed some interesting things about Instruments:

If you make the window narrow such that the overflow menu is triggered, the items in that menu are all blank.
You can't change the icon size or turn labels on/off.
Colors does not have a label when you add it to the toolbar.
The labels on Space, Flexible Space, and Colors do not line up with the other items' labels.

These are interesting because they seem to fit an idea I had for implementing this: turn labels off, and give all your items custom views, where normal-looking items actually have manually drawn labels. It would obviously be a lot of work, but it gives you enough freedom to effectively do full-height items.

The nice thing is that, unlike the view/window hack that Xcode seems to use, you still have a customizable toolbar with draggable items.

score 0 · Answer 3 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

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This is an Apple's private control, but you cannot create it as a NSToolbarItem. Check this other Q/A to know how to add a custom view in the window's main frame.

Is it possible to draw in the label area of NSToolbar?

edited May 23 '17 at 12:34

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answered Feb 20 '12 at 14:46

Andrea Cremaschi

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That isn't true - I've created the control using the answer to this question: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5951196/itunes-style-box-in-cocoa. I have added it to the toolbar and even got it centred correctly. – trojanfoe Feb 20 '12 at 18:22
@trojanfoe: the code snippet at the link you provided doesn't use NSToolbarItem and NSToolbar: it overrides the NSView's drawRect: method to draw a custom box. What I am stating in my answer is that iTunes and Xcode don't use a NSToolbarItem to display their LCDs, as they are drawing in the toolbar item's label area. – Andrea Cremaschi Feb 21 '12 at 14:33
Yes apparently they draw *over* the toolbar using separate window. I don't want to do that as it sounds too ugly to me... – trojanfoe Feb 21 '12 at 14:41

Xcode/iTunes/Instruments central toolbar item; what's it called and how do I create one?

3 Answers3