NSTextField can set both isSelectable (true) and isEditable (false). So far so good.

But how to do this in iOS?

I have a textField which is output only (editing makes no sense at all) but the user might want to select, copy and paste the content.

How can this be done?

When the delegate has:
func textFieldShouldBeginEditing(_ textField: UITextField) -> Bool { false }
then the field cannot be selected.

Gerriet.

On Apr 9, 2022, at 11:59 PM, Gerriet M. Denkmann <gerriet@...> wrote:

I have a textField which is output only (editing makes no sense at all) but the user might want to select, copy and paste the content.

On iOS the idiomatic way to do this is not selecting the text, but a long-press gesture that brings up a context menu with a Copy item.

—Jens

On 10 Apr 2022, at 14:11, Bob Stern via groups.io <bobs.lists@...> wrote:

On 9 Apr 2022, at 23:59, Gerriet M. Denkmann wrote:

NSTextField can set both isSelectable (true) and isEditable (false). So far so good.
But how to do this in iOS?

Is this a new project or one in which you already developed a lot of code? I get the impression it is new because your preceding post concerns an existing UIKit app that you want to port to Mac using Catalyst, whereas your second post, quoted above, implies you're starting from AppKit. If this is a new project, it might be easier to develop it in SwiftUI.

One project is just a toy to try Catalyst.
Another is a real project, which could be done via Catalyst (some minor problems)
A third is a real project, which could be not be done via Catalyst, because it crashed on UIReferenceLibraryViewController (which is marked “Availability Mac Catalyst 13.1+”)


I tried SwiftUI (on macOS) some time ago. But gave up, because: Cannot select (and by implication: cannot copy) Texts.

HStack
{
Text("Day: \(self.sets.globalTime)")
Text("Susceptible: \(String(format: "%.1f", 100 * self.sets.sCnt))")
… more Texts ...
Spacer()
}
.padding(5)

How can I make my Text selectable?


Gerriet.

On 12 Apr 2022, at 15:23, Jens Alfke <jens@...> wrote:

On Apr 9, 2022, at 11:59 PM, Gerriet M. Denkmann <gerriet@...> wrote:

I have a textField which is output only (editing makes no sense at all) but the user might want to select, copy and paste the content.

On iOS the idiomatic way to do this is not selecting the text, but a long-press gesture that brings up a context menu with a Copy item.

So first I enabled isUserInteractionEnabled for my UILabel.

Then, In viewDidLoad() I added:
let interaction = UIContextMenuInteraction(delegate: self)
myLabel.addInteraction(interaction)

Long-press on my UILabel works fine on iPhone and iPad. Somehow idiomatic. What I really expected: double click on my label (or long-press) and get a standard menu on top with: Copy, Look Up, Translate, etc.

And on Mac (using Catalyst): a control-click also gets my context menu.

Thanks for your suggestions!


Gerriet.

On 12 Apr 2022, at 19:31, Bob Stern via groups.io <bobs.lists@...> wrote:

Here's an untested idea worth a quick experiment: In a ZStack, superimpose a TextField view with .opacity(0) over a Text view.

Can select and copy, but only the content of the invisible TextField, not the (visible) Text below.

Gerriet.

On 12 Apr 2022, at 22:32, Quincey Morris <quinceymorris@...> wrote:

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/swiftui/view/textselection(_:)

That is exactly what I was missing when I started this project to years ago in macOS 10.15.4.
textSelection Availability macOS 12.0+

One minor problem:

HStack
{
Text(“One Red”)
.foregroundColor(.red)

Text(“Two Brown”)
.foregroundColor(.brown)
}
.textSelection(.enabled)
.padding(5)

When I triple-click inside my text line, only one colour gets selected.
Probably I need one attributed string with several colours and one Text.

Thanks a lot for your help!

Gerriet.