755 lines
27 KiB
Markdown
755 lines
27 KiB
Markdown
# NSWrap
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Create Go language bindings for Objective-C.
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Using NSWrap, you can work with MacOS interfaces, subclasses,
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library functions, protocols and delegates entirely in Go.
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# Getting Started
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## Installation
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NSWrap runs on MacOS and requires `clang` (from the XCode command line
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tools) and the MacOS system header files.
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```sh
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go get git.wow.st/gmp/nswrap
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```
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The `nswrap` command line tool should now be installed in your `go/bin` path.
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Since NSWrap uses `clang` to generate an AST from Objective-C input files, you
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will need to install XCode and its associated command line tools. Enter
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`clang --version` from your terminal prompt to see if you have it installed.
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You will also need the Objective-C header files for the
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various frameworks you want to use. Look for them in
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`/System/Library/Frameworks/*/Headers`.
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## Try Out An Example
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NSWrap is designed to be easy to use. To get started with an example, visit
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your Go source directory in a terminal and enter:
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```sh
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cd git.wow.st/gmp/nswrap/examples/app
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go generate
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go build
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./app
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```
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# Basic Usage
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## YAML configuration file
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NSWrap takes no command line arguments. All configuration directives are
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included in a file named `nswrap.yaml`, which must be found in the directory
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from which NSWrap is invoked.
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```yaml
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# nswrap.yaml example
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package: MyWrapper
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inputfiles:
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- /System/Library/Frameworks/Foundation.framework/Headers/Foundation.h
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classes:
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- NSString
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- NSArray
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frameworks: [ Foundation ]
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pragma [ clang diagnostic ignored "-Wformat-security" ]
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```
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Regular expressions are permitted in the names of classes, functions,
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protocols and protocol methods, overridden superclass methods, and enums.
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When invoked, NSWrap creates a subdirectory with the name of the package
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as specified in `nswrap.yaml` or, by default, `ns` if a package name is not
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specified.
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In the output directory, a `main.go` file and, if required, `exports.go`,
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will be created or overwritten.
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To automatically invoke NSWrap, put a `//go:generate nswrap` comment at the
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top of your go source file and use `go generate` to create your Objective-C
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bindings.
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NSWrap will look for Objective-C header files where directed under
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`inputfiles` in your configuration file. CGo will also automatically
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compile and link any Objective-C implementation (`.m`) files found in
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this output directory, so put them in there if you are going to be
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hand-crafting any Objective-C implementations that need to go in the same
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package as your automatically generated bindings.
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## Class and Instance Methods
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NSWrap will create bindings for all classes identified in the `classes`
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directive of the configuration file. All of the class and instance methods
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are bound to Go and all types identified in the process are wrapped
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in Go types (as described below), except for methods that contain unsupported
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return types or paramater types such as blocks and function pointers.
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```go
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s1 := ns.NSStringAlloc() // allocate an instance of NSString
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s2 := ns.NSStringWithSting(s1) // call a class method of NSString
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class := ns.NSStringClass() // class method returning the class of NSString
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fmt.Println(s2.UTF8String()) // call UTF8String, an NSString instance method
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```
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As seen above, generated class methods will have the same name as their
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Objective-C method name, converted to the Go TitleCase convention, prefixed
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with the class name, and, if necessary, disambiguated for overloaded
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Objective-C methods. Any redundant initial
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characters are elided (e.g. the Objective-C
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`[NSString stringWithString:aString]` is shortened in Go to
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`ns.NSStringWithString(aString)`). Instance methods are converted to
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TitleCase and disambiguated for method overloading as described below.
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Note that while return types and parameter types needed for the binding will
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be defined and wrapped for you in Go types,
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you will not get any of their methods
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unless those types also appear in your NSWrap configuration file.
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For example, the `[NSDictionary WithObjects: forKeys:]` constructor takes two
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`NSArray` parameters, so if you want to use it from Go you will probably want
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to have `NSArray` in your configuration file in addition to `NSDictionary`.
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## Overloaded Methods
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Because Go does not allow overloaded functions, NSWrap automatically
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disambiguates overloaded method names as required.
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This is done by successively adding parameter names onto the end of the Go
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function name until a unique name is created.
