Grey user notifications in OS X

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Andrew Ebling - 24 Jan 2006 21:35 GMT

Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
brightness or volume control on a laptop?

All of my experience to date is for drawing within ordinary windows,
let alone drawing straight to the screen and with transparency.

I'm not asking for a complete solution, just a few pointers of where to
get started (any particular Cocoa classes that I should check out), or
an overall approach to adopt.

Many thanks,

Andrew

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Gregory Weston - 25 Jan 2006 03:27 GMT

> Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
> are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
> brightness or volume control on a laptop?

Trivial, but not obvious. You can start with Apple's sample code for a
round translucent window.

<http://developer.apple.com/samplecode/RoundTransparentWindow/RoundTransp
arentWindow.html>

> All of my experience to date is for drawing within ordinary windows,
> let alone drawing straight to the screen and with transparency.

Don't worry; you're not drawing straight to the screen. It's just a
window that happens to not be opaque. It's actually quite
straightforward. Send e-mail if you get stuck.

G

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I have no idea what it means, but it's such a cool "word" (by which I mean
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Andrew Ebling - 25 Jan 2006 08:03 GMT

>> Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
>> are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> window that happens to not be opaque. It's actually quite
> straightforward. Send e-mail if you get stuck.

Hi Gregory,

Thanks very much - _exactly_ what I was looking for. As you say - it's
easy when you know how :-).

thanks again,

Andrew

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Clark S. Cox III - 25 Jan 2006 13:28 GMT

> Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
> are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> get started (any particular Cocoa classes that I should check out), or
> an overall approach to adopt.

If you want to post notifications like this to the user, I'd suggest
not re-inventing the wheel. Check out Growl: <http://growl.info/>

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Clark S. Cox, III
clarkcox3@gmail.com

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Andrew Ebling - 28 Jan 2006 16:49 GMT

>> Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
>> are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> If you want to post notifications like this to the user, I'd suggest
> not re-inventing the wheel. Check out Growl: <http://growl.info/>

Thanks for the tip!

Is it possible to bundle Growl into an application? I really hate it
when I download software and then have to go and download some random
framework to make it work - goes completely against the "just works"
thing. If I wanted life to be that much hassle, I'd use Linux ;-).

Andy

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Gregory Weston - 29 Jan 2006 16:05 GMT

> >> Does anyone know how to create the grey on-screen user prompts which
> >> are displayed when you press F12/Eject, or when you adjust the screen
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> framework to make it work - goes completely against the "just works"
> thing. If I wanted life to be that much hassle, I'd use Linux ;-).

Growl use requires embedding one of two frameworks. One of those
frameworks has an integrated installer.

Adding Growl will increase the size of your executable by about 250k for
just the support, 1.6M for the installer.

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"Congurutulation!!!" - The subject line on some spam I received last night.
I have no idea what it means, but it's such a cool "word" (by which I mean
pronouncable sequence of letters) regardless.

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Mac Forum / Programming / Mac Programming / January 2006

Grey user notifications in OS X