Contents

NSSplitViewController

An object that manages an array of adjacent child views, and has a split view object for managing dividers between those views.

Declaration

class NSSplitViewController

Overview

A split view controller manages a set of child views that it displays next to each other in a side-by-side or top-to-bottom arrangement.

A split view controller owns an array of split view items (NSSplitViewItem), each of which has a view controller (NSViewController) and corresponding view. The split view controller’s splitView object manages those child views and the dividers between them.

By default, a split view arranges its child views vertically from top to bottom. To specify a horizontal (side-by-side) arrangement, implement the isVertical property of the splitView object to return true.

The split view controller serves as the delegate of its splitView object. If you override a split view delegate method, your override must call super.

To use a split view controller, you must use Auto Layout for the child views and to support animations that collapse and reveal child views. For example, if you design a layout that contains two views, a content area and an optional sidebar, you employ Auto Layout constraints to specify whether the content area shrinks or remains the same size when the sidebar becomes visible.

A split view controller employs lazy loading of its views. For example, adding a collapsed split view item as a new child doesn’t load the associated view until it shows.

For more information about using NSSplitViewController in your app, see Navigating Hierarchical Data Using Outline and Split Views.

Topics

Configuring and Managing a Split View Controller

Modifying a Split View Controller

Managing Sidebars

Managing Inspectors

Responding to View Events

Supporting Protocol Requirements

See Also

Split View Interface