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For example, `NSString` provides the folowing `compare` methods:
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```objective-c
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- compare:
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- compare:options:
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- compare:options:range:
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- compare:options:range:locale:
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```
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These are translated into Go as:
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```go
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func (o NSString) Compare(string NSString) NSComparisonResult { }
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func (o NSString) CompareOptions(string NSString, mask NSStringCompareOptions) NSComparisonResult { }
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func (o NSString) CompareOptionsRange(string NSString, mask NSStringCompareOptions,
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rangeOfReceiverToCompare NSRange) NSComparisonResult { }
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func (o NSString) CompareOptionsRangeLocale(string NSString, mask NSStringCompareOptions,
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rangeOfReceiverToCompare NSRange, locale NSObject) NSComparisonResult { }
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```
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## NSString Helpers
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When NSWrap sees a class or instance method ending in `...WithString` (taking
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an Objective-C `NSString` as a parameter), it will automatically create an
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additional helper method ending in `WithGoString` that takes a Go string.
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```go
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str := ns.NSStringWithGoString("** your string goes here **")
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fmt.Printf("%s\n",str)
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```
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NSWrap creates a `Char` Go type that is equivalent to a C `char`. A pointer to
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`Char` in Go code can therefore be used with Objective-C functions and methods
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that take a `char*` parameter.
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NSWrap provides the helper functions `CharWithGoString` and `CharWithBytes`
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that take, respectively, Go strings and Go byte arrays (`[]byte`) and return
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`*Char` in Go. As demonstrated above, NSWrap also provides a `String()`
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methods so that the `*Char` and `NSString` types implement the `Stringer`
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Go interface.
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## Working With NSObject and its Descendants
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Objective-C objects are represented in Go by a type and an interface as
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follows:
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```go
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type Id struct {
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ptr unsafe.Pointer
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}
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func (o Id) Ptr() unsafe.Pointer { return o.ptr }
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type NSObject interface {
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Ptr() unsafe.Pointer
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}
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```
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Other object types in Go are structs that directly or indirectly embed `Id`
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and therefore implement `NSObject`.
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* The NSObject Interface
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The `Id` type in Go represents the Objective-C type `id`, which is a pointer
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to an Objective-C object. Because `cgo` does not understand this type,
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NSWrap will always translate it to a `void*` on the C side.
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The `NSObject` interface in Go allows any type that directly or indirectly
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embeds `Id` to be used with generic Objective-C functions. For example:
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```go
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o1 := ns.NSStringWithGoString("my string")
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s1 := ns.NSSetWithOBjects(o1)
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a := ns.NSMutableArrayWithObjects(o1,s1)
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```
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Since `NSString` and `NSSet` in Go both implement the `NSObject` interface,
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they can both be used as parameters to the `NSMutableArray` constructor.
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This will help you, too, when working with delegates
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(see below). Classes that accept delegates will generally accept any
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`NSObject` in their `initWithDelegate()` or `setDelegate()` methods, and
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may or may not test at runtime if the provided object actually
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implements the required delegate protocol.
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* Inheritance
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Objective-C only provides single inheritance. In Go, this is modeled using
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embedding. Top level objects that inherit from `NSObject` in Objective-C
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embed the Go type `Id` and therefore implement the `NSObject` Go interface.
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Other objects embed their superclass. For example:
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```go
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type NSArray struct { Id }
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func (o NSArray) Ptr() unsafe.Pointer { return o.ptr }
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func (o Id) NSArray() NSArray {
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ret := NSArray{}
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ret.ptr = o.ptr
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return ret
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}
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type NSMutableArray struct { NSArray }
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func (o NSMutableArray) Ptr() unsafe.Pointer { return o.ptr }
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func (o Id) NSMutableArray() NSMutableArray {...}
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```
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Observe:
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```go
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b := ns.NSButtonAlloc() // NSButton > NSControl > NSView > NSResponder > NSObject
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b.InitWithFrame(ns.NSMakeRect(100,100,200,200)) // Method of NSView
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b.SetTitle(nst("PUSH")) // Method of NSButton
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vw := win.ContentView()
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vw.AddSubview(b.NSView) // Pass the button's embedded NSView
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```
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In Go, `NSButtonAlloc` returns a Go object of type `ns.NSButton`. However,
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there is no `InitWithFrame` method for receivers of this type. This is
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not necessary because `NSButton` embeds `NSControl` which in turn embeds
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`NSView`. The `InitWithFrame` method only needs to be implemented for `NSView`
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receivers. Go will automatically find the indirectly embedded `NSView` and
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call the right method.
