# GSTheme

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Generated at 2026-06-27 19:09:52 +0000

Useful/configurable drawing functions

2004-2023 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
The theme management system

The theme management system for the GNUstep GUI is based around the GSTheme class, which provides support for loading of theme bundles and methods for drawing common user interface elements.
The theme system works in conjunction with a variety of other GUI classes and is intended to eventually allow for very major changes in GUI appearance and behavior.

Various design imperatives apply to the theme system, but probably the key ones are:

It should allow designers and other non-technical users to easily develop new and interesting GUI styles likely to attract new users to GNUstep.
Using and switching between themes should be an easy and pleasant experience... so that people are not put off when they try using themes.
It should eventually permit a GNUstep application to appear as a native application on ms-windows and other systems.

To attain these aims implies the recognition of some more specific objectives and some possible technical solutions:

We must have as simple as possible an API for the functions handling the way GUI elements work and the way they draw themselves.
The standard OpenStep/MacOS-X API provides mechanisms for controlling the colors used to draw controls (via NSColor and NSColorList ) and controlling the way controls behave (NSInterfaceStyleForKey() and [NSResponder -interfaceStyle]), but we need to extend that with methods to draw controls entirely differently if required.
We must have a GUI application for theme development. It is not sufficient to provide an API if we want good graphic designers and user interface specialists to develop themes for us.
It must be possible for an application to dynamically change the theme in use while it is running and it should be easy for a user to select between available themes.
This implies that themes must be loadable bundles and that it must always be possible to unload a theme as well as loading one.
It suggests that the theme selection mechanism should be in every application, perhaps as an extension to an existing panel such as the info panel.
Types of theming

There are various aspects of theming which can be treated pretty much separately, so there is no reason why a theme might not be created which just employs one of these mechanisms.

System images
Possibly the simples theme change... a theme might supply a new set of system images used for arrows and other icons that the GUI decorates controls with.
System colors
A theme might simply define a new system color list, so that controls are drawn in a new color range, though they would still function the same way. Even specifying new colors can make the GUI look quite different though.
Beyond system colors, the theming API also provides a mechanism for specifying colors for particular parts of GUI controls.
Image tiling
Controls might be given sets of images used as tiling to draw themselves rather than using the standard line drawing and color fill mechanisms.
Interface style
A theme might supply a set of interface style keys for various controls, defining how those controls should behave subject to the limitation of the range of behaviors coded into the GUI library.
Method override
A theme might actually provide code, in the form of a subclass of GSTheme such that drawing methods have completely custom behavior.
Subclassing GSTheme

While many themes can be created without subclassing GSTheme, there are some cases where writing code is necessary (most notably when interfacing to a native theming engine for some platform in order to make a GNUstep app have a native look).
In these cases the subclass should follow certain rules in order to operate cleanly and efficiently:

Stability
Theme operation should remain consistent while it is in use, particularly in the provision of resources such as images and colors.
If a theme needs to change a resource (such as an image) then it should do so by calling -deactivate , making the change, and then calling -activate . This sequence ensures that the GUI library is made aware of any changes and can redraw the screen.
The deactivation/activation sequence is expensive, so the subclass should attempt to combine multiple resource updates into a group rather than performing the deactivation/activation for each resource individually.
Activation
The standard -activate method replaces existing system images, colors, interface style settings and other user defaults settings with versions stored in the theme bundle.
If a subclass wishes to dynamically provide these resources rather than supplying them as static information in the bundle, it may update the in-memory information after the normal operation has taken place. This should be done by the theme registering itsself as an observer of GSThemeWillActivateNotification and adding the resources just before the theme becomes active.
Cleanup may be done in response to a GSThemeWillDeactivateNotification (called before the default cleanup) or a GSThemeDidDeactivateNotification (called after the default cleanup).
Versioning
With a theme which contains only static resources, versioning is not much of an issue, but with a code-based theme (ie where you subclass GSTheme) versioning does become very important. This is because, while you can load code from a bundle, you can't unload it again... so if you have two versions of a theme where the subclass has the same name, then you have a conflict and can't load both and swap between the two.
Thematic.app solves this problem my incorporating a version number into the name of the GSTheme subclasses it creates, but that's not the only consideration...
You must also ensure that either you do not define any other classes in your theme or that, if you do define them you make sure that each of them incorporates the theme version number.
A similar consideration would apply to any categories, however category conflicts are far more difficult to resolve since even with different version names of the categories, the categories all effect the same class/methods. In fact this issue is so tricky to deal with that you should simply not use categories within your theme code.
To work around this limitation, the GSTheme class supports overriding of the methods of any other class while the theme is active. See the -overriddenMethod:for: method for more information.
Image override
System images (those returned by the [NSImage +imageNamed:] method) are handled by the default theming mechanism, for each system image supplied in the theme bundle, the image is loaded from the bundle and used while the theme is active. Any pre-existing in-memory image is saved on theme activation and restored on theme deactivation.
A theme subclass may override the -imageClass method to change the class used to load each image from the bundle... thus allowing customisation of not just the images but also of the image behavior in the (very rare) cases where this is desirable.
Finally, a theme may provide application specific images which are loaded in preference to named images from the application's own bundle. These images are simply stored in a subdirectory whose name is the same as the application's bundleIdentifier.
Software documentation for the GSPageLayout class
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
Software documentation for the GSPrintPanel class
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
Software documentation for the GSTheme class
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h

