Home/ Questions/Q 257629
In Process

The Archive Base Latest Questions

Editorial Team
  • 0
Asked: 2026-05-11T22:06:47+00:00

When writing Cocoa apps, I do the majority of the user interface layout programmatically.

  • 0

When writing Cocoa apps, I do the majority of the user interface layout programmatically. For example:

NSRect popUpFrame = NSMakeRect(10, 10, 100, kDefaultPopUpButtonHeight);
NSPopUpButton * popUp = [[NSPopUpButton alloc] initWithFrame:popUpFrame];
//...

My question is about that kDefaultPopUpButtonHeight constant. I currently maintain a source file full of such constants, and I fill in the proper sizes manually. I am able to determine the correct sizes by dropping a new control into a blank view in Interface Builder and then checking its properties to see what size IB gives it.

There must be a better way. Is it possible to access these values at runtime? Ideally, I would expect every NSControl to have a class method something like: +(NSSize)defaultSize, or, for controls like NSButton that have different default sizes depending on the particular button style used, something like +(NSSize)defaultSizeForButtonStyle:(NSButtonStyle)buttonStyle.

Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines has information about control layout and the spacing between controls, but it doesn’t say anything about the proper sizes for individual controls.

Share

Leave an answer

You must login to add an answer.

Need An Account,

1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    I agree with Peter, and would recomend that you use Interface Builder. But if that isn’t appropriate in your situation, here’s one way to find the best size for most controls:

    NSSize idealSize = [[control cell] cellSize];

    If you need more control over the sizing, you can use the -[NSCell cellSizeForBounds:] method.

    Also, cellSize really gives you the minimum size for a control, not necessarily the best size. For example, for a Cocoa aqua style push button with the text “OK”, it would return a width that more narrow than the HIG would recommend. For your purposes, it sounds like you’re only interested in the fixed hight portion of the size. -[NSCell cellSize] should work great.

    • 0