How to show a sheet from a separate NIB

Question

How to place a window in a separate NIB, provide its own NSWindowController, make it slide in the form of a sheet?

(Is this a typical thing that is related to sheets?)

I am trying to show a custom sheet (a window that slides down from the title bar of the parent window) from my main window. I think I'm trying to make it standard, but I cannot find clear examples or explanations of how to do what I want.

What I'm trying to do:

• My application delegate has a main window in which there is a button to open the settings sheet.
• Settings sheet:
  • located in a separate NIB.
  • has the owner of the file installed in the SettingsWindowController class, which is a subclass of NSWindowsController
• When the user clicks "settings", I try to use Apple [sample code] [1]

- (void)showCustomSheet: (NSWindow *)window // User has asked to see the custom display. Display it. { if (!settingsSheet) //Check the settingsSheet instance variable to make sure the custom sheet does not already exist. [NSBundle loadNibNamed:@"SettingsSheet" owner: self]; //BUT HOW DOES THIS MAKE settingsSheet NOT nil? [NSApp beginSheet: settingsSheet modalForWindow: window modalDelegate: self didEndSelector: @selector(didEndSheet:returnCode:contextInfo:) contextInfo: nil]; // Sheet is up here. // Return processing to the event loop } 

Please excuse the following simplified and numerous questions:

• When I call loadNibName:owner: I don’t want the owner be self , because it makes my application delegate the owner to “MyCustomSheet” - that what my SettingsWindowsController should be for, However, I don’t know how to make SettingsWindowsController owner in this method.
• If “Visible at startup” is marked on my sheet, then loadNibName:owner: immediately displays the window as a regular window, and not as a sheet that leaves the main window.
• If my sheet does not display "Visible at launch", then beginSheet:modalForWindow:etc calls "Modal session requires a modal window." I am sure this happened because I made the owner of Nib self (as already mentioned).
• In the code example, I don’t know how the Nib named @ "SettingsSheet" is associated with the settingsSheet instance variable - but they are apparently related because the code is checked first: if (!settingsSheet) (I've noted this with a comment //BUT HOW DOES THIS MAKE settingsSheet NOT nil? )

Thank you for your patience in reading all of this!

Answer 1

• Create an instance of SettingsWindowController , use initWithWindowNibName:

• You do not want this to be visible at startup.

• See 1.

• Your instance variables will be available for SettingsWindowController