This interface is HIGHLY unstable and incomplete at present.

This is a class used for 'theming', which is mostly a matter of encapsulating common drawing behaviors so that GUI appearance can be easily modified, but also includes mechanisms for altering some GUI behavior (such as orientation and position of menus).

Methods in this class standardize drawing of buttons, borders and other common GUI elements, so that all other classes within the GUI will provide a consistent appearance by using these methods.

The default implementation uses the standard configurable colors defined in NSColor, such as `controlLightHighlightColor`, `controlShadowColor` and `controlDarkShadowColor`.
Themes are expected to override the default system color list with their own versions, and this class cooperates with NSColor and NSColorList to establish the correct system color list when a theme is activated.

The class provides a mechanism for automatic loading of theme bundles consisting of resources used to define how drawing is done, plus an optional binary subclass of this class (to replace/extend the drawing methods this class provides).

In future this class should provide mechanisms to draw controls by tiling of images, and provide control over GUI behavior by controlling the values returned by NSInterfaceStyleForKey() so that controls use the appropriate behavior.

loadThemeNamed:
themeName
Loads a theme from a theme bundle of the specified name, which may be either a full path name of the theme bundle, or a simple theme name (in which case the standard directories are searched for it) or `nil` (in which case the default GNUstep theme is returned).
Returns the loaded theme but does not make it the current theme, to do that you will need to call the +setTheme: method.
orderFrontSharedThemePanel:
sender
Creates and displays a panel allowing selection of different themes and display of the current theme inspector.
setTheme:
theme
Set the currently active theme to be the instance specified.
You do not normally need to call this method as it is called automatically when the user default which specifies the current theme (GSTheme) is updated.
theme
Returns the currently active theme instance. This is the value most recently set using +setTheme: or (if none has been set) is a default instance of the base class.
activate

This method is called automatically when the receiver is made into the currently active theme by the +setTheme: method. Subclasses may override it to perform startup operations, however, the method is not really intended to be overridden, and subclasses should generally handle activation work in response to the GSThemeWillActivatenotification posted by this method.

The base implementation handles setup and caching of the system color list, standard image information, tiling information, and user defaults.
It then sends a GSThemeWillActivateNotification to allow subclasses to perform further activation work, and a GSThemeDidActivateNotification to allow other parts of the GUI library to update themselves from the new theme.

Finally, this method marks all windows in the application as needing update... so they will draw themselves with the new theme information.

