Custom NSTableCellView labels not changing text color when selected

Question

I have a custom NSTableCellView with 3 textfields, 1 that came along and 2 others that i created myself. Here's the problem:

The textfields' text color stays the same even when i click on the row. I've tried to implement a code i found out by googling but it doesn't work. My Custom NSTableCellView code is:

- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)dirtyRect{
    NSColor *color = [NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:(26/255.0) green:(26/255.0) blue:(26/255.0) alpha:1.0];
    [self.textField setTextColor:color];

    color = [NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:(102/255.0) green:(102/255.0) blue:(102/255.0) alpha:1.0];
    [_lbl1 setTextColor:color];
    [_lbl2 setTextColor:color];
}

- (void)setBackgroundStyle:(NSBackgroundStyle)backgroundStyle {
    NSColor *color = (backgroundStyle == NSBackgroundStyleDark) ? [NSColor windowBackgroundColor] : [NSColor controlShadowColor];
    self.textField.textColor = color;
    self.lbl1.textColor = color;
    self.lbl2.textColor = color;
    [super setBackgroundStyle:backgroundStyle];
}

What can i do to make the labels' text color white when the user clicks on them?

Hellbox

where is textfield over their, all are labels right? – Hesitant

yes, that's right. changed the question to avoid misunderstandings – Hellbox

just get the cell in didSelect using cellForRow and set the colors of the labels in the cell.. – Hesitant

create an "Answer this question" with some example code and i'll accept it – Hellbox

i have answered below check out.. – Hesitant

The colors you should be using are [NSColor textColor] and [NSColor selectedTextColor]. Your colors might be unusable with my selection color. – Bludgeon

Answer 1

Actually, overriding setBackgroundStyle on NSTableViewCell has worked perfectly for me, at least on OS X 10.8. It is updated on selection events and on window activation/deactivation.

Here's my custom cell impl — as trivial as it can get:

@implementation RuntimeInstanceCellView

- (void)setBackgroundStyle:(NSBackgroundStyle)backgroundStyle {
    [super setBackgroundStyle:backgroundStyle];
    self.detailTextField.textColor = (backgroundStyle == NSBackgroundStyleLight ? [NSColor darkGrayColor] : [NSColor colorWithCalibratedWhite:0.85 alpha:1.0]);
//    self.detailTextField.textColor = (backgroundStyle == NSBackgroundStyleLight ? [NSColor blackColor] : [NSColor whiteColor]);
}

@end

Agreeable

Why do you call super:setBackgroundStyle ? – Obaza

@DantheMan: First, because it's the right (i.e. the default) thing to do unless you have a reason not to. Second, it sets the text color of the default text field, and probably sets the background color as well. – Agreeable

This doesn't work in Swift 1.2 because of this: #28719077 – Matelote

@SeanMoubry Can't test with Swift 1.2, but in current Swift 2.2 it works: override var backgroundStyle: NSBackgroundStyle { get { return super.backgroundStyle } set { super.backgroundStyle = newValue } } – Lindi

@LarsBlumberg As another answer states, the correct thing to do in cases like this is to use didSet. – Agreeable

I agree, didSet is more straight forward. Using set and get is however not incorrect, it can also be considered correct. – Lindi

Answer 2

Expanding on the accepted answer, in Swift 2.0 the process is slightly different. Override the backgroundStyle property of your NSTableCellView subclass to add a didSet property observer:

class CustomTableCellView: NSTableCellView {

    @IBOutlet weak var detailTextField: NSTextField!

    override var backgroundStyle: NSBackgroundStyle {
        didSet {
            if self.backgroundStyle == .Light {
                self.detailTextField.textColor = NSColor.controlTextColor()
            } else if self.backgroundStyle == .Dark {
                self.detailTextField.textColor = NSColor.alternateSelectedControlTextColor()
            }
        }
    }

}

Cainozoic

tanks so mutch! – Proud

Answer 3

And for Swift 3 & 4 (isn’t this fun?):

override var backgroundStyle: NSView.BackgroundStyle {
    didSet {
        if self.backgroundStyle == .light {
            self.detailTextField.textColor = NSColor.controlTextColor
        } else if self.backgroundStyle == .dark {
            self.detailTextField.textColor = NSColor.alternateSelectedControlTextColor
        }
    }
}

Bobbie

Answer 4

In your tableViewSelectionDidChange get the cell using

UITableViewCell* cell = [tableView cellForRowAtIndexPath:indexPath]; //replace UITableViewCell with your customCell class name if it other
//now as u got the instance of your cell u can modify the labels in it, like
cell.lable1.textColor = [UIColor whiteColor];

This will work for you.

You may get problem when you select other cell again after this, at that time previous cell may have still white colored labels. If this causes problems to you just have a NSIndexPath instance in your header class which represents previous selected indexPath, using this you can set back to default colors after selecting a new cell.

Hesitant

btw, change the didSelectRowForIndexPath to tableViewSelectionDidChange. there's no didSelectRowForIndexPath for NSTableView. – Hellbox

Funny how a answer with UIKit code has been marked as correct although the question was about OS X/AppKit... – Parquetry