Toggle Sidebar in SwiftUI NavigationView on macOS

Question

I have a macOS Application with a NavigationView and want to have the default ToggleSidebar item in the toolbar of the window.

Currently I set the target of the ToolbarItem to the AppDelegate in toolbarWillAddItem(_) of the NSToolbarDelegate.

Inside of the AppDelegate I implemented

@objc func toggleSidebar(_ sender: Any) {
    ((window.contentView?.subviews.first?.subviews.first?.subviews.first as? NSSplitView)?.delegate as? NSSplitViewController)?.toggleSidebar(self)
}

This solution is working right now. If the implementation of SwiftUI will change this breaks.

So how can this be done in a better way?

IrelDev · Accepted Answer · 2020-09-10 12:33:05Z

15

Since macOS Big Sur beta 4 you can add default sidebar commands with SwiftUI 2.0.

var body: some Scene {
    WindowGroup {
        NavigationView {
            Group {
                SidebarView()
                ContentView()
            }
        }
    }
    .commands {
        SidebarCommands()
    }
}

This code will add the "Toggle Sidebar" shortcut:

SidebarView code:

var body: some View {
    List {
        ForEach(0..<5) { index in
            Text("\(index)")
        }
    }
    .listStyle(SidebarListStyle())
}

answered Sep 10, 2020 at 12:33

IrelDev

3671 gold badge5 silver badges13 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Igor Over a year ago

I am fairly new to SwiftUI (not a newbie programmer though); it seems, that just attaching .commands { SidebarCommands() } to the WindowGroup did the trick (I already had a NavigationView, but it vanished). Thanks for your suggestion and help (tried on XCode 14.3, MacOS 13.x).

Mateus Melchiades · Accepted Answer · 2020-07-21 21:43:01Z

8

In SwiftUI 2.0 you can use NSApp.keyWindow?.firstResponder?.tryToPerform(#selector(NSSplitViewController.toggleSidebar(_:)), with: nil) with a toolbar button like this:

.toolbar {
    ToolbarItem(placement: .navigation) {
        #if os(macOS)
        Button(action: toggleSidebar, label: {
            Image(systemName: "sidebar.left")
        })
        #endif
    }
}

func toggleSidebar() {
    #if os(macOS)
    NSApp.keyWindow?.firstResponder?.tryToPerform(#selector(NSSplitViewController.toggleSidebar(_:)), with: nil)
    #endif
}

answered Jul 21, 2020 at 21:43

Mateus Melchiades

1311 silver badge7 bronze badges

1 Comment

Pyroh Over a year ago

It doesn't work properly if you use the three panels layout (sidebar, primary, detail). NSApp.keyWindow?.contentViewController?.tryToPerform(#selector(NSSplitViewController.toggleSidebar(_:)), with: nil) is better at this and will work also if the primary or detail panel or one of their subviews is the first responder.

diogo · Accepted Answer · 2021-07-10 21:51:03Z

8

While you could try to perform #selector(NSSplitViewController.toggleSidebar(_:)) on keyWindow?.contentViewController or keyWindow?.firstResponder?, it appears that this doesn't work consistently in some situations.

Instead, you can use this command:

NSApp.sendAction(#selector(NSSplitViewController.toggleSidebar(_:)), to: nil, from: nil)

It sends the toggleSidebar selector to the first object that can react to it, meaning, the only sidebar in the current window. This behavior is better documented on Apple's documentation website.

This method is the default implementation used by the SidebarCommands() menu item. This is found by adding the Toggle Sidebar menu item, then fetching it's selector like so:

let menu = NSApp.mainMenu!.items.first(where: { $0.title == "View" })!
let submenu = menu.submenu!.items.first(where: { $0.title == "Toggle Sidebar" })!
submenu.target // nil
submenu.action // #selector(toggleSidebar:)

This means that it will most likely be more consistent (and supported) than the other methods.

answered Jul 10, 2021 at 21:51

diogo

5414 silver badges5 bronze badges

1 Comment

Patrick Over a year ago

Thanks for sharing @diogo, especially for showing what Apple is using under the hood!

Stephan Michels · Accepted Answer · 2020-05-14 06:50:59Z

1

I don't use NavigationView for this. Use a HSplitView instead and use a hidden flag like in https://stackoverflow.com/a/59228385/811010

answered May 14, 2020 at 6:50

Stephan Michels

1,0926 silver badges20 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Toggle Sidebar in SwiftUI NavigationView on macOS

4 Answers 4

1 Comment

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Linked

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

4 Answers 4

1 Comment

1 Comment

1 Comment

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Linked

Related