NB. If a GSTheme subclass is integrating to an external native theming mechanism in order to make GNUstep apps look like native apps, then the external theme may change dynamically and the GSTheme subclass may need to change the GNUstep application to reflect this change. When this happens, the update should be handled by the subclass calling -deactivate and then -activate to make the changes 'live'.

authors
Returns the names of the theme's authors.
bundle
Return the bundle containing the resources used by the current theme.
colorClass
Returns the class used by the theme for loading color lists. The default implementation returns the NSColorList class, but a subclass may override this to return a color list class whose values change dynamically in response to changes of a native theming API for instance.
The class returned by this method should be NSColorList or one of its subclasses. Subclasses should note that GSTheme will initialise the instances of the class using the [NSColerList -initWithName:fromFile:] method.
colorFlush:
aName
state:
elementState
Removes the name from the color cache forcing it to be re-created next time the named color is required.
Passing `nil` for aName removes all named colors.
Passing a negative value for elementState applies to all caches.
colorNamed:
aName
state:
elementState
This returns the color for drawing the item whose name is aName in the specified state. If aName is `nil` or if there is no color defined for the particular combination of item name and state, the method returns `nil`.
The standard names used for the parts of various controls are declared in GSTheme.h
See also the -tilesNamed:state: method.
colors
Returns the system color list defined by the receiver.
The default implementation returns the color list provided in the theme bundle (if any) or the default system color list.
deactivate

This method is called automatically when the receiver is stopped from being the currently active theme by the use of the +setTheme: method to make another theme active. Subclasses may override it to perform shutdown operations, but it is preferred for subclasses to perform their own deactivation in response to a GSThemeWillDeactivateNotification.

The base implementation sends a GSThemeWillDeactivateNotification to allow subclasses to perform cleanup, then restores image, color and default information to the state before the theme was activates, and finally sends a GSThemeDidDeactivateNotification to allow other parts of the GUI library to update themselves.

NB. If a GSTheme subclass is integrating to an external native theming mechanism in order to make GNUstep apps look like native apps, then the external theme may change dynamically and the GSTheme subclass may need to change the GNUstep application to reflect this change. When this happens, the update should be handled by the subclass calling -deactivate and then -activate to make the changes 'live'.

icon
Returns the theme's icon.
imageClass
Returns the class used by the theme for loading images. The default implementation returns the NSImage class, but a subclass may override this to return an image class whose instances dynamically alter what they draw in response to changes of a native theming API for instance.
This method must return the NSImage class or one of its subclasses. Subclass implementations should note that instances will be initialised using the [NSImage -initWithContentsOfFile:] method and will use the [NSImage -imageFileTypes] method to determine which image files can be loaded.
infoDictionary

Returns the info dictionary for this theme. In the base class implementation this is simply the info dictionary of the theme bundle, but subclasses may override this method to return extra or different information.

Keys found in this dictionary include:

GSThemeDomain
A dictionary whose key/value pairs are used to set up new values in the GSThemeDomain domain of the user defaults system, and hence define values for these unless overridden by values set explicitly by the user.
GSThemeTiles
A dictionary keyed on tile names and containing the following:
FileName
Name of the file (within the GSThemeTiles directory in the bundle) in which the image for this tile is stored.
HorizontalDivision
The offset along the X-axis used to divide the image into columns of tiles.
VerticalDivision
The offer along the Y-axis used to divide the image into rows of tiles.
initWithBundle:
bundle
Initialise an instance of a theme with the specified resource bundle.
You don't need to call this method directly, but if you are subclassing you may need to override this to provide additional initialisation.
license
Return the theme's license.
name
Return the theme's name.
nameForElement:
anObject
Returns the name used to locate theming resources for a particular GUI element. If no name has been set for the particular object this method returns `nil`.
overriddenMethod:
selector
for:
receiver

Returns the original implementation of a method overridden by this theme, or zero if the method was not overridden.

A theme may override a method of another class by implementing a method whose name is '_overrideXXXMethod_YYY' where 'XXX' is the name of the class whose method is to be overridden, and 'YYY' is the normal name of the method in that class.
eg. _overrideNSScrollerMethod_drawRect:

NB. The overriding method may not access instance variable directly and must cast all uses of 'self' to be the correct class.

setName:
aString
Set the name of this theme... used for testing by Thematic.app
setName:
aString
forElement:
anObject
temporary:
takeOwnership
Set the name that is used to identify theming resources for a particular control or other GUI element. This is used so that where an element is part of a control it can be displayed differently from the same class of element used outside that control.
Supplying a `nil` value for aString simply removes any name setting for anObject.
Supplying `nil` for anObject is illegal (raises an exception) unless the value of aString is also `nil` (and the method does nothing).
Any control which uses this method to set names for subsidiary elements must also make sure to remove the name mapping before that element is deallocated, unless the takeOwnership option is `YES`, in which case anObject is retained, the name mapping lasts only until the receiver is deactivated, and at that point anObject is released.
themeInspector

Provides a standard inspector window used to display information about the receiver. The default implementation displays the icon, the name, and the authors of the theme.

