aDevelopersNotebook

BWToolkit is an Interface Builder plugin that contains commonly used UI elements and other objects designed to simplify Mac development.

“No Code” Preferences Windows and Tabbed Sheets

With the Selectable Toolbar item in this plugin, you’ll be able to create preferences windows and tabbed sheets without writing a line of code. Using BWToolkit to create a preferences window or a tabbed sheet is radically simpler than conventional means. You don’t have to write a controller class or fiddle with plists and multiple nib/xib files. It’s drag and drop. Watch the videos below to see it in action.

Transparent Controls

BWToolkit contains a suite of controls for transparent windows (or HUD windows). Provided controls include a button, pop-up button, check box, slider, text field, text view, table view, and a check box cell for a table view. If you find yourself needing a much wider array of controls than the ones available here, a standard panel may be more appropriate for your particular interface.

Transparent Controls

BWToolkit contains a suite of controls for transparent windows (or HUD windows). Provided controls include a button, pop-up button, check box, slider, text field, text view, table view, and a check box cell for a table view. If you find yourself needing a much wider array of controls than the ones available here, a standard panel may be more appropriate for your particular interface.

Button Bars

The plugin includes an anchored button bar, anchored buttons, and unanchored buttons. An anchored button bar is one that is placed directly below a view (in other words, anchored to that view). Anchored button bars often appear at the bottom left of windows below source lists (like in Mail.app), below a table view with padding below the bar (like the Network pref pane), or run all the way across the bottom of the window (like in AppZapper). The anchored button bar library item handles all three of these modes.

Unanchored buttons are usually placed below a table view with a bit of padding separating the view from the buttons. They’re often configured to have a plus button beside a minus button. The unanchored buttons are similar to “Gradient Buttons” in Interface Builder, but tweaked to aesthetically replicate the +/- buttons in System Preferences. For instance, when a button is disabled, only the glyph dims, so the group of buttons remain a visually cohesive unit.

Using the anchored button bar and the gradient split view included in the plugin, you can easily create a Mail.app style interface. When an anchored button bar is dropped in a vertical split view, the split view is automatically configured to resize when the user drags the resize handle on the button bar. It’s also configured to keep the source list the same width while the window is resized - the standard split view behavior is to resize all of its subviews. Lastly, the left most view is constrained within a minimum and maximum width (which is configurable in the button bar inspector).

and more see

Original document:http://brandonwalkin.com/blog/

Download source:http://brandonwalkin.com/blog/bwtfiles/BWToolkit.zip