# NSTextContainer

alexander@malmberg.org
jagapen@smithlab.chem.wisc.edu
Generated at 2026-06-27 19:09:52 +0000
1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Software documentation for the NSTextContainer class
AppKit/NSTextContainer.h
Description forthcoming.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
Warning the underscore at the start of the name of this instance variable indicates that, even though it is not technically private, it is intended for internal use within the package, and you should not use the variable in other code.
containerSize
Description forthcoming.
containsPoint:
aPoint
Returns `YES` if aPoint is inside the region. Subclasses define regions by overriding this method.
heightTracksTextView
Description forthcoming.
initWithContainerSize:
aSize
Initializes a new instance and sets the container size to aSize.
isSimpleRectangularTextContainer
Querying the region
Returns `YES` if the region for this container is a rectangle as large as the container size, otherwise `NO`. For simple rectangular regions, the text system can apply certain optimizations. NSTextContainer always returns `YES`. Subclasses that define more complex regions must return `NO`.
layoutManager
Returns the layout manager of this text container.
lineFragmentPadding
Description forthcoming.
lineFragmentRectForProposedRect:
proposedRect
sweepDirection:
sweepDir
movementDirection:
moveDir
remainingRect:
remainingRect
This is the main method used by the text system for querying the region and flowing text in it. It takes a proposed line fragment rectangle and, if possible, splits it into a valid line fragment rectangle, and a remaining rectangle that can be used in subsequent calls to this method. sweepDir is the direction that text moves inside the lines, and moveDir is the direction lines move in, or NSLineDoesntMove if the line may not move. The line sweep and line movement may not both be in the same dimension, ie. both be vertical, or both be horizontal. The method returns the first (according to the sweep direction) valid line fragment rectangle in the proposed rectangle. This line fragment rectangle is a sub-rectangle of the proposed rectangle in the sweep direction, and has the same size in the other direction. (Ie. if the sweep direction is left, the line fragment rectangle must have the same height as the proposed rectangle.) If there is no valid line fragment rectangle in the proposed rectangle, the proposed rectangle may be moved in the line movement direction until there is one. If no valid line fragment rectangle can be returned, the method returns NSZeroRect. The remaining rectangle should be set to the potentially valid part of the proposed rectangle, after moving in the line movement direction, that remains after the first line fragment rectangle. The proposed rectangle may be any rectangle; in particular, it may extend outside the container size. The remaining rectangle does not have to be or contain a valid line fragment rectangle. Subclasses define regions by overriding this method. Note: The TextContainerExample in the text system example collection (TODO: link) contains an example implementation of an NSTextContainer subclass that defiens a non-trivial region, as well as an interactive demonstration of this method. It can also be used as a simple test of custom subclasses. Note: Although a correct NSTextContainer implementation must handle all line sweep and movement directions, the current standard typesetter will only call this method with sweep right, and no movement or movement down. Relying on this makes writing a subclass easier, but it is not safe.
replaceLayoutManager:
aLayoutManager
Managing the text network
A text container may be attached to one layout manager and one text view. The text container is retained by the layout manager, and retains the text view.
Replaces the layout manager of this text container with aLayoutManager. This is done without changing the rest of the text network, so aLayoutManager will be connected to the text storage and text containers that the current layout manager is connected to.
setContainerSize:
aSize
The container size
A text container has a container size. The region defined by the text container must be a subset of the rectangle of this size with it's top-left corner in the origin. Subclasses do not have to support arbitrary sizes, and may choose to ignore -setContainerSize: completely. However, the size returned by -containerSize must be valid.
setHeightTracksTextView:
flag
Description forthcoming.
setLayoutManager:
aLayoutManager
This method should not be called directly. It is called by the layout manager when the layout manager of a text container changes.
setLineFragmentPadding:
aFloat
Line fragment padding
The line fragment padding is an amount of space left empty at each end of a line fragment rectangle by the standard typesetter. The default is 0.0.
setTextView:
aTextView
Sets the NSTextView for this text container. Note that a text view should be attached to a text container only if the text container is attached to a layout manager that can handle text views (eg. NSLayoutManager). The text view is retained by the text container.
setWidthTracksTextView:
flag
Automatic resizing
A text container can be set to automatically track the width and/or height of its NSTextView (TODO: frame? bounds?). For more information, see the documentation on automatic resizing in NSTextView. (TODO: link) When enabled, the automatic resizing is done by calling [NSTextContainer -setContainerSize:] with the new size whenever the text view is resized.
textView
Returns the NSTextView attached to this text container, or `nil` if there is none.
widthTracksTextView
Description forthcoming.