Question

I’ve been learning about when to use WindowController and when to put stuff in the Document object. Looks like Document can work fine as a Controller if you have a simple interface. I have a simple interface in my application, but is it a good practice to put IB outlets into WC anyway? What would be a scenario when you would NOT want to use a WC?

Answer 1

Here are some scenarios:

1. A document object you intend to use with multiple windows (as commenter noted above) or having different views
2. A document object you could potentially open and process without displaying a window at all
3. An application with so much controller code that it’s difficult to manage with a single class

During window initialization, the the document will instantiate the window controller.

After that happens, part of the point of separating the model controller and view controller is removing the document’s dependency on the window.

As you refine your design, take a look at places where the document needs access to the window, and consider whether you can implement that functionality a different way, for example, by handling it in the window controller instead of the document.