Menu Bar App Never Becomes Reactivated - objective-c

I'm building a Mac app that only sits in the menu bar with no dock item and no key window and no main menu (it's LSUIElement in the info.plist is set to YES). When I first launch the app, applicationDidBecomeActive: is called, as I expect. However, once another app gains focus, applicationDidBecomeActive: is never called again.
This prevents a text field I have within my app from becoming the first responder. When I first open the app, the text field is editable:
But after another app comes to the foreground, the text field is not editable:
What I've tried:
When the menu is opened, menuWillOpen: is called on the NSMenu's delegate. I've tried placing the following with no success:
[NSApp unhide];
[NSApp arrangeInFront:self];
[NSApp activateIgnoringOtherApps:YES];
[NSApp requestUserAttention:NSCriticalRequest];
[[NSRunningApplication currentApplication] activateWithOptions:NSApplicationActivateIgnoringOtherApps];
[[NSRunningApplication currentApplication] unhide];
I think the issue is probably related to not having any windows to bring to the front. I feel like I'm grasping at straws here. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think the issue is with that how the runloop operates when a NSMenu is open, so you should try activating the app before you display the menu. If you're having the NSStatusItem display it, I'd suggest doing it yourself like this:
- (void)toggleMenu:(id)sender
{
// App might already be active
if ([NSApp isActive]) {
[self.statusItem popUpStatusItemMenu:self.menu];
} else {
[NSApp activateIgnoringOtherApps:YES];
}
}
- (void)applicationDidBecomeActive:(NSNotification *)notification
{
[self.statusItem popUpStatusItemMenu:self.menu];
}
That should work, but I think though in general you'll have better luck with an actual window instead of a menu.

You probably need to allow your input to -becomeFirstResponder, maybe by overriding -canBecomeFirstResponder or by calling the become method yourself.
You'd likely have to implement/call these methods for whatever view is housing your text input, or maybe tell your input view to become the first responder.
Either way, it smells like a responder chain issue.

Try calling -makeFirstResponder: on your window. NSWindow is usually the start of the NSResponder chain.
- (void)menuWillOpen:(NSMenu *)menu {
[[NSApp mainWindow] makeFirstResponder:yourTextInputField];
}
I'm assuming your text field already accepts first responder since you said your app launches initially with it as the first responder. If not, make sure your text field overrides -acceptsFirstResponder: to return YES
- (BOOL)acceptsFirstResponder {
return YES;
}
Edit: Ah, see that you don't have a key window. It looks like NSMenu actually has a window associated with it though, and it's safe to call -makeFirstResponder:. Some discussion here suggests overriding -viewDidMoveToWindow: on your view containing your text field in the NSMenu like so:
- (void)viewDidMoveToWindow {
[super viewDidMoveToWindow];
[[self window] makeFirstResponder:yourTextInputField];
}

Related

Closing Window and Releasing NSWindowController

I have a relatively-lengthy task. So I bring up a separate window (NSWindowController) from AppDelegate to show progress. It goes like
//AppDelegate.m
if (self.progresswindow == nil) {
self.progresswindow = [[ProgressController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"ProgressController"];
}
[progresswindow showWindow:self];
//[[progresswindow window] setReleasedWhenClosed:NO];
[NSApp runModalForWindow:progresswindow.window];
When a task is complete, the progress window will close itself.
//ProgressController.m
[NSApp stopModal];
[self close];
It works fine. But when I click on a button to start another session of a task with the same window, the application won't run a task although it opens. It appears that the last instance hasn't be released. The progress window has the following lines.
- (void)windowDidLoad {
NSLog(#"Hey!");
}
And NSLog won't be called for the 2nd time. I wonder what I'm doing wrong? Calling setReleasedWhenClosed from AppDelegate has no effect. I have the Release When Closed checkbox enabled, anyway. I read something like I need to observe NSWindowWillCloseNotification the progress window in a different topic so that I can release it when it closes. But I'm using ARC. So I can't manually release it, can I? Meanwhile, if I open Apple's sample (TableViewPlayground), it seems that they use this notification. Furthermore, I've read this topic and this topic. But I don't know what the problem is.
I appreciate any advice. Thank you for your time.
Release the Progress-Window-Controller.

Show Window without activating (keep application below it active)

