How can I get a specific button running on tvOS (AppleTV) to take focus? (Objective C) - objective-c

The project have some views with different buttons. When I hide a view and show the other view, I can't get the focus on my button.
I think is related to setNeedsFocusUpdate. I have read the Apple doc. There is not any example.
Does anyone know how to do it and put an example (Objective C)?

You need to override preferredFocusedView, and when you are hiding one view and showing there call this method setNeedsFocusUpdate, your preferredFocusedView implementation should be something like this
- (UIView *)preferredFocusedView
{
// Add your logic here, it could be more complicated then what is below
if (view1.hidden)
{
return _button;
}
else
{
return _button2
}
}
And if you want to make custom view get focus, override canBecomeFocused method and return true
Edit
You can use add a breakpoint and execute this command po [buttonYouWantToFocus _whyIsThisViewNotFocusable] it will tell you why its not focusable.

If you are adding a sub view programmatically, maybe this is what you want:
- (UIView *)preferredFocusedView {
return [view1 preferredFocusedView];
}

I realize your question is specific to Objective-C but here is a way to solve for this in Swift. You need to override the preferredFocusedView property.
override var preferredFocusedView: UIView? {
guard primaryView.hidden == false else {
return secondaryView
}
return primaryView
}
Then just call setNeedsFocusUpdate() whenever an event happens that causes your views to be hidden. Hope this helps...

Another option (if you don't want to use preferredFocusedView) is, instead of setting your view to be hidden, simply remove it from it's superview, like so:
myView.removeFromSuperview()
This automatically takes the focus away from the button that is removed and gives it to another one that is still on screen.

Related

NavigationLink button focusable override issue

I face an issue which stucks for days. I am createing a tvos application which reqiures a custome navigationlink(button), when I move the focus to the navigation item, it should scale a little bit, and also I need to change the parent's view backgound. It is pretty simple, but it seems that the focusabe override the my custome button Style. The test shows that the background image was changed but without any scale effect when the navigationbutton get focused. Any suggestion?
NavigationLink(destination: Text("myview"))
{Text("Test")
}
.buttonStyle(myButtonStyle())
.Focusable(true){(focus) in
//the code to change the background image
//myButtonStyle definition
struct MyButtonStyle: ButtonStyle {
func makeBody(configuration: Configuration) -> some View {
return AppButton(configuration: configuration)
}
}
struct AppButton: View {
#Environment(\.isFocused) var focused: Bool
let configuration: ButtonStyle.Configuration
var body: some View {
configuration.label
.scaleEffect(focused ? 1.1 : 1.0)
.focusable(true)
}
}
The line to change the background image is always called when the item get focused as my expected, but the scale effect is gone. If I remove the following line of codes, the scale effect is back:
// .Focusable(true){(focus) in
//the code to change the background image
// }
It looks like that this line of code override my custome style of navigation button, any ideas? Appreciate any help!
Ah, finally I found the tricky, though there is very little document about this. When Focusable was introduced, it should not be in your code to change focus engine, which will cause the navigationlink tap message uncaptured, then your navigationlink for another view will not work.
Use .onChange() function to deal with any focus change event, not use Focusable.

How to switch to another XML layout after click on button?

I would like to have one kotlin file with the logic and I would like to allow users to switch between two different XLM layouts (logic of program is still the same, but layout of buttons shall be changed when clicking on button).
I simply add setContentView function to setOnClickListener for this button in order to load activity_main_second_layout.xml layout.
PS. activity_main_second_layout.xml is almost the same like activity_main.xml, I only changed the position of elements (not the names of elements)
button_switch_to_the_second_design.setOnClickListener {
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main_second_layout);
}
When clicking on the button, voala, the layout really changes to the second one.
BUT the functionality of the program is not working any more, the logic disappear. It seems that I need to resume running of the program somehow to make the code working again without interuption including loss of variables.
There is a lot of ways to do that.
In my opinion you should not try to change layout in runtime - it's possible, but you have to override setContentView and rebind all views and all listeners (or do it in other method, which will be called after changing the layout).
So... Sth like this:
fun sth() {
setContentView(R.layout.activity_main_second_layout)
rebindLayout(R.layout.activity_main_second_layout)
}
fun rebindLayout(#LayoutRes layoutId: Int) {
when (layoutId) {
R.layout.activity_main_first_layout -> { /* rebind views here */ }
R.layout.activity_main_second_layout -> { /* rebind views here */ }
}
}
The other's, better I think is to create independent fragments and change fragment via fragmentManager.
Others approches - ViewAnimator, ViewSwitcher.

tvOS: Focus first button as preferred focus view when buttons are in horizontal order