The code managing this object (if any) must be prepared to have the content view of the window re-parented into another window for display on screen.

tilesFlush:
aName
state:
elementState
Removes the name tile images from cache, forcing re-creation next time the named tiles are required.
Passing `nil` for aName removes all named tiles.
Passing a negative value for elementState applies to all caches.
tilesNamed:
aName
state:
elementState
Returns the tile image information for a particular image name, or `nil` if there is no such information or the name is `nil`.
The standard names used for the parts of various controls are declared in GSTheme.h
The GUI library uses this internally to handling tiling of image information to draw user interface elements. The tile information returned by this method can be passed to the -fillRect:withTiles:background:fillStyle: method.
The elementState argument specifies the state for which tiles are requested. See the -colorNamed:state: method for determining colors to be used for drawing specific GUI elements.
versionString
Return the theme's version string.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(Drawing) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Theme drawing methods.
Methods which return information/resources are generally expected (ie unless explicitly documented otherwise) to be returning something which persists until the method is called again or until the current theme is deactivated (whichever comes first).
This means that drawing code should not need to retain/release any returned object (the theme is responsible for retaining the object), and should also be able to cache size information etc for later drawing.
This simple rule means that drawing code can be written to be as efficient as possible while keeping caching strategies simple and uniform.
To facilitate this within the theme code itsself, it is recommended that you make use of the -setName:forElement:temporary: method to retain any vended object until deactivation.
badgeBackgroundColor
Description forthcoming.
badgeDecorationColor
Description forthcoming.
badgeTextColor
Description forthcoming.
browserColumnSeparation
Description forthcoming.
browserHeaderDrawingRectForCell:
cell
withFrame:
rect
Description forthcoming.
browserHeaderTextColor
Description forthcoming.
browserUseBezels
Description forthcoming.
browserVerticalPadding
Description forthcoming.
buttonMarginsForCell:
cell
style:
style
state:
state
Amount by which the button is inset by the border.
cellForScrollerArrow:
part
horizontal:
horizontal
Creates and returns the cell to be used to draw a scroller arrow of the specified type and orientation.
The theme instance is responsible for ensuring that the cell continues to exist until the theme is deactivated (the default implementation does this by naming the cell using the -setName:forElement:temporary: method, which also provides a name for the cell color and image).
cellForScrollerKnob:
horizontal
Creates and returns the cell to be used to draw a scroller knob of the specified orientation.
The theme instance is responsible for ensuring that the cell continues to exist until the theme is deactivated (the default implementation does this by naming the cell using the -setName:forElement:temporary: method).
cellForScrollerKnobSlot:
horizontal
Creates and returns the cell to be used to draw a scroller slot of the specified orientation.
The theme instance is responsible for ensuring that the cell continues to exist until the theme is deactivated (the default implementation does this by naming the cell using the -setName:forElement:temporary: method).
closeButtonFrameForBounds:
bounds
Description forthcoming.
defaultScrollerWidth
Returns the width which should be allowed for a scroller within the current theme. Drawing code is entitled to assume that this value will remain constant until the theme is deactivated.
drawBackgroundForMenuView:
menuView
withFrame:
bounds
dirtyRect:
dirtyRect
horizontal:
horizontal
Description forthcoming.
drawBarInside:
rect
inCell:
cell
flipped:
flipped
Description forthcoming.
drawBorderAndBackgroundForMenuItemCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
state:
state
isHorizontal:
isHorizontal
Description forthcoming.
drawBorderForImageFrameStyle:
frameStyle
frame:
frame
view:
view
Draw a border of the specified frame style.
drawBorderType:
aType
frame:
frame
view:
view
Draw a border of the specified border type.
drawBoxInClipRect:
clipRect
boxType:
boxType
borderType:
borderType
inView:
box
Description forthcoming.
drawBrowserHeaderCell:
cell
withFrame:
rect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawBrowserRect:
rect
inView:
view
withScrollerRect:
scrollerRect
columnSize:
columnSize
Description forthcoming.
drawButton:
frame
in:
cell
view:
view
style:
style
state:
state
Draws a button frame and background (not its content) for the specified cell and view.
drawColorWellBorder:
well
withBounds:
bounds
withClip:
clipRect
Description forthcoming.
drawFocusFrame:
frame
view:
view
Draws the indicator (normally a dotted rectangle) to show that the view currently has keyboard focus.
drawKnobInCell:
cell
Description forthcoming.
drawMenuRect:
rect
inView:
view
isHorizontal:
horizontal
itemCells:
itemCells
Description forthcoming.
drawMenuTitleBackground:
aTitleView
withBounds:
bounds
withClip:
clipRect
Description forthcoming.
drawOutlineCell:
tb
outlineView:
outlineView
item:
item
drawingRect:
inputRect
rowIndex:
rowIndex
Description forthcoming.
drawOutlineViewRow:
rowIndex
clipRect:
clipRect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawPathComponentCellWithFrame:
f
inView:
pc
withCell:
cell
isLastComponent:
last
Description forthcoming.
drawPopUpButtonCellInteriorWithFrame:
cellFrame
withCell:
cell
inView:
controlView
Description forthcoming.
drawProgressIndicator:
progress
withBounds:
bounds
withClip:
rect
atCount:
count
forValue:
val
Description forthcoming.
drawProgressIndicatorBarDeterminate:
bounds
Description forthcoming.
drawProgressIndicatorBezel:
bounds
withClip:
rect
Description forthcoming.
drawScrollViewRect:
rect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawScrollerRect:
rect
inView:
view
hitPart:
hitPart
isHorizontal:
isHorizontal
Description forthcoming.
drawSegmentedControlSegment:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
style:
style
state:
state
roundedLeft:
roundedLeft
roundedRight:
roundedRight
Description forthcoming.
drawSeparatorItemForMenuItemCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
isHorizontal:
isHorizontal

