Transitioning between view controller, OS X

Question

I am trying to write a single window timer application, where when the user presses the start button I want it to show another view controller with countdown etc. I'm also using story board in Xcode, where I have got a segue which connects the start button and the second view controller. However, there are only three different styles i.e. modal, sheet, and pop-over. I want to replace the first view controller the second one in the window. I cannot find a way to do that. I tried using a custom style for the segue, and in that use presentViewController: animator: method but I cannot figure out what to send as the argument for the animator:.

What is the simplest/proper way to transition from one view controller to the other in one window and vice versa?

Also in the storyboard when I select a view controller it shows an attribute called "Presentation" which can be multiple and single, what do those represent?

Answer 1

I think the simplest way is that swapping contentViewController of NSWindow.

// in NSViewController's subclass @IBAction func someAction(sender: AnyObject) {     let nextViewController = ... // instantiate from storyboard or elsewhere      if let window = view.window where window.styleMask & NSFullScreenWindowMask > 0 {         // adjust view size to current window         nextViewController.view.frame = CGRectMake(0, 0, window.frame.width, window.frame.height)     }      view.window?.contentViewController = nextViewController } 

This is option #1.

If you want to use segue, create custom one and set it to segue class with identifier in IB.

class ReplaceSegue: NSStoryboardSegue {     override func perform() {         if let fromViewController = sourceController as? NSViewController {             if let toViewController = destinationController as? NSViewController {                 // no animation.                 fromViewController.view.window?.contentViewController = toViewController             }         }     } } 

This is option #2.

Last option is using presentViewController:animator: of NSViewController. The code below is custom NSViewControllerPresentationAnimator for dissolve animation.

class ReplacePresentationAnimator: NSObject, NSViewControllerPresentationAnimator {     func animatePresentationOfViewController(viewController: NSViewController, fromViewController: NSViewController) {         if let window = fromViewController.view.window {             NSAnimationContext.runAnimationGroup({ (context) -> Void in                 fromViewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 0             }, completionHandler: { () -> Void in                 viewController.view.alphaValue = 0                 window.contentViewController = viewController                 viewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 1.0             })         }     }      func animateDismissalOfViewController(viewController: NSViewController, fromViewController: NSViewController) {         if let window = viewController.view.window {             NSAnimationContext.runAnimationGroup({ (context) -> Void in                 viewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 0                 }, completionHandler: { () -> Void in                     fromViewController.view.alphaValue = 0                     window.contentViewController = fromViewController                     fromViewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 1.0             })         }             } } 

Then present VC like this.

@IBAction func replaceAction(sender: AnyObject) {     let nextViewController = ... // instantiate from storyboard or elsewhere     presentViewController(nextViewController, animator: ReplacePresentationAnimator()) } 

For dismissal, call presentingViewController's dismissViewController: in the presented VC.

@IBAction func dismissAction(sender: AnyObject) {     presentingViewController?.dismissViewController(self)     } 

Swift4 Version

class ReplacePresentationAnimator: NSObject, NSViewControllerPresentationAnimator { func animatePresentation(of viewController: NSViewController, from fromViewController: NSViewController) {     if let window = fromViewController.view.window {         NSAnimationContext.runAnimationGroup({ (context) -> Void in             fromViewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 0         }, completionHandler: { () -> Void in             viewController.view.alphaValue = 0             window.contentViewController = viewController             viewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 1.0         })     } }  func animateDismissal(of viewController: NSViewController, from fromViewController: NSViewController) {     if let window = viewController.view.window {         NSAnimationContext.runAnimationGroup({ (context) -> Void in             viewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 0         }, completionHandler: { () -> Void in             fromViewController.view.alphaValue = 0             window.contentViewController = fromViewController             fromViewController.view.animator().alphaValue = 1.0         })     } } 

}

Hope this help.