macOS Drawing on the title bar

[titaniumdecoy]

Hi all,

I need to get rid of the line which separates a window's title bar from its contents. A textured window would be perfect for this task, except that its bottom corners are rounded, which is unacceptable for my purposes. So, is there any way to draw over a window's title bar? NSWindow has no -drawRect: method to override, so--how is this possible?

Thanks.

 

[unknown.exe]

Well, what are you using to make your interface? Are you using the one that came with Xcode? Reply and I can help...

 

[titaniumdecoy]

Thanks, unknown.exe. I'm using Interface Builder on Leopard, if that's what you mean.

 

[kainjow]

Do a search for StyledWindow. It's an NSWindow subclass that gives windows the unified appearance for Tiger that Leopard now uses natively. You could use the method that it uses.

 

[titaniumdecoy]

@kainjow: Thanks for the suggestion, but! StyledWindow has the rounded corners which I hate.

 

[antibact1]

A function has been added for this in the WebKit Libraries:

void WKNSWindowMakeBottomCornersSquare(NSWindow *);

Unfortunately, its part of the closed source libWebKitSystemInterfaceLeopard.a. Good to know it is possible though.

 

[antibact1]

Alright, here is the solution! NSWindow has a private method

-setBottomCornerRounded

You can use a textured window and insert this code in the appropriate place (likely awakeFromNib)

if ([window respondsToSelector:@selector(setBottomCornerRounded:)])
		[window setBottomCornerRounded:NO];

 

[titaniumdecoy]

Holy crap! Thanks man, I didn't think this would be possible.

 

[kainjow]

I would not use private methods. If you want full control over your window's appearance, I'd subclass NSWindow, set the style mask to NSBorderlessWindowMask, and then put all your drawing in the window's content view.

 

[Eraserhead]

I would not use private methods.

If it doesn't respond to the selector nothing happens, so what could actually go wrong (apart from having rounded edges to the window).

 

[antibact1]

I wouldn't worry about using that method. The WebKit Library I previously mentioned is making use of it, so it is likely to remain around for a while.

 

[titaniumdecoy]

I would not use private methods. If you want full control over your window's appearance, I'd subclass NSWindow, set the style mask to NSBorderlessWindowMask, and then put all your drawing in the window's content view.

Well, if I did that I would have to recreate the title bar and the resizer, which would not be much fun at all.

Also, since the method is accessible in an NSWindow subclass, wouldn't that make it protected rather than private?

 

[Sijmen]

Well, if I did that I would have to recreate the title bar and the resizer, which would not be much fun at all.

Also, since the method is accessible in an NSWindow subclass, wouldn't that make it protected rather than private?

Technically speaking, there aren't any private methods. Either the object responds to the selector, or it does not. The method here is just not being publicized, and not officially supported. It might disappear or start doing something completely different without any warning.

 

[swearbymac07]

Drawing over Title Bar...

Do a search for Matt Gemmell, and download RoundedFloatingPanel. In the source folder is a .h file called Transparent Window which makes the entire window transparent and removes the title bar. All you need to do is create your own controls (Close, Minimize, Zoom) if u are using Tiger, otherwise they should still be there in Leopard. This allows you to create Modal-like windows in Cocoa.

 

[titaniumdecoy]

All you need to do is create your own controls (Close, Minimize, Zoom)

Although that would be possible I believe it would be more likely to break than simply calling the setBottomCornerRounded: method. And I don't feel much like building a title bar from scratch. But thanks for the suggestion.