customizing cocoa toolbars

[tinrib]

I just found out after setting the preference directly in the .plist file, that you can actually switch between icon/text/icon&text as toolbar styles by command clicking on the toolbar widget at the top right.

http://stain.org/david/syspreftoolbar.jpg

I don't know if this is a documented feature or whether this is news to you all. It doesn't work in the Finder, although it does in OmniWeb. I gather from this that this is currently a cocoa-specific feature. I'll leave it to other people to say "Carbon SUX" and "no it doesn't. when will people get it through their heads that the carbon APIs are just as good as cocoa if not better. God damn these ignorami!"

[Guy Incognito]

Yup...it's a cocoa-only feature as well as drawers and transparent-sheets (keyword: transparent). The Finder uses some cheap hack...and doesn't work like the cocoa toolbar works.

And yes, Carbon suX0rs...I don't care what other people say about it...and I don't care if they insist that nobody could tell the difference between a well-written carbon app over a cocoa app...I WOULD and CAN and it only takes me about 30 seconds for me to figure it out just by looking at the interface! The only good carbon apps I've seen yet are Audion 2.6 and Snapz Pro X.

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Guy Incognito ]

[Developer]

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:

it's a cocoa-only feature as well as drawers and transparent-sheets

Transparent sheets are possible in Carbon since 10.1 (see Sherlock for an example).

[Guy Incognito]

I don't see 'em...I tried 'new criteria'...'save criteria'...'add folder' and they're all opaque.

But I still believe you, there's one program that really stumped me...Vektor 3.0: that silly chess game is a carbon app and has a mix of opaque and transparent sheets.

I wonder why Office didn't make use of transparent sheet. They don't make use of any of the new 10.1 features, why is 10.1 the minimum requirement? Shits and giggles?

Edit: not that I really care if sheets are transparent or not as it doesn't really affect usability but I just want consistence between my apps.

It would also be cool if Sherlock were redone from scratch as a cocoa app and made use of the cocoa toolbar...like Watson!!! :)

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Guy Incognito ]

[Developer]

Originally posted by Guy Incognito:

I don't see 'em...I tried 'new criteria'...'save criteria'...'add folder' and they're all opaque.

Nav Services dialogs (like the ones you tried) are not yet transparent with the exception of the ask save changes dialog. Once they are this will change automatically for all existing Carbon apps.

Application specific sheets can be transparent since 10.1 but must be changed to have a transparent background. In Sherlock you can see one if you don't enter any text in the search field but press the search button.

[Guy Incognito]

Originally posted by Developer:
<STRONG>

Nav Services dialogs (like the ones you tried) are not yet transparent with the exception of the ask save changes dialog. Once they are this will change automatically for all existing Carbon apps.

Application specific sheets can be transparent since 10.1 but must be changed to have a transparent background. In Sherlock you can see one if you don't enter any text in the search field but press the search button.</STRONG>

Heh...you're right! It's cool that Apple is starting to make the apps look more consistent. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Edit: I'd also like to take back my comments about the Finder toolbar being a cheap hack...it's not. I see Audion 2.6 is using this same kind of toolbar (I think.) So I guess it's an actual carbon API...(I think!?) The Finder toolbar behaves a little differently than Audion's toolbar...and both don't compare to the consistent cocoa toolbar that can be customized on-the-fly.

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Guy Incognito ]

[Visnaut]

Yes, I've also noticed that command-toolbar widget trick. There's an even handier one:

In any Cocoa app, command-option-click the toolbar widget to bring up the customize toolbar sheet. Works in all of the cocoa apps i know, except for System preferences, where the Select All option is basically the same thing.

In the Finder, you get the same effect by shift-clicking the toolbar widget. Hopefully they'll eventually clear up that inconsistency.

[ 12-17-2001: Message edited by: Visnaut ]