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Note that, since `InitWithFrame()` is defined only for `NSView` and returns
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an `NSView` type,
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the following will not work. Look out for this if you like to chain your
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`Alloc` and `Init` methods and are getting type errors:
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```go
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//DO NOT DO THIS -- InitWithFrame returns NSView, not NSButton
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b := ns.NSButtonAlloc().InitWithFrame(ns.MakeRect(100,100,200,200))
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```
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Go has no trouble finding embedded methods for your `NSButton` and will
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happily search up the chain through `NSControl`, `NSView`, `NSResponder` and
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`NSObject` and all of their associated protocols and categories. As of this
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writing, on MacOS 10.13.6, NSWrap binds 90 instance methods for `NSObject`,
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so things like `Hash()`, `IsEqualTo()`, `ClassName()`, `RespondsToSelector`
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and many many others are available and can be called on any object directly
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from Go.
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Go does not perform the same type
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magic when you use variables as function or method parameters.
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If you want to pass your `NSButton` as a parameter to a method that accepts
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an `NSView` type, you need to explicitly pass the embedded `NSView`
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(`b.NSView` in the example above).
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NSWrap creates a method for `Id` allowing objects to be converted
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at run-time to any other class. You will need this for Enumerators, which
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always return `Id`. See below under Enumerators for an example, but make
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sure you know (or test) what type your objects are before converting them.
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You can
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implement a somewhat less convenient version of a Go type switch this way.
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Because `Id` can be converted to any type, and every object in the Foundation
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classes inherits from `Id`, it is possible to send any message to any
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object, if you are feeling lucky. If you are not lucky you will get an
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exception from the Objective-C runtime. You are going to have to explicitly
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convert your object to the wrong type before the compiler will let you do this.
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```go
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a := ns.NSArrayWithObjects(o1,o2) // NSArray embeds Id
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fmt.Println(a.NSString().UTF8String()) // DON'T!
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// | | \-method of NSString, returns *Char, a "Stringer"
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// | \-method of Id returning NSString
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// \-calls "String()" on its parameters
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```
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The above code will compile, but you will get an exception at runtime:
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```sh
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*** Terminating app due to uncaught exception 'NSInvalidArgumentException', reason:
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'-[__NSArrayM UTF8String]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x4608940'
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```
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## Variadic Functions
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As seen above with the `NSMutableArrayWithObjects()` constructor example,
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NSWrap supports variadic
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functions. Because of the limitations of `cgo`, there is a numerical limit
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to the number of parameters in a variadic function call, which defaults to
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16 but can be set with the `vaargs` configuration directive. NSWrap will
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automatically include a `nil` sentinel when calling any Objective-C
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methods with variadic parameter lists. The direct types `va_list` and
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`va_list_tag` are not currently supported.
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## Pointers to Pointers
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When NSWrap encounters a pointer to a pointer to an Objective-C object, it
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treats it as an array of objects and translates it into a pointer to a
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Go slice. If you are passing empty slices into these functions, be sure to
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pre-allocate them to a sufficient capacity. Ssee below for an
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example. These Go slices can be used for input and output of methods and
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functions.
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Pointers to pointers are sometimes passed to Objective-C methods or functions
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as a way of receiving output from those functions, especially because
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Objective-C does not allow for multiple return values. In those cases, after
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the CGo call, the method parameter will be treated as a nil-terminated array of
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object pointers that may have been modified by the Objective-C function or
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method. NSWrap will copy the object pointers back into the input Go slice, up
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to its capacity (which will never be changed). The input Go slice is then
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truncated to the appropriate length.