Draws a separator between normal menu items in a menu.

Each separator corresponds to a menu item that returns `YES` to -isSeparatorItem

You can provide an image tile named GSMenuSeparatorItem to draw the separator.
Can be overridden in subclasses to customize the drawing.

See also -menuSeparatorColor and -menuSeparatorInset

drawSliderBorderAndBackground:
aType
frame:
cellFrame
inCell:
cell
isHorizontal:
horizontal
Description forthcoming.
drawStepperBorder:
frame
Description forthcoming.
drawStepperCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
highlightUp:
highlightUp
highlightDown:
highlightDown
Draw a stepper cell
drawStepperDownButton:
aRect
Draw down button for stepper
drawStepperHighlightDownButton:
aRect
Draw highlighted stepper down button
drawStepperHighlightUpButton:
aRect
Draw highlighted up stepper button.
drawStepperLightButton:
border
:
clip
Draw light colored stepper using the border and clip rects
drawStepperUpButton:
aRect
Draw normal stepper up button.
drawSwitchBezel:
frame
forState:
v
enabled:
enabled
Description forthcoming.
drawSwitchInRect:
rect
forState:
state
enabled:
enabled
Description forthcoming.
drawSwitchKnob:
frame
forState:
value
enabled:
enabled
Description forthcoming.
drawTabViewBezelRect:
aRect
tabViewType:
type
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawTabViewRect:
rect
inView:
view
withItems:
items
selectedItem:
item
Description forthcoming.
drawTableCornerView:
cornerView
withClip:
aRect
Description forthcoming.
drawTableHeaderCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
state:
state
Description forthcoming.
drawTableHeaderRect:
aRect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawTableViewBackgroundInClipRect:
clipRect
inView:
view
withBackgroundColor:
backgroundColor
Description forthcoming.
drawTableViewGridInClipRect:
aRect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawTableViewRect:
aRect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawTableViewRow:
rowIndex
clipRect:
clipRect
inView:
view
Description forthcoming.
drawTitleForMenuItemCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
controlView
state:
state
isHorizontal:
isHorizontal

Draws the menu item title.

Can be overridden to customize the text font, size and position.
You can use `[[cell menuItem] title]` to get the title.

