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NSAppearanceMBS class

Type Topic Plugin Version macOS Windows Linux iOS Targets
class Cocoa MBS MacFrameworks Plugin 14.3 ✅ Yes ❌ No ❌ No ❌ No Desktop only
The appearance class.

An NSAppearance object represents a file that specifies a standard or custom appearance that applies to a subset of UI elements in an app. An app can contain multiple appearance files and—because NSAppearance conforms to NSCoding—you can use Interface Builder to assign UI elements to an appearance.

Typically, you customize a window by using Xcode to create an appearance file that contains the views you want to customize and the custom art that should be applied to them. Xcode transforms the file’s art content into a runtime format that AppKit can draw when the specified views are displayed.

If the art for a specific view can’t be found, AppKit searches for the art in the appearances of the view’s ancestors. A nil appearance means that a view uses the default Aqua appearance; a non-nil appearance means that the view uses an ancestor’s appearance.

When AppKit draws a control, it automatically sets the current appearance on the current thread to the control’s appearance. The current appearance can influence the actual drawing path and the return values you get when you access system fonts and colors. The current appearance also affects the appearance of text and images, such as the text and template images that can be displayed in a toolbar.
This is an abstract class. You can't create an instance, but you can get one from various plugin functions.

This class has no sub classes.

Some properties using for this class:

Some examples using this class:

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Release notes

  • Version 21.5
  • Version 20.5
  • Version 20.3
    • Added NSAppearanceNameDarkAqua shared method to NSAppearanceMBS class for dark mode.
  • Version 19.4

The items on this page are in the following plugins: MBS MacFrameworks Plugin.


NSAnimationMBS   -   NSAppleEventDescriptorMBS


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