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An example in Core Foundation is the `getObjects:andKeys:count` method for
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`NSDictionary`:
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```go
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nst := ns.NSStringWithGoString
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dict := ns.NSDictionaryWithObjectsForKeys(
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ns.NSArrayWithObjects(nst("obj1"),nst("obj2")),
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ns.NSArrayWithObjects(nst("key1"),nst("key2")),
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)
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os,ks := make([]ns.Id,0,5), make([]ns.Id,0,5) // length 0, capacity 5 slices
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dict.GetObjects(&os,&ks,5)
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// last parameter is the count, must be less than or equal to the input slice capacity
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fmt.Printf("Length of os is now %d\n",len(os)) // os and ks slices are now length = 2
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for i,k := range ks {
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fmt.Printf("-- %s -> %s\n",k.NSString(),os[i].NSString())
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}
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```
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NSWrap will never check the "count" parameter, so the user will always need
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to make sure it is less than or equal to the capacity of the input
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Go slices.
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Using pointers to pointers is necessary in many Core Foundation situations
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where you need to get an error message out of a function or method.
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Here is an example using `[NSString stringWithContentsOfURL...]`:
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```go
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err := make([]ns.NSError,1)
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n1 = ns.NSStringWithContentsOfURLEncoding(ns.NSURLWithGoString("htttypo://example.com"),0,&err)
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fmt.Printf("err: %s\n",err[0].LocalizedDescription())
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//err: The file couldn’t be opened because URL type htttypo isn’t supported.
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```
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## Selectors
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You can specify selectors using a Go string. The `Selector()` function
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returns a Go type `SEL` which corresponds to a pointer to
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`struct objc_selector` in C.
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Among other things, this lets you set actions on `NSControls` and `NSMenuItems`:
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```go
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appMenu.AddItemWithTitle(
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ns.NSStringWithGoString("Quit"),
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ns.Selector("terminate:"),
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ns.NSStringWithGoString("q"))
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```
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## Enumerators
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NSWrap provides a `ForIn` method for the `NSEnumerator` type. Call it with a
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`func(ns.Id) bool` parameter that returns `true` to continue and `false` to
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stop the enumeration.
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```go
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a := ns.NSArrayWithObjects(o1,o2,o3)
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a.ObjectEnumerator().ForIn(func (o ns.Id) bool {
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switch {
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case o.IsKindOfClass(ns.NSStringClass()):
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fmt.Println(o.NSString().UTF8String())
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return true // continue enumeration
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default:
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fmt.Println("Unknown class")
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return false // terminate enumeration
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}
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})
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```
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As seen above, you can do the usual Objective-C thing for runtime type
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identification.
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## Enum Definitions
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NSWrap translates C `enum` values into Go constants. The enums you need are
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specified in `nswrap.yaml` by regular expression, which, in the case of named
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enums, must match the name of the `enum` itself, or in the case of anonymous
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enums, must match the name of the constant(s) you are looking for as declared
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within the `enum`.
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The generated constants receive Go types associated with their underlying C
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types, which are automatically declared by NSWrap as needed.
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The following configuration:
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```yaml
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# nswrap.yaml
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inputfiles: [/System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Headers/AppKit.h]
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enums:
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- _CLOCK.* # match constants in an anonymous enum
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- NSWindowOrdering.* # match a named enum
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```
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results in:
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```go
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//ns/main.go
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...
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type NSWindowOrderingMode C.enum_NSWindowOrderingMode
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const NSWindowAbove NSWindowOrderingMode = C.NSWindowAbove
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const NSWindowBelow NSWindowOrderingMode = C.NSWindowBelow
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const NSWindowOut NSWindowOrderingMode = C.NSWindowOut
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const _CLOCK_REALTIME = C._CLOCK_REALTIME
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const _CLOCK_MONOTONIC = C._CLOCK_MONOTONIC
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const _CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW = C._CLOCK_MONOTONIC_RAW
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...
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```
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## Memory management
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Objective-C objects are always allocated and returned from CGo code, and
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therefore these pointers are not garbage collected by Go. You can use any
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of the standard Objective-C memory management techniques for those pointers,
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which seem to work but have not been extensively tested.
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Since everything inherits methods from `NSObject`, you can call `Retain()`,
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`Release()` and `Autorelease()` on any object.