The title color is mapped to the theme state as described below:

GSThemeSelectedState
[NSColor +selectedMenuItemTextColor]
GSThemeDisabledState
[NSColor +controlTextColor]
or [NSColor +disabledControlTextColor]
drawToolbarRect:
aRect
frame:
viewFrame
borderMask:
borderMask
Description forthcoming.
drawWindowBackground:
frame
view:
view
Draws the background of a window... normally a simple fill with the the window's background color.
drawWindowBorder:
rect
withFrame:
frame
forStyleMask:
styleMask
state:
inputState
andTitle:
title
Description forthcoming.
drawsBorderForMenuItemCell:
cell
state:
state
isHorizontal:
horizontal

Returns whether the menu item border should be drawn or not.

By default, returns [NSMenuItemCell -isBordered] value. The value is `NO` when the menu is horizontal, `YES` when vertical.

The returned value used by -drawBorderAndBackgroundForMenuItemCell:withFrame:inView:state:isHorizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

highlightTableViewSelectionInClipRect:
clipRect
inView:
view
selectingColumns:
selectingColumns
Description forthcoming.
imageForTabPart:
part
type:
type
Description forthcoming.
isBoxOpaque:
box
Description forthcoming.
menuBackgroundColor

Returns the color used to draw a menu view background.

By default, looks up the color named menuBackgroundColor, otherwise returns the window background color.

The returned color is used by -drawBackgroundForMenuView:withFrame:dirtyRect:horizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuBarBackgroundColor
Description forthcoming.
menuBarBorderColor
Description forthcoming.
menuBarHeight
Description forthcoming.
menuBorderColor

Returns the color used to draw a menu view border.

By default, looks up the color named menuBorderColor, otherwise returns the dark gray color.

The returned color is used by -drawBackgroundForMenuView:withFrame:dirtyRect:horizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuBorderColorForEdge:
edge
isHorizontal:
horizontal

Returns a color to draw each edge in a menu view border.

By default, returns -menuBorderColor for the upper and left edges of a vertical menu, or for the bottom edge of a horizontal one.

The returned edge color is used by -drawBackgroundForMenuView:withFrame:dirtyRect:horizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuItemBackgroundColor

Returns the color used to draw a menu item background.

The menu item background is drawn atop the menu background.

By default, looks up the color named menuItemBackgroundColor, otherwise returns the control background color.
When selected or highlighted, the background color is provided by [NSColor +selectedMenuItemColor].

The returned value used by -drawBorderAndBackgroundForMenuItemCell:withFrame:inView:state:isHorizontal: and [NSMenuItemCell -backgroundColor].

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuItemHeight
Description forthcoming.
menuSeparatorColor

Returns the color used to draw a separator line in a menu.

By default, looks up the color named menuSeparatorColor, otherwise returns `nil`.

The returned color is used by -drawSeparatorItemForMenuItemCell:withFrame:inView:isHorizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuSeparatorHeight
Description forthcoming.
menuSeparatorInset

Returns the left and right inset used to draw a separator line in a menu.

By default, returns 3.0.

The returned color is used by -drawSeparatorItemForMenuItemCell:withFrame:inView:isHorizontal:

Can be overridden in subclasses to return a custom color, but generally should not. Instead themes should provide default colors in the GSThemeDomain (in their Info.plist).