I need to show a window (without title bar) above third party applications without my window taking focus.
I have tried using an NSPanel and setting enabling non-activating, but that didn't help.
I tried orderFront:self, but that didn't help either.
I always needed to add [NSApp activateIgnoringOtherApps:YES]; because the window wouldn't show otherwise.
I have here a sample project for just this functionality:
http://users.telenet.be/prullen/TopW2.zip
UIElement is set to true in the application's plist file, so there is no dock. You can activate the window by pressing ALT + SPACE at the same time. You will see that the app below it looses focus. Any thoughts on how to fix this? I've seen other apps do it so I know it's possible.
Edit: here's the code so far. Remember the window is a non-activating NSPanel.
I still need that last NSApp activateIgnoringOtherApps line or otherwise it doesn't display. But of course that makes the window the active one.
_windowController = [[MyWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"MyWindowController"];
[[_windowController window] setLevel:NSNormalWindowLevel+1];
[[_windowController window] orderFrontRegardless];
[_windowController showWindow:self];
[NSApp activateIgnoringOtherApps:YES];
I've also subclassed NSPanel and added two methods:
- (BOOL)canBecomeKeyWindow
{
return YES;
}
- (BOOL)canBecomeMainWindow
{
return YES;
}
Edit: OK, unchecking setHidesOnDeactivate fixes this, but now the window will never hide. I need it to hide when the user presses the app below it or switches to another app.
Edit 2: OK, this seems to fix the above issue:
- (void)awakeFromNib
{
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(hideWindow) name:NSWindowDidResignKeyNotification object:nil];
}
- (void)hideWindow {
[self setHidesOnDeactivate:YES];
}
Not sure if there's a better way.
And for those that want to know how to display the window:
[[_windowController window] setLevel:NSPopUpMenuWindowLevel];
[[_windowController window] orderFrontRegardless];
[[_windowController window] makeKeyWindow];
[_windowController showWindow:self];
Either one of these should do the trick:
Use -[NSWindow orderFrontRegardless] to get a normal level window to the front without activating the corresponding app, or
Use -[NSWindow setLevel:] to increase the window level to something higher than NSNormalWindowLevel
Not to take away from #puzzle's useful answer, but it sounds like your problem has something to do with using an NSPanel instead of an NSWindow.
The "How Panels Work" docs say:
Onscreen panels, except for alert dialogs, are removed from the screen when the application isn’t active and are restored when the application again becomes active. This reduces screen clutter.
Specifically, the NSWindow implementation of the hidesOnDeactivate method returns NO, but the NSPanel implementation of the same method returns YES.
So perhaps you could override hidesOnDeactivate to return NO, or change to NSWindow

Suspending keyboard when user press on home button?

I am developing an application were everything is working fine, except one i.e. when user press on home while keyboard is in active and again opens my application the view frame bounds are changing and moving out of bounds. My expected result is keyboard should get suspended or the view should stay in the same position when it is come back from background to foreground with keyboard in-active state.
I hope people understand my scenario and reply ASAP.
Thanks.
I have found the solution to my question, i hope people can use my solution. Below is the code what I have done,
Add the below line of code in your RootViewController file (i.e. which view is coming at first when you open your APP).
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:#selector(receivedNotification:) name:UIApplicationDidEnterBackgroundNotification object:nil];
And then add a private method as below
- (void) receivedNotification:(NSNotification *) notification
{
if ([username isFirstResponder])
{
[username resignFirstResponder];
}
else if ([password isFirstResponder])
{
[password resignFirstResponder];
}
}
I hope it help some body,Thank u.
Further assistance please see the mentioned link,
there is a method in the app delegate
- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application
this method is fired when you press the home button.
do the necessary changes(textField resignFirstResponder) in this method and it should work fine i guess.
EDIT here's the code
in the class where you have your textfield create a method
-(void)performWhenHomeBtnprssed
{
[MytextField resignFirstResponder];
}
then in
- (void)applicationDidEnterBackground:(UIApplication *)application
{
[myClassObj performWhenHomeBtnprssed];
}
also i agree with #valexa you should find the root cause of the problem
In software development it is always better to address the root causes than to patch the effect, in your case there are problems with the positioning of your views and you should address that, foreground/background cycling should not affect the views positioning.

App stuck on runModalForWindow

I'm trying to display a modal dialog on top of my app but it's blocking my main app window when it closes. Here's my code:
TutorialWindowController* pTutorialController = [[TutorialWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:#"TutorialWindow"];
NSWindow* pTutorialWindow = [pTutorialController window];
DDLogInfo(#"Tutorial window opening...");
[NSApp runModalForWindow: pTutorialWindow];
DDLogInfo(#"Tutorial window closed!"); // CODE NEVER GETS HERE
[NSApp endSheet: pTutorialWindow];
[pTutorialWindow orderOut: self];
In the modal dialog, my Close button runs this:
- (IBAction)closeButtonPressed:(id)sender {
[NSApp stopModal];
}
The modal dialog displays fine. However, when I click the Close button, the dialog disappears and my app's main window isn't responsive. I hear the bonk every time I try clicking. I'm pretty sure this is because the code never continues after runModalForWindow. Same thing happens if I close the modal dialo using the red X.
What am I doing wrong?
After ordering out the tutorial window, try doing a
[window makeKeyAndOrderFront:self];
on your main window.
You should call [pTutorialWindow orderOut:nil] first.
Not sure about the closeButtonPressed handler. But try adding to the delegate:
- (void) windowWillClose:(NSNotification *)notification
{
// ...
// In there, you should verify that you are calling:
[NSApp stopModal]
}
Adding the stopModal call solved the issue for me.
Verify that the Window delegate in the Interface Editor's Connection Inspector is connected to the File's Owner.
I had several modal dialogues working correctly except for one, and the missing connection was the only difference. Making the connection fixed the problem.

How do I run modals windows from code with cocoa?

I`m trying to run a window as modal directly from the code.
My program starts and a main NSWindows is showed.A thread still running to see if the user has a valid distribution. if he doesn't I need to run a modal.I mean, I have no buttons clicked in the interface.I've designed a NSWindow on the interface builder for a password set, and I want to call it only when my validation is not successful.
I have tested and realized that these methods which are responsible for modal windows running only work in a IBAction environment.
//This doesn't work
-(void) showPasswordWindow
{
[NSApp runModalForWindow:[self window]];
}
//this works But its not useful for me =(
- (IBAction) passwordWindowButton:(id)sender
{
[NSApp runModalForWindow:[self window]];
}
Please, help this newbie =)
One thing to check: are you calling the method on the main thread?
to check, add this to showPasswordWindow
NSLog(#"Main thread? %d", [NSThread isMainThread]);