What is the best way to create a stop motion button, for example in a Safari download window?

Question

The Apple Human Interface Guide says:

In the Downloads window, Safari uses the stand-alone NSImageNameStopProgressFreestandingTemplate image, which is built into the progress indicator so that users can stop the current download.

_{(source: apple.com )}

The NSImage documentation says something similar. However, creating an NSButton using NSImageNameStopProgressFreestandingTemplate and NSShadowlessSquareBezelStyle results in something like this:

Unfortunately, this button does not match the Stop Execution buttons for Mac OS X embedded applications:

1. It is much darker than the buttons in Finder and Safari, and slightly darker than the button in iCal.
2. It does not change color on hover / hover like buttons in Finder, Safari and iCal.

Are you missing the NSButton setting that NSButton system image look “correct”?

If this fails, is it better to use the NSImageNameStopProgressFreestandingTemplate and look "wrong", or write a subclass of the button and link some TIFF files, which is what most applications (including Apple) seem to do?

Answer 1

The official answer on Mac OS X 10.7 is to use NSImageNameStopProgressFreestandingTemplate and NSInlineBezelStyle . The documentation says:

The linear style of the frame contains a solid rectangular border background. It can be used to create an “unread” indicator in the form of a contour or another built-in button in the form of a table, for example, a stop button on the download panel.

This creates a button that is slightly darker than Safari, but not as dark as other border styles. It does not change color on hover, but perhaps Apple is gradually abandoning it.

Answer 2

The docs on [NSImage setTemplate:] offer a different alpha to determine how dark it is. However, I'm not sure how to do this when you are not drawing the image directly. I see no better way than writing my own subclass of NSButton or, possibly, NSButtonCell.