menuSubmenuHorizontalOverlap
Amount that submenus overlap their parent menu by, horizontally. (i.e. applies to vertical menus) Controlled by GSMenuSubmenuHorizontalOverlap default
menuSubmenuVerticalOverlap
Amount that submenus overlap the horizontal menu bar by, vertically. Controlled by GSMenuSubmenuVerticalOverlap default
miniaturizeButtonFrameForBounds:
bounds
Description forthcoming.
resizebarHeight
Description forthcoming.
resizebarNotchWidth
Description forthcoming.
scrollViewScrollersOverlapBorders
If `YES`, instructs NSScrollView to make the scrollers overlap the border. The scroll view border is drawn using the NSScrollView part, which must be provided by the theme if this method returns `YES`. Controlled by user default GSScrollViewScrollersOverlapBorders; default `NO`;
scrollViewUseBottomCorner
If `YES`, instructs NSScrollView to leave an empty square space where the horizontal and vertical scrollers meet. Controlled by user default GSScrollViewUseBottomCorner; default `YES`.
scrollerArrowsSameEndForScroller:
aScroller
Return `YES` if the scroller arrows are at the same end. Return `NO` to get one scroller arrow at each end of the scroller. The default implementation first checks the default GSScrollerArrowsSameEnd and if that is not set, delegates to the NSInterfaceStyle.
scrollerScrollsByPageForScroller:
aScroller
Returns `YES` if clicking in the scroller slot should scroll by one page, `NO` if the scroller should jump to the location clicked. The default implementation first checks the default GSScrollerScrollsByPage and if that is not set, delegates to the NSInterfaceStyle.
setFrameForCloseButton:
closeButton
viewSize:
viewSize
Description forthcoming.
setKeyEquivalent:
key
forButtonCell:
cell
Allows the theme to set an image or set attributes for drawing the button differently based on the key equivalent which is set.
sizeForBorderType:
aType
Determine the size for the specified border type.
sizeForImageFrameStyle:
frameStyle
Determine the size for the specified frame style.
stepperDownButtonRectWithFrame:
frame
Description forthcoming.
stepperUpButtonRectWithFrame:
frame
Description forthcoming.
tabHeightForType:
type
Description forthcoming.
tabViewBackgroundRectForBounds:
aRect
tabViewType:
type
Description forthcoming.
tabViewContentRectForBounds:
aRect
tabViewType:
type
tabView:
view
Description forthcoming.
tableHeaderCellDrawingRectForBounds:
theRect
Description forthcoming.
tableHeaderTextColorForState:
state
Description forthcoming.
titleViewClassForMenuView:
aMenuView
Returns the class used to create the title bar in the given menu view. By default, returns GSTitleView.
A subclass can be returned to customize the title view look and behavior.
titlebarButtonSize
Description forthcoming.
titlebarHeight
Description forthcoming.
titlebarPaddingLeft
Description forthcoming.
titlebarPaddingRight
Description forthcoming.
titlebarPaddingTop
Description forthcoming.
toolbarBackgroundColor
Method for toolbar theming.
toolbarBorderColor
Description forthcoming.
toolbarIsOpaque
Description forthcoming.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(LowLevelDrawing) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Low level drawing methods... themes may use these for drawing, but should not normally override them.
fillHorizontalRect:
rect
withImage:
image
fromRect:
source
flipped:
flipped
Method to tile the supplied image to fill the horizontal rectangle.
The rect argument is the rectangle to be filled.
The image argument is the data to fill with.
The source argument is the rectangle within the image which is used.
The flipped argument specifies what sort of coordinate system is in use in the view where we are drawing.
fillRect:
rect
withRepeatedImage:
image
fromRect:
source
center:
center
Tile rect with image. The tiling starts with the origin of the first copy of the image at the bottom left corner of the rect unless center is `YES`, in which case the image is centered in rect and tiled outwards from that.
fillRect:
rect
withTiles:
tiles
Description forthcoming.
fillRect:
rect
withTiles:
tiles
background:
color
Method to tile a rectangle given a group of up to nine tile images.
The GSDrawTiles object encapsulates the tile images and information about what parts of each image are used for tiling.
This draws the left, right, top and bottom borders by tiling the images at left, right, top and bottom. It then draws the four corner images and finally deals with the remaining space in the middle according to the default style set for the GSDrawTiles object used.
The background color specified is used to fill the center where style is FillStyleNone.
The return value is the central rectangle (inside the border images).
fillRect:
rect
withTiles:
tiles
background:
color
fillStyle:
style
Method to tile a rectangle given a group of up to nine tile images.
The GSDrawTiles object encapsulates the tile images and information about what parts of each image are used for tiling.
This draws the left, right, top and bottom borders by tiling the images at left, right, top and bottom. It then draws the four corner images and finally deals with the remaining space in the middle according to the specified style.
The background color specified is used to fill the center where style is FillStyleNone.
The return value is the central rectangle (inside the border images).
