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From: ali@polya.Stanford.EDU (Ali T. Ozer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: Interface Builder question
Message-ID: <7110@polya.Stanford.EDU>
Date: 23 Feb 89 15:30:06 GMT
References: <944@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Reply-To: aozer@NeXT.com (Ali Ozer)
Organization: .
Lines: 36

In article <944@blake.acs.washington.edu> Mark Crispin writes:
>     I can -- and will -- have many instances of these windows on the
>screen at the same time.  Every time I read a message I'll get a new
>read window, etc.  So, really the windows I defined via IB (which have
>a scrolling text view and some buttons) are prototypes for the windows
>I will create.
>
>     However, I am at a total loss for how I should instantiate these
>windows.  If I call the "new" factory method for the class associated
>with each of these windows, then what I get is the tiny default window
>made by [Window new].

To create a new window without using IB, use the 

  newContent:style:backing:buttonMask:defer:

method in Window. It creates an offscreen window which can be brought
on screen with orderFront:. You can use setContentView: and addSubview:
to add your own buttons/sliders/views/etc to such a window.

Please don't decompile interfaces in IB; the resulting code isn't 
complete or reliable.

There's actually a nice way to generate the prototype window in IB. From the
"New..." window, choose "New Object." (This lets you create a new
object class independent of any application.) Create your window
within the context of this "New Object" project, and save and decompile
it. You will get a .nib file which contains the definition of your window
and a .m file that contains the method to instantiate such a window,
including all the views inside it... All your application has to do
is call this object's "new" method to instantiate a window.

Hope this helps.

Ali Ozer, aozer@NeXT.com
NeXT Developer Support