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If the autorelease configuration directive is set to "true", all allocation functions
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created by NSWrap (i.e. those ending in `Alloc`) will call `autorelease` before they
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return an object. Alternately, objects can be manually sent an autorelease message.
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If you are not working in an environment (such as an
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Application Delegate callback) that provides an autorelease pool, you can
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create your own:
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* Work directly with `NSAutoreleasePool` objects
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```go
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swamp := ns.NSAutoreleasePoolAlloc().Init()
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del := ns.AppDelegateAlloc()
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//del.Autorelease() // if autorelease: true is not set in nswrap.yaml
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menu := ns.NSMenuAlloc().InitWithTitle(nst("Main"))
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//menu.Autorelease()
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str := ns.NSStringWithGoString("these objects will be automatically deallocated when swamp is drained.")
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...
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swamp.Drain()
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```
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* ...or use the `AutoreleasePool()` helper function
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NSWrap provides a helper function that can be passed a `func()` with no
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parameters or return value. It is conventient to give it an anonymous function
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and write your code in line, just like you would if you were using an
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`@autoreleasepool { }` block.
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```go
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ns.AutoreleasePool(func() {
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a := MyObjectAlloc().Init()
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b := MyOtherObjectAlloc().Init()
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...
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})
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```
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You will need to make sure `NSAutoreleasePool` is included in the `classes`
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directive in your configuration file before working with
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`NSAutoreleasePool` objects or the `AutoreleasePool` helper function.
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* Pitfalls
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Go concurrency does not play well with Objective-C memory management. In particular,
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an AutoreleasePool needs to be allocated and drained from the same thread, and
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only objects allocated within that thread will be drained. Objects allocated and
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autoreleased from a different goroutine in the same thread are at risk of being
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prematurely drained. Therefore, you should only work with one AutoreleasePool at
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a time, and only within a thread that is locked to the OS thread
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(by calling `runtime.LockOSThread()`). If you will be allocating Objective-C objects
|
||
from multiple goroutines, it is best not to use the `autorelease: true` directive
|
||
as that will cause all objects to receive an `autorelease` message even if they are
|
||
created outside the thread where are using your autorelease pool.
|
||
See `examples/memory` for some basic tests and read the comments to larn what to avoid.
|
||
|
||
## Delegates
|
||
|
||
The `delegates` directive in `nswrap.yaml` creates a new Objective-C
|
||
class and associated Go wrapper functions. For example, the following
|
||
configuration file creates a class called `CBDelegate` that implements
|
||
the `CBCentralManagerDelegate` and `CBPeripheralDelegate`
|
||
protocols from Core Bluetooth, along with the Go code you need to allocate
|
||
and use instances of the new class.
|
||
|
||
```yaml
|
||
# nswrap.yaml
|
||
inputfiles:
|
||
- /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreBluetooth.framework/Headers/CoreBluetooth.h
|
||
|
||
classes:
|
||
- CBCentralManager
|
||
|
||
delegates:
|
||
CBDelegate: # a name for your delegate class
|
||
CBCentralManagerDelegate: # a protocol to implement
|
||
- centralManagerDidUpdateState # messages you want to respond to
|
||
- centralManagerDidDiscoverPeripheral
|
||
- centralManagerDidConnectPeripheral
|
||
CBPeripheralDelegate: # another protocol to implement
|
||
- peripheralDidDiscoverServices
|
||
- peripheralDidDiscoverCharacteristicsForService
|
||
- peripheralDidUpdateValueForCharacteristic
|
||
...
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
The generated delegate inherits from `NSObject` and, in its interface
|
||
declaration, is advertised as implementing the protocols specified in
|
||
`nswrap.yaml`.
|
||
|
||
When a delegate is activated and one of the callback methods named in the
|
||
configuration file is called, the delegate will call back into a Go
|
||
function exported by NSWrap. If a user-defined callback function has been
|
||
registered,
|
||
it will be called with all of its parameters converted to their Go type
|
||
equivalents. User-defined callbacks are registered by calling a function
|
||
with the method name in TitleCase + `Callback`, so in the example above,
|
||
you would call `ns.CentralManagerDidUpdateStateCallback(...)` with the name of
|
||
your callback function to register to receive notifications when your central
|
||
manager updates its state.
|
||
|
||
The example in `examples/bluetooth` implements a working Bluetooth Low-Energy
|
||
heart rate monitor entirely in Go.
|
||
|
||
The following Go code instantiates a `CBDelegate` object,
|
||
registers a callback for `centralManagerDidUpdateState`, allocates
|
||
a `CBCentralManager` object, and installs our delegate:
|
||
|
||
```go
|
||
func cb(c ns.CBCentralManager) {
|
||
...
