You can find the source code here: Drag & Drop Test Source Code.

I’ve made a simple example that you can see below where I’ve used custom NSView that draws an Image and a Bezier Path with some text inside, and around the Bezier Path there’s a Shadow.

Cocoa Drawing Example

…And this is the drawRect method source code of the custom NSView.

- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)frameRect {
  [NSGraphicsContext saveGraphicsState];

  [[NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:0.64 green:0.66 blue:0.71 alpha:1.0] set];
  NSRectFill(frameRect);

  /* Draw Shadow */
  NSShadow *shadow = [[NSShadow alloc] init];
  [shadow setShadowColor:[[NSColor blackColor] colorWithAlphaComponent:0.5]];
  [shadow setShadowOffset:NSMakeSize(4.0, -4.0)];
  [shadow setShadowBlurRadius:3.0];
  [shadow set];

  /* Draw Control */
  NSRect myRect = NSMakeRect(80, 50, frameRect.size.width - 120, 60);
  NSBezierPath *path = [NSBezierPath bezierPath];
  [path setLineJoinStyle:NSRoundLineJoinStyle];
  [path appendBezierPathWithRoundedRect:myRect xRadius:8.0 yRadius:8.0];    

  [path moveToPoint:NSMakePoint(80, 75)];
  [path lineToPoint:NSMakePoint(65, 85)];
  [path lineToPoint:NSMakePoint(80, 95)];

  NSColor *startingColor = [NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:0.90
                                             green:0.92 blue:0.85 alpha:1.0];
  NSColor *endingColor = [NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:0.81
                                           green:0.83 blue:0.76 alpha:1.0];
  NSGradient *gradient = [[[NSGradient alloc] initWithStartingColor:startingColor
                                 endingColor:endingColor] autorelease];
  [path fill];
  [gradient drawInBezierPath:path angle:90];

  [NSGraphicsContext restoreGraphicsState];

  [shadow release];

  NSImage *image = [NSImage imageNamed:NSImageNameUser];
  [image drawInRect:NSMakeRect(15, 50, 50, 50) fromRect:NSZeroRect
                operation:NSCompositeSourceOver fraction:1.0];

  NSString *string = [NSString stringWithString:@"Text\nMore Text"];
  [string drawInRect:NSMakeRect(90, 60, frameRect.size.width - 140, 45)
                        withAttributes:nil];
}

Cocoa Filterbar Demo

Below, I’ve added a movie… but it doesn’t [sizeToFit] the page… so here is the link of Cocoa Filterbar Demo. And here you can find the Cocoa Filterbar Souce.

Example: Cocoa Horizontal Box

This is the HBox Source…

@interface HBox : NSView {
    NSUInteger hspace;
}

@property (readwrite, assign) NSUInteger space;

- (id)initWithFrame:(NSRect)frameRect;

- (void)clearItems;

- (void)addItem:(NSControl *)itemView;
- (void)removeItemAtIndex:(NSUInteger)index;

- (void)moveItem:(NSView *)view space:(NSInteger)space;
- (void)moveItems:(NSInteger) space fromIndex:(NSUInteger)index;
@end

@implementation HBox

@synthesize space = hspace;

- (id)initWithFrame:(NSRect)frameRect {
    if ((self = [super initWithFrame:frameRect])) {
        hspace = 4;
    }
    return self;
}

- (void)dealloc {
    [super dealloc];
}

- (void)clearItems {
    NSArray *subviewArray = [self subviews];
    NSUInteger subviewCount = [subviewArray count];

    while (subviewCount-- > 0) {
        NSView *view = [subviewArray objectAtIndex:0];
        [view removeFromSuperview];
        [view release];
    }

    [self setNeedsDisplay:YES];
}

- (void)removeItemAtIndex:(NSUInteger)index {
    NSView *view = [[self subviews] objectAtIndex:index];
    int viewWidth = -1 * [view frame].size.width - hspace;
    [view removeFromSuperview];
    [view release];

    [self moveItems:viewWidth fromIndex:index];
    [self setNeedsDisplay:YES];
}

- (void)moveItem:(NSView *)view space:(NSInteger)space {
    NSRect rect = [view frame];
    rect.origin.x += space;
    [view setFrame:rect];
}

- (void)moveItems:(NSInteger) space fromIndex:(NSUInteger)index {
    NSArray *subviewArray = [self subviews];
    NSUInteger subviewCount = [subviewArray count];

    for (; index < subviewCount; ++index)
        [self moveItem:[subviewArray objectAtIndex:index] space:space];
}

- (void)addItem:(NSControl *)itemView {
    [itemView sizeToFit];

    NSRect itemFrame = [itemView frame];
    NSView *lastView = [[self subviews] lastObject];
    if (lastView != nil) {
        itemFrame.origin.x = [lastView frame].origin.x +
                             [lastView frame].size.width +
                             hspace;
    } else {
        itemFrame.origin.x = [self bounds].origin.x + hspace;
    }
    itemFrame.origin.y = [self bounds].origin.y;
    [itemView setFrame:itemFrame];

    [self addSubview:itemView];
    [self setNeedsDisplay:YES];
}

@end

And This is a simple “Main” to test the HBox.

- (NSTextField *)createTextField:(NSString *)text {
    NSTextField *field = [[NSTextField alloc] init];
    [field setStringValue:text];
    return [field retain];
}

- (NSButton *)createButton:(NSString *)caption {
    NSButton *button = [[NSButton alloc] init];
    [button setBezelStyle:NSRecessedBezelStyle];
    [button setButtonType:NSPushOnPushOffButton];
    [[button cell] setHighlightsBy:(NSCellIsBordered | NSCellIsInsetButton)];
    [button setShowsBorderOnlyWhileMouseInside:YES];
    [button setButtonType:NSOnOffButton];
    [button setTitle:caption];

    return [button retain];
}

- (void)awakeFromNib {
    [box addItem:[self createTextField:@"Label 1"]];
    [box addItem:[self createButton:@"Button 1"]];
    [box removeItemAtIndex:0];
    [box addItem:[self createTextField:@"Label 2"]];
    [box addItem:[self createButton:@"Say"]];
}

Download Here the Test Cocoa HBox Source.

Mail uses html and css loaded into a WebView (WebKit) to render the background of the window. I’ve used a simple NSView, I’ve Inherited from it and I’ve added a couple of feature to render an image as background pattern. Below you can see the result and here you can Download the Source.

NSWindow with Image Pattern as Background