fillVerticalRect:
rect
withImage:
image
fromRect:
source
flipped:
flipped
Method to tile the supplied image to fill the vertical rectangle.
The rect argument is the rectangle to be filled.
The image argument is the data to fill with.
The source argument is the rectangle within the image which is used.
The flipped argument specifies what sort of coordinate system is in use in the view where we are drawing.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(Menus) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
displayPopUpMenu:
mr
withCellFrame:
cellFrame
controlViewWindow:
cvWin
preferredEdge:
edge
selectedItem:
selectedItem
Display popup menu item.
doesProcessEventsForPopUpMenu
Process events for popups.
keyForKeyEquivalent:
aString
Modifies the proposed key equivalent string for the menu item. The default implementation simply returns the proposed string unmodified.
menuHeightForWindow:
window
Calculate the height of the menu for in-window menus. The default implementation returns [NSMenuView menuBarHeight];
menuShouldShowIcon
Display the menu icon in the application.
modifyRect:
aRect
forMenu:
aMenu
isHorizontal:
horizontal
Modifies the given NSRect for use by NSMenu to position and size the displayed menu. The default implementation simply returns the original NSRect unmodified.
organizeMenu:
menu
isHorizontal:
horizontal
Used by the theme to organize the main menu . The default implementation organizes the main menu in the same way that NSMenu's old default behaviour did, generating an "app name" menu for horizontal display.
processCommand:
context
Processes menu events for the theme. The default implementation does nothing.
proposedTitle:
title
forMenuItem:
menuItem
Modifies the proposed menu item title. The default implementation simply returns the proposed string unmodified.
proposedTitleWidth:
proposedWidth
forMenuView:
aMenuView
Modifies the proposed default width for a menu title in the given NSMenuView. The default implementation simply returns the proposed width unmodified.
proposedVisibility:
visible
forMenu:
menu
Used by the theme to override the proposed menu visibility. The default implementation simply returns the proposed visibility unmodified.
rightMouseDisplay:
menu
forEvent:
theEvent
Display the context menu when the right mouse button is pressed.
setMenu:
menu
forWindow:
window
This method sets the menu for the window using the current theme In the default theme this calls the setMenu: method on the window giving the menu parameter as the argument.
updateAllWindowsWithMenu:
menu
Description forthcoming.
updateMenu:
menu
forWindow:
window
Update the menu for the window . This refreshes the menu contents. The default implementation of this method does nothing.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(MidLevelDrawing) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Helper functions for drawing standard items.
drawButton:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a standard button
drawDarkBezel:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a dark bezel border
drawDarkButton:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a "dark" button border (used in tableviews)
drawFramePhoto:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a frame photo border. Used in NSImageView.
drawGradientBorder:
gradientType
inRect:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a gradient border.
drawGrayBezel:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a gray bezel border
drawGroove:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a groove border
drawLightBezel:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a light bezel border
drawWhiteBezel:
border
withClip:
clip
Draw a white bezel border
Software documentation for the GSTheme(NSBrowserCell) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
branchImage
This method returns the branch image
drawBrowserInteriorWithFrame:
cellFrame
withCell:
cell
inView:
controlView
withImage:
theImage
alternateImage:
alternateImage
isHighlighted:
isHighlighted
state:
state
isLeaf:
isLeaf
Draw the interior of the browser cell
drawEditorForCell:
cell
withFrame:
cellFrame
inView:
view
Draw editor in cell
drawInCell:
cell
attributedText:
stringValue
inFrame:
cellFrame
Draw attributed text in cell
highlightedBranchImage
This method returns the highlighted version of the branch image
Software documentation for the GSTheme(NSWindow) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
didSetDefaultButtonCell:
aCell
This method does any additional setup after the default cell is set.
standardWindowButton:
button
forStyleMask:
mask
This method returns the standard window button for the given mask for the current theme.
windowDecorator
This method returns the window decorator provided by the current theme.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(OpenSavePanels) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
openPanelClass
This method returns the open panel class needed by the native environment.
savePanelClass
This method returns the open panel class needed by the native environment.
Software documentation for the GSTheme(PrintPanels) category
GNUstepGUI/GSTheme.h
Description forthcoming.
pageLayoutClass
This method returns the page layout class needed by the native environment.
printPanelClass
This method returns the print panel class needed by the native environment.