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
func main() {
|
||
...
|
||
del := ns.CBDelegateAlloc()
|
||
del.CentralManagerDidUpdateStateCallback(cb)
|
||
cm := ns.CBCentralManagerAlloc().InitWithDelegateQueue(del,queue)
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
When you provide user-defined callback functions, you will need to specify
|
||
them with exactly the right type,
|
||
matching NSWrap's generated Go wrapper types for the callback function and
|
||
the Go types for all of its parameters. If `go build` fails, the error
|
||
messages will point you in the right direction.
|
||
|
||
```
|
||
$ go build
|
||
./main.go:127:43: cannot use didFinishLaunching (type func(ns.NSNotification, bool)) as type
|
||
func(ns.NSNotification) in argument to del.ApplicationDidFinishLaunchingCallback
|
||
```
|
||
In the above example, the build failed because an extra `bool` parameter was
|
||
included in the callback function. The compiler is telling you that the right
|
||
type for the callback is `func(ns.NSNotification)` with no return value.
|
||
|
||
## Working with AppKit
|
||
|
||
You can wrap the AppKit framework classes and create an `NSApplication`
|
||
Delegate. This allows you to build a Cocoa application entirely in Go.
|
||
|
||
Because AppKit uses thread local storage, you will need to make sure all
|
||
calls into it are done from the main OS thread. This can be a challenge in
|
||
Go even though runtime.LockOSThread() is supposed to provide
|
||
this functionality.
|
||
|
||
This is actually a full working Cocoa application:
|
||
|
||
```yaml
|
||
# nswrap.yaml
|
||
inputfiles:
|
||
- /System/Library/Frameworks/AppKit.framework/Headers/AppKit.h
|
||
|
||
classes:
|
||
- NSApplication
|
||
- NSWindow
|
||
- NSString
|
||
- NSMenu
|
||
|
||
enums:
|
||
- NSApplication.*
|
||
- NSBackingStore.*
|
||
- NSWindowStyleMask.*
|
||
|
||
functions:
|
||
- NSMakeRect
|
||
|
||
delegates:
|
||
AppDelegate:
|
||
NSApplicationDelegate:
|
||
- applicationDidFinishLaunching
|
||
- applicationShouldTerminateAfterLastWindowClosed
|
||
frameworks: [ Foundation, AppKit, CoreGraphics ]
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
```go
|
||
//go:generate nswrap
|
||
package main
|
||
|
||
import (
|
||
"fmt"
|
||
"runtime"
|
||
"git.wow.st/gmp/nswrap/examples/app/ns" // point to your own NSWrap output directory
|
||
)
|
||
|
||
func didFinishLaunching(n ns.NSNotification) {
|
||
fmt.Println("Go: did finish launching!")
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
func shouldTerminate(s ns.NSApplication) ns.BOOL {
|
||
return 1
|
||
}
|
||
|
||
func main() {
|
||
runtime.LockOSThread()
|
||
a := ns.NSApplicationSharedApplication()
|
||
a.SetActivationPolicy(ns.NSApplicationActivationPolicyRegular)
|
||
del := ns.AppDelegateAlloc()
|
||
del.ApplicationDidFinishLaunchingCallback(didFinishLaunching)
|
||
del.ApplicationShouldTerminateAfterLastWindowClosedCallback(shouldTerminate)
|
||
a.SetDelegate(del)
|
||
|
||
win := ns.NSWindowAlloc().InitWithContentRectStyleMask(
|
||
ns.NSMakeRect(200,200,600,600),
|
||
ns.NSWindowStyleMaskTitled | ns.NSWindowStyleMaskClosable,
|
||
ns.NSBackingStoreBuffered,
|
||
0,
|
||
)
|
||
win.SetTitle(ns.NSStringWithGoString("Hi World"))
|
||
win.MakeKeyAndOrderFront(win)
|
||
a.Run()
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Pretty simple right? Not really, NSWrap just generated almost 15,000 lines of
|
||
code. See `examples/app` for a slightly more complex example with working
|
||
menus, visual format-based auto layout, and a custom button class.
