Mark Damon Hughes

Problem

UIWebView leaves an ugly gray background when dragged up or down. You would like to have it show the view behind it instead (for performance and readability, please use a solid color or VERY simple pattern).

Solution

First, give the UIWebView clear background and non-opaque, either in IB or code:

myWebView.backgroundColor=[UIColor clearColor]; myWebView.opaque=NO;

Then make the page displayed have a clear background:

<style>body { background-color: transparent; }</style>

Problem

When debugging display code, you want to see the frame of a component.

Solution

You can't directly display a CGRect in gdb, but you can use the NSStringFromCGRect() function:

po NSStringFromCGRect((CGRect)[[self view] frame])

See also the UIKit Function Reference for many more useful functions.

Problem

Creating a property takes up to 4 lines of repetitive code in Cocoa: The ivar declaration and @property in foo.h, @synthesize and dealloc in foo.m.

Solution

You can use the commercial product Accessorizer, which is very powerful, but too big and full of clicky buttons and switches for my needs. I just wanted a tool to do minimal analysis of ivars and give me the text, which I can copy into place.

Download accessors.py and follow the instructions in the comments.

Problem

You install new certificates or mobileprovision profiles, but Xcode isn't picking them up.

Solution

Restart Xcode. It only correctly acquires new profiles at startup.

Problem

Some Cocoa methods and functions are just too verbose for normal use.

Solution

Add these to your Foo_Prefix.pch header (or to your own header which you import regularly):

#ifdef DEBUG // DLOG ("Debug Log") takes a format argument and 0 or more args: // DLOG(@""); // DLOG(@"%d", x); // Displays [CLASSNAME METHODNAME]: before the provided log message, ONLY // if preprocessor value DEBUG is set. #define DLOG(fmt, ...) NSLog(@"%s: " fmt, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, ##__VA_ARGS__) #else #define DLOG(...) #endif // Use in -dealloc, to release and assign to nil at the same time. // DO NOT use properties in dealloc or init, you will invoke side-effects! // Use: DEALLOC(varname); #define DEALLOC(_a_) { [_a_ release]; _a_ = nil; } // The NSMakeFoo functions are named badly from the more common TYPEMake, // as seen in CGPointMake, etc. #define NSPointMake(_x_, _y_) NSMakePoint((_x_), (_y_)) #define NSRectMake(_x_, _y_, _w_, _h_) NSMakeRect((_x_), (_y_), (_w_), (_h_)) #define NSSizeMake(_x_, _y_) NSMakeSize((_x_), (_y_)) #define NSRangeMake(_start_, _len_) NSMakeRange((_start_), (_len_)) // I have a bad habit of forgetting the trailing nil in // +[NSArray arrayWithObjects:] and +[NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:], // since it's not required in +[NSString stringWithFormat:]. #define NSArrayMake(...) [NSArray arrayWithObjects:__VA_ARGS__, nil] #define NSDictMake(...) [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:__VA_ARGS__, nil] // Short convenience constructors for NSNumber and NSString instances: #define NSBoolMake(_a_) [NSNumber numberWithBool:(_a_)] #define NSIntMake(_a_) [NSNumber numberWithInteger:(_a_)] #define NSDoubleMake(_a_) [NSNumber numberWithDouble:(_a_)] #define NSStringMake(_fmt_, ...) [NSString stringWithFormat:_fmt_, ##__VA_ARGS__]

I'm "cheating" here, using NS prefixes for functions I created, not Apple. But using my own prefix would be very confusing for many of these.

Problem

Setting up a new Xcode project requires a few steps:

Solution

• File|New Project, pick template, choose dir (~/Code/CodeTouch or ~/Code/CodeMac), enter name.
• Project|Edit Project Settings:
  • Build tab
  • Configuration: All Configurations
  • Treat Warnings as Errors: YES
  • Configuration: Debug
  • Preprocessor Macros: double-click, +, DEBUG=1

Problem

You have common code used in many projects, usually just bits and pieces. Storing it in text files or even Yojimbo or TextExpander is too much trouble and the code can get stale and no longer compile.

Solution

Create an Xcode project named "Clipboard". For every snippet, create a source file with just one method. Every time you add a snippet, Build|Clean and Build|Build.

Problem

The default layout and key bindings in Xcode are dysfunctional.

Solution

In Preferences|General (with NO project open): Layout: All-in-One. You can still double-click a file to open in a new window, but this default keeps you focused on ONE task at a time.

In Preferences|Building: Build Results Open: Always. I set the filter dropdown to "Issues Only", but YMMV.

In Preferences|Debugging: Debug on Start: Open Console. Seeing NSLog output is essential.

In Preferences|Key Bindings, I set these:

File|Close File ⌘W (Closes the active document, NOT the window) File|Close Window ⇑⌘W (So I can't close the project by accident) Project|Project ⌘1 (Main project view) Run|Debugger ⌘2 (Debug/console view)

Objective-C is not the easiest language ever (all the expressive power of Smalltalk, all the syntax and memory complexity of C). Cocoa is a large and complex framework. The iPhone's UIKit is new and still quirky/buggy. Xcode is an… idiosyncratic… IDE. So this blog topic will collect some of my survival/sanity notes.