C H A P T E R 1 5

Controls

Some of the states a relevance indicator can display are shown in Figure 15-68.

Figure 15-68 Relevance indicator states

Most relevant

Not relevent

Relevance indicators are especially useful as part of a list or table view. This is because relevance as a quantity is easier for users to understand when it is shown in comparison with the relevance of several items.

Relevance indicators are available in Interface Builder. Start with a discrete level indicator and change its style to Relevancy in the Attributes pane of the inspector. To create one using Application Kit programming interfaces, use the NSLevelIndicator class with style NSRelevancyLevelIndicatorStyle.

Text Controls

This section describes controls that either display text or accept text as input. The combination box, which includes a text input field, is not covered in this section; see “Combination Boxes” (page 286) for information about combination boxes.

Important: The controls described in this section are suitable for use in the window body; they should not be used in the window-frame areas. The single exception is the search field, which can also be used in a toolbar. See “Window-Frame Controls” (page 249) for controls designed specifically for use in the toolbar and bottom-bar areas in your window.

Static Text Fields

Use a statictextfield for informational text (text not intended to be modified by users) in a dialog or window. Static text fields have two states: active and dimmed.

When it provides an obvious user benefit, static text should be selectable. For example, a user should be able to copy an error message, a serial number, or an IP address to paste elsewhere. Figure 15-69 shows several examples of static text used to give information to users.

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