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objective-ccocoansbutton

NSButton Toggle Button change programmatically

I have an NSButton set as a toggle (on/off) in my application. When I click the button it works fine, but when I try and programmatically set it using [toggleButton setEnabled:YES]; it has no effect.

code:

- (void)awakeFromNib {

    defaults = [NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults];
    NSString *toggleValue = [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] objectForKey:@"toggleActive"];

    if (toggleValue == nil) toggleValue = @"YES";

    if ([toggleValue isEqualToString:@"YES"]) {
        [defaults setObject:@"YES" forKey:@"toggleActive"];
        isOn = YES;
        [toggleButton setEnabled:YES];
    }

    if ([toggleValue isEqualToString:@"NO"]) {
        [defaults setObject:@"NO" forKey:@"toggleActive"];
        isOn = NO;
        [toggleButton setEnabled:NO];   
    }

    [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
} 

- (IBAction)toggleButton:(id)sender {

   if( isOn ) {
       [self stopFunction: (NSButton *)sender];
       isOn = NO;
       [defaults setObject:@"NO" forKey:@"toggleActive"];

       } else {
       [self startFunction (NSButton *)sender];
       isOn = YES;
       [defaults setObject:@"YES" forKey:@"toggleActive"];
       }

      [[NSUserDefaults standardUserDefaults] synchronize];
}

*toggleActive YES or NO get's stored in NSUserDefaults (which works fine); I'm wanting to remember the last button state when the user re-opens the application.

Solution

  • setEnabled: only changes the availability of the button to user interaction

    The following will switch the button's image along with setting the button's state to on/off

    [toggleButton setState:NSOnState];  
[toggleButton setState:NSOffState];

    If you would like to have the appropriate action to be taken along with the state change, you will have to call the appropriate functions as well

    [toggleButton setState:NSOnState];
[self startFunction:toggleButton];

    Alternatively, you can call

    [toggleButton performClick:self];

    However, this will cause a brief aqua blue shading of the button (like you are actually clicking on it) while it switches state. I prefer the former method on account of this.

    All this is just made on some quick observations I made a little while ago, while trying to do the same thing (googling brought me to this thread). Hope this helps :)