Re: number formatting
Re: number formatting
- Subject: Re: number formatting
- From: email@hidden
- Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 16:02:13 -0800
Um... nobody has done anything about it because it's not regarded as a
bug, would be my guess. :-> Modularity of design is good. If you
want your value formatted, use an NSFormatter. If you want a cheaper
solution, use setStringValue: and format the string yourself. But
building in code in NSTextfield that lets you set things like the
precision, the exponent format, etc. would be an exceedingly bad
design, IMHO.
This is how I would implement it:
Define a shared number formatter for all text fields. That will work
for, say, 90% of the cases, if not more. Then I wouldn't have to create
all sorts of little number formatters (big waste of memory).
You can use one formatter and share it among all the fields that want
it. In fact, this is how you're *supposed* to do it. It's not Cocoa's
fault that you're using it incorrectly.
For the rare case make me drag a NSNumberFormatter from IB palette to
the text field.
That solution would also save on my wrist as I drag out hundreds of
formatters for no reason at all besides the fact that the default
behavior is useless.
You just don't understand the way it's designed. There is no reason
for you to be dragging out hundreds of formatters.
I haven't looked into this problem in years because we make our own
formatters, so maybe something has changed and I can enable a default
behavior after all. If that is the case I'd like to know it.
Subclass NSTextfield, in your subclass init method add your shared
formatter object, in IB create instances of your subclass. Nothing
could be easier. Alternatively, you could attach your shared formatter
in code after your nib loads, or even have your subclass of NSTextfield
pose as NSTextfield so you get this behavior with no modification
(although I wouldn't recommend that).
What *you* think is good default behavior is not what another person
would think is good default behavior. (I, for example, don't want the
default behavior you suggest; I don't want the default behavior to be
making assumptions about what precision I consider significant). That
is why Cocoa makes no particular effort to define a sophisticated
default behavior, but instead is designed to be easily customized with
formatters.
It doesn't bother me that you don't understand Cocoa's design; none of
us on the list know everything. But it does bother me that you assume
the design is broken, and insult the designers, without educating
yourself about it first.
Ben Haller
Stick Software
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