I have been trying to focus the first button but focus engine takes the third button right below the tab bar as the first item to be focussed. I tried with preferred focus view but found that when i place the buttons in vertical order then preferred takes the preferred view to be focussed but when i placed all the buttons in horizontal plane it always takes the third button.The other approach i can think of if Focus Guide but i wonder how that will work in this scenario?
override weak var preferredFocusedView: UIView? {
get {
return thrirdButton
}
}
It happens because focus engine takes the nearest possible focus element as 1st element as you can see from the picture attached.I have attached the context screenshot for the view controller. Any help or clue to solve this will be appreciated.
Solution :
We need to add focus guide just above button 3 and redirect it to button one when the focus guide is focussed.
private var focusGuide = UIFocusGuide()
self.view.addLayoutGuide(focusGuide)
self.focusGuide.bottomAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.button3.topAnchor).active = true
self.focusGuide.leftAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.button3.leftAnchor).active = true
// Width and height
self.focusGuide.widthAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.button3.widthAnchor).active = true
self.focusGuide.heightAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.button3.heightAnchor).active = true
focusGuide.centerXAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.button3.centerXAnchor).active = true
override func didUpdateFocusInContext(context: UIFocusUpdateContext, withAnimationCoordinator coordinator: UIFocusAnimationCoordinator) {
self.focusGuide.preferredFocusedView = button1
}
Try adding a UIFocusGuide just above the button rows. In that case, before reaching the button, it will hit your focus guide in which you can redirect the preferredFocusedView to that particular button. The code to redirect is to be done by overriding didUpdateFocusInContext method.
Assuming you have setup the focus guide in viewDidload, the following is a sample,
override func didUpdateFocusInContext(context: UIFocusUpdateContext, withAnimationCoordinator coordinator: UIFocusAnimationCoordinator) {
super.didUpdateFocusInContext(context, withAnimationCoordinator: coordinator)
self.focusGuide.preferredFocusedView = self.mypreferredbutton
}
TO initialise a focus guide ( Do the addition of guide to view in viewDidLoad)
var focusGuide = UIFocusGuide()
self.view.addLayoutGuide(self.sidefocusGuide)
self.focusGuide.leftAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.placerLabel.leftAnchor).active = true
self.focusGuide.rightAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.placerLabel.rightAnchor).active = true
self.focusGuide.topAnchor.constraintEqualToAnchor(self.audioTable.topAnchor).active = true
I too faced a similar issue but somehow able to do it through this. The preferredFocusedView approach will also work, but you have to do lot of circus by updating some reference variable and then calling setneedsfocusupdate for that view. Try the focus guide way. Hope it helps.
EDITED:
I have added code how to setup the guide. In this case I have put the guide on the right side of my view. So, whenever your focus hits the guide, it redirects to the preferredfocusguide view that you want the focus to go to in the didUpdateFocusInContext. "There is only one view in focus at anytime.", remember thes ? So, the moment it hits the guide, the overriden method gets hit which in turn moves your focus to the guide's preferred view. For examples, you can refer to Apple's UIKitCatlog app for tvOS and here is one link explaining the same.
The best way to give the initial focus to your preferred view is by using preferredFocusEnivronments.
override var preferredFocusEnvironments: [UIFocusEnvironment] {
return [firstButton]
}
preferredFocusEnvironments will be called before didUpdateFocus, that way you can inform the system, where you want the focus to be redirected.

How to hide the iOS 8 Today Widget when there is nothing to display?

I'm using the today widget for iOS8 to display information relevant to the current day. The problem is I don't want to display the widget/section at all if there are no relevant messages to show.
I know it must be possible as the BA app does it (it only shows the widget when there is a flight, the rest of the time its not visible at all). I just cant figure out a way to achieve this behaviour.
Does anyone know how this can be done?
I found the way to do this is using the NCWidgetController. This allows you to easily specify when the today widget should be displayed based on whatever criteria you see fit.
Simply add the following into your viewDidLoad method (or anywhere that will be called when the widget reloads) in the today widget view controller and it will work:
BOOL hasDataToDisplay = NO;
NCWidgetController *widgetController = [NCWidgetController widgetController];
[widgetController setHasContent:hasDataToDisplay forWidgetWithBundleIdentifier:#"com.my-company.my-app.my-widget"];
Apple Docs: https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/NotificationCenter/Reference/NCWidgetController_Class/index.html#//apple_ref/occ/cl/NCWidgetController
WARNING: The NCWidgetController cannot be reset from the widget itself once you have set there is no content to display. In other words once you set it to NO then there is no going back unless you trigger it from the parent/containing app.
In the widget's ViewController's viewDidLoad method add the following:
BOOL DisplayWidget = NO;
[[NCWidgetController widgetController] setHasContent:DisplayWidget
forWidgetWithBundleIdentifier:#"<widget's bunder identifier>"];
This will disable the widget from showing.
To enable it again, you must do that from the containing app using the same line passing YES to setHasContent parameter. Make sure to add the necessary imports to the containing app in the ViewController which will re-enable the widget:
#import <NotificationCenter/NotificationCenter.h>
#interface ViewController () <NCWidgetProviding> {...}
[Check out page 41 of the documentations for widgets
https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/General/Conceptual/ExtensibilityPG/ExtensibilityPG.pdf ]
The approach which I used, though not perfect and has a small remnant in Notification Center, but worked for me:
In viewDidLoad() set preferred content size height to 1:
override func viewDidLoad() {
super.viewDidLoad()
// Do any additional setup after loading the view from its nib.
preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(0, 1)
view.setNeedsLayout()
}
then when widget updates, gets real height and set it:
var data: NSData?
func updateData() {
// fetch data
if let data = data {
let viewHeight: CGFloat
// UI preperation and initialize viewHeight var
preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(0, viewHeight);
} else {
preferredContentSize = CGSizeMake(0, 1);
}
}
func widgetPerformUpdateWithCompletionHandler(completionHandler: ((NCUpdateResult) -> Void)) {
// Perform any setup necessary in order to update the view.
// If an error is encountered, use NCUpdateResult.Failed
// If there's no update required, use NCUpdateResult.NoData
// If there's an update, use NCUpdateResult.NewData
updateData()
completionHandler(data != nil ? NCUpdateResult.NewData : NCUpdateResult.NoData)
}
It is better use
+ (instancetype)widgetController
then call
- (void)setHasContent:(BOOL)flag forWidgetWithBundleIdentifier:(NSString *)bundleID