|
||
|
||
## Subclasses
|
||
|
||
NSWrap includes functionality to generate subclasses as specified in
|
||
`nswrap.yaml`.
|
||
|
||
You can override existing methods or create new methods with any type
|
||
signature you specify using Objective-C method signature syntax.
|
||
|
||
```yaml
|
||
# nswrap.yaml
|
||
...
|
||
subclasses:
|
||
myClass: # the name of the new class
|
||
yourClass: # the superclass to inherit from
|
||
- init.* # what methods to override
|
||
- -(void)hi_there:(int)x # Objective-C prototype of your new method(s)
|
||
# |--this hyphen indicates that this is an instance method
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
In the example above, your new class will be named `myClass` in Objective-C
|
||
and `MyClass` in Go. It will override any `init` methods found in `yourClass`
|
||
(which must be defined in one of the header files included in the
|
||
`inputfiles` directive of `nswrap.yaml`). In addition, because the second
|
||
entry under `yourClass` starts with a `-`, it will be treated as a new
|
||
instance method definition for `myClass`. The remainder of the line will
|
||
be parsed as an Objective-C method prototype in order to determine the method
|
||
name, its return type, and the names and types of its parameters if any.
|
||
|
||
Since multiple inheritance is not permitted in Objective-C, it is not possible
|
||
to specify more than one superclass in a `subclasses` entry.
|
||
|
||
Go callbacks for overridden methods are passed a special struct
|
||
as their first parameter. This struct is filled with superclass methods, which
|
||
allows you to do things like this:
|
||
|
||
```go
|
||
func methodCallback(super ns.MyClassSupermethods, param NSString) {
|
||
...
|
||
super.Method(param)
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
You can use subclasses to define new AppKit controls with configurable
|
||
callbacks. For example, let's make an `NSButton` that calls back into Go when
|
||
you press it:
|
||
|
||
```yaml
|
||
# nswrap.yaml
|
||
...
|
||
subclasses:
|
||
GButton:
|
||
NSButton:
|
||
- -(void)pressed
|
||
...
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
```go
|
||
func pressed() {
|
||
fmt.Println("Button pressed!")
|
||
}
|
||
...
|
||
func didFinishLaunching(n ns.NSNotification) {
|
||
...
|
||
button := ns.GButtonAlloc()
|
||
button.Init()
|
||
button.PressedCallback(pressed) # register user-defined callback
|
||
button.SetAction(ns.Selector("pressed"))
|
||
button.SetTarget(button)
|
||
button.SetTitle(ns.NSStringWithGoString("PUSH"))
|
||
...
|
||
}
|
||
```
|
||
|
||
Later on you can add your new button to a view and tell Cocoa where to lay
|
||
it out. It's all a little verbose, but that's because for some reason you
|
||
decided to write Objective-C code in Go.
|
||
|
||
# Limitations
|
||
|
||
## Blocks
|
||
|
||
NSWrap does not support methods or functions that take C functions or blocks
|
||
as parameters or return values.
|
||
|
||
# Why?
|
||
|
||
Um, I was trying to make a nice modern Go binding for CoreBluetooth on MacOS
|
||
and got carried away.
|
||
|
||
# Acknowledgements
|
||
|
||
This work was inspired by Maxim's excellent
|
||
[c-for-go](https://github.com/xlab/c-for-go). Much of the
|
||
infrastructure was lifted from Elliot Chance's equally excellent
|
||
[c2go](https://github.com/elliotchance/c2go). Kiyoshi Murata's
|
||
post on [coderwall.com](https://coderwall.com/p/l9jr5a/accessing-cocoa-objective-c-from-go-with-cgo)
|
||
was an essential piece of inspiration.
|
||
|
||
The combinatorial Objective-C type parsers are mine as are the
|
||
Objective-C and Go code generators, so this is where you will find
|
||
all of the bugs.
|