Create and Respond to a Hyperlink within a NSTableView Text Cell - objective-c

Question

I have a program that has a NSTableView populated with files to be uploaded. Once the file is sent, the Text Cell with the file's name gets a hyperlink placed into it (the array data is given an NSMutableString with an NSLinkAttributeName attribute). How do I allow users to click this link to open the webpage in their default browser?

Answer 1

After much searching and trying multiple methods, this is what I came up with as a solution.
Creating a custom class that extends NSTableViewCell:
class TableViewCellCursor: NSTableCellView {
internal var active = false
//MARK: - View Life Cycle
override func awakeFromNib() {
superview?.awakeFromNib()
self.createTrackingArea()
}
//MARK: - IBActions
override func mouseEntered(theEvent: NSEvent) {
if (NSCursor.currentCursor() == NSCursor.arrowCursor() && active) {
NSCursor.pointingHandCursor().set()
}
}
override func mouseExited(theEvent: NSEvent) {
if (NSCursor.currentCursor() == NSCursor.pointingHandCursor() && active) {
NSCursor.arrowCursor().set()
}
}
//Informs the receiver that the mouse cursor has moved into a cursor rectangle.
override func cursorUpdate(event: NSEvent) {
if (active) {
NSCursor.pointingHandCursor().set()
}
}
//MARK: - Util
func createTrackingArea() {
var focusTrackingAreaOptions:NSTrackingAreaOptions = NSTrackingAreaOptions.ActiveInActiveApp
focusTrackingAreaOptions |= NSTrackingAreaOptions.MouseEnteredAndExited
focusTrackingAreaOptions |= NSTrackingAreaOptions.AssumeInside
focusTrackingAreaOptions |= NSTrackingAreaOptions.InVisibleRect
var focusTrackingArea:NSTrackingArea = NSTrackingArea(rect: NSZeroRect,
options: focusTrackingAreaOptions,
owner: self, userInfo: nil)
self.addTrackingArea(focusTrackingArea)
}
}
Checking first responder status when the NSTableView selection changes. This is necessary because the table's selection can be changed, even when it is not the firstResponder:
func tableViewSelectionDidChange(aNotification: NSNotification) {
if (self.firstResponder == filesToTransferTable) {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.whiteColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
} else {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.blackColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
}
}
func changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(selectedColor: NSColor, unselectedColor: NSColor) {
let selectedRows = filesToTransferTable.selectedRowIndexes
for (index, tableEntry) in enumerate (tableData) {
if tableData[index]["FileName"] is NSMutableAttributedString {
var name = tableData[index]["FileName"] as! NSMutableAttributedString
var range = NSMakeRange(0, NSString(string:name.string).length)
name.beginEditing()
name.removeAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, range: range)
if (selectedRows.containsIndex(index)) {
name.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value:selectedColor, range:range)
} else {
name.addAttribute(NSForegroundColorAttributeName, value:unselectedColor, range:range)
}
name.endEditing()
tableData[index]["FileName"] = name
}
filesToTransferTable.reloadDataForRowIndexes(NSIndexSet(index: index), columnIndexes: NSIndexSet(index:0))
}
}
Adding KVO for checking when FirstResponder changes:
//This is somewhere in your code where you initialize things
//KVO for first responder behavior regarding tableView and updating attributedStrings' colors
self.addObserver(self, forKeyPath: "firstResponder", options: NSKeyValueObservingOptions.Old | NSKeyValueObservingOptions.New, context: nil)
override func observeValueForKeyPath(keyPath: String, ofObject object: AnyObject, change: [NSObject : AnyObject], context: UnsafeMutablePointer<Void>) {
if (change[NSKeyValueChangeNewKey] is NSTableView) {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.whiteColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
} else if (change[NSKeyValueChangeOldKey] is NSTableView) {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.blackColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
}
}
Finally, checking if the main window (the app itself) is in focus (if this is not done, then the colors won't change appropriately when the window loses focus):
//Put these in the same place as the KVO code
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "windowDidBecomeKey:",
name: NSWindowDidBecomeKeyNotification , object: self)
NSNotificationCenter.defaultCenter().addObserver(self, selector: "windowDidResignKey:",
name: NSWindowDidResignKeyNotification , object: self)
func windowDidBecomeKey(notification: NSNotification) {
if (self.firstResponder == filesToTransferTable) {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.whiteColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
} else {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.blackColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
}
}
func windowDidResignKey(notification: NSNotification) {
if (self.firstResponder == filesToTransferTable) {
changeSelectedRowTextColorTo(NSColor.blackColor(), unselectedColor: NSColor.blueColor())
}
}

Answer 2

Text fields automatically support clicking on embedded links, but only if they are at least selectable (if not editable). So, set your text field to be selectable.