macOS Float Label Pattern Text Field

A macOS Cocoa single-line NSTextField that implements the Float Label Pattern. You can read about the float pattern here. Usable in Swift and Objective-C projects. Supports secure edit fields.

Screenshot

Why?

I was curious as to whether this pattern would work for a Mac program. I wanted this to be a basic drop-in for an existing text field, using the NSTextField placeholderString value as the floating label title.

Installation

Swift Package Manager

Add https://github.com/dagronf/DSFFloatLabelledTextControl to your project.

Cocoapods

Add pod 'DSFFloatLabelledTextControl', :git => 'https://github.com/dagronf/DSFFloatLabelledTextControl' to your podfile.

Directly

Copy the DSFFloatLabelledTextField.swift into your project. This class inherits directly from NSTextField so all settings that you make on a text field (eg. alignment) should also apply here.

Usage

Interface builder

• Drop in a new Text Field into your canvas and set its class to DSFFloatLabelledTextField or DSFFloatLabelledSecureTextControl depending on whether you need a secure field
• Set the size and style of your primary font as you would a regular text field
• Set the size of the secondary font via the attributes inspector for the control

Dynamically

let field = DSFFloatLabelledTextField()
field.placeholderString = "Dynamic Created"
field.font = NSFont.systemFont(ofSize: 16)
parentView.addSubview(field)
		
/// Setup autolayout constraints etc.

Custom Properties

This control inherits from NSTextField, so all NSTextField functionalities (like cocoa binding and Interface Builder settings) are available. If you can use an NSTextField, you can use this control.

placeholderTextSize - the size of the text used in the floating label (in pt)

placeholderSpacing - the distance between the text field text and the floating label (in px)

Delegate Handling

You can specify a delegate (floatLabelDelegate), either programatically or via Interface Builder, to receive additional information regarding the actions of the control.

@objc public protocol DSFFloatLabelledTextFieldDelegate: NSObjectProtocol {
   /// Called when the label is shown or hidden
   @objc optional func floatLabelledTextField(_ field: DSFFloatLabelledTextField, didShowFloatingLabel didShow: Bool)
   /// Called when the field becomes or loses first responder status
   @objc optional func floatLabelledTextField(_ field: DSFFloatLabelledTextField, didFocus: Bool)
   /// Called when the content of the field changes
   @objc optional func floatLabelledTextFieldContentChanged(_ field: DSFFloatLabelledTextField)
}

Screenshot

Credits

• Pattern devised by Matt D. Smith
• Read about the pattern here
• UITextField implementation

Versions

• 1.8.0 Added secure text field support, delegate support

License

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2023 Darren Ford

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.