How to toggle visibility of NSSplitView subView + hide Pane Splitter divider?

We have a parent Split view (NSSplitView), and two subviews, Content and SideBar (the sidebar is on the right).
What would be the optimal Cocoa-friendly way to toggle the SideBar view?
I would really love it, if the suggested solution includes animation
I really don't need any suggestions related to external plugins, etc (e.g. BWToolkit)
HINT : I've been trying to do that, but still I had issues hiding the divider of the NSSplitView as well. How could I do it, while hiding it at the same time?
Here's a pretty decent tutorial that shows how to do this: Unraveling the Mysteries of NSSplitView.
Hiding the divider is done in NSSplitView's delegate method splitView:shouldHideDividerAtIndex:.
You will have to animate the frame size change yourself if you don't like the way NSSplitView does it.
Easiest way to do it is as follows - and it's animated: [SWIFT 5]
splitViewItems[1].animator().isCollapsed = true // Show side pane
splitViewItems[1].animator().isCollapsed = false // hide side pane
I wrote a Swift version of the content in the link from #Nathan's answer that works for me. In the context of my example splitView is set elsewhere, probably as an instance property on an encompassing class:
func toggleSidebar () {
if splitView.isSubviewCollapsed(splitView.subviews[1] as NSView) {
openSidebar()
} else {
closeSidebar()
}
}
func closeSidebar () {
let mainView = splitView.subviews[0] as NSView
let sidepanel = splitView.subviews[1] as NSView
sidepanel.hidden = true
let viewFrame = splitView.frame
mainView.frame.size = NSMakeSize(viewFrame.size.width, viewFrame.size.height)
splitView.display()
}
func openSidebar () {
let sidepanel = splitView.subviews[1] as NSView
sidepanel.hidden = false
let viewFrame = splitView.frame
sidepanel.frame.size = NSMakeSize(viewFrame.size.width, 200)
splitView.display()
}
These functions will probably methods in a class, they are for me. If your splitView can be nil you obviously have to check for that. This also assumes you have two subviews and the one at index 1, here as sidePanel is the one you want to collapse.
In Xcode 9.0 with Storyboards open Application Scene select View->Menu->Show sidebar. CTRL-click Show Sidebar, in sent actions delete the provided one, click on x. From the circle CTRL drag to First Responder in application scene and select toggleSideBar to connect to. Open storyboard and select the first split view item and in attributes inspector change behaviour from default to sidebar. Run and try with view menu item show/hide. All done in interface builder no code. toggleSideBar handles the first split view item. https://github.com/Dis3buted/SplitViewController
I got some artifacts with the code above, likely because it was out of context. I am sure it works where it was meant to. Anyway, here is a very streamlined implementation:
// this is the declaration of a left vertical subview of
// 'splitViewController', which is the name of the split view's outlet
var leftView: NSView {
return self.splitViewController.subviews[0] as NSView
}
// here is the action of a button that toggles the left vertical subview
// the left subview is always restored to 100 pixels here
#IBAction func someButton(sender: AnyObject) {
if splitViewController.isSubviewCollapsed(leftView) {
splitViewController.setPosition(100, ofDividerAtIndex: 0)
leftView.hidden = false
} else {
splitViewController.setPosition(0, ofDividerAtIndex: 0)
leftView.hidden = true
}
}
To see a good example using animations, control-click to download this file.
If your NSSplitView control is part of a NSSplitViewController object, then you can simply use this:
splitViewController.toggleSidebar(nil)