Each NSTableColumn object is identified by an object,
called the column identifier. The reason is that,
after a column has been added to a table view, the user
might move the columns around, so there is a need to
identify the columns regardless of their position in
the table.
The identifier is typically a string describing the
column. This identifier object is never displayed to
the user ! It is only used internally by the program to
identify the column - so yes, you may use a funny
string for it and nobody will know, except people
reading the code.
An NSTableColumn object mainly keeps information about the
width of the column, its minimum and maximum width;
whether the column can be edited or resized; and the
cells used to draw the column header and the data in
the column. You can change all these attributes of the
column by calling the appropriate methods. Please note
that the table column does not hold nor has access to
the data to be displayed in the column; this data is
maintained in the table view's data source, as
described in the NSTableView documentation. A last
hint: to set the title of a table column, ask the table
column for its header cell, and set the string value
of this header cell to the desired title.
Initialize the column. anObject is an
object used to identify the column; it is usually a
string, but might be any kind of object.
anObject is retained.
Return whether the column is invisible or not. When
the column is hidden, it remains present in the column
array returned by -[NSTableView tableColumns].
Set the cell used to display data in the column.
aCell can't be nil, otherwise
a warning will be generated and the method ignored. The
old cell is released, the new one is retained. If you
want to change the attributes in which a single row in
a column is displayed, you should better use a delegate
for your NSTableView implementing
tableView:willDisplayCell:forTableColumn:row:.
Set the cell used to display the column header.
aCell can't be nil, otherwise
a warning will be generated and the method call ignored.
The old cell is released, the new one is retained.
Set the max width of the table column, eventually
adjusting the width of the column if it is bigger
than the new max width. In no way a table column can
be made bigger than its max width.
Set the min width of the table column, eventually
adjusting the width of the column if it is
smaller than the new min width. In no way a table
column can be made smaller than its min width.
Set whether the user can resize the table column by
dragging the border of its header with the mouse.
The table column can be resized programmatically
regardless of this setting.
Return the sort descriptor bound to the column. This
sort descriptor will be added to -[NSTableView
sortDescriptors] when you bind a column to
another object and
NSCreateSortDescriptorBindingOption
is set to YES.
Set the table view corresponding to this table column.
This method is invoked internally by the table view,
and you should not call it directly; it is exposed
because you may want to override it in subclasses.
To use the table column in a table view, you should use
NSTableView's addTableColumn: instead.
Set the width of the table column. Before being
resized, the new width is constrained to the table
column minimum and maximum width: if
newWidth is smaller than the table
column's min width, the table column is simply
resized to its min width. If newWidth is
bigger than the table column's max width, the table
column is simply resized to its max width.
Otherwise, it is resized to newWidth.
If the width of the table was actually changed, the
table view (if any) is redisplayed (by calling tile),
and the NSTableViewColumnDidResizeNotification is
posted on behalf of the table view.
Change the width of the column to be just enough to
display its header; change the minimum width and
maximum width to allow the column to have this
width (if the minimum width is bigger than the column
header width, it is reduced to it; if the maximum
width is smaller than the column header width, it is
increased to it).
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the
name of this instance variable indicates that, even
though it is not technically private, it is
intended for internal use within the package, and
you should not use the variable in other code.