I tend to believe that it's because of step 4 that some developers (#include me) still do not like auto layout. Because even with a very simple view, you can waste a lot of time with this step.
On Thu, Apr 21, 2016 at 9:49 PM, Bill Cheeseman <wjcheese...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> On Apr 21, 2016, at 3:19 PM, Charles Srstka <cocoa...@charlessoft.com> wrote: >> >> Am I the only one who likes autolayout? > > > No, I like it, too. I developed an approach that I'm comfortable with, and if > I stick to it I can get the job done quickly. Of course, trying to accomplish > something I haven't done before requires a little more thought, but I find > that I can figure it out pretty quickly. It almost comes natural now. > > I use IB exclusively. My approach goes like this, on a one-window-at-a-time > or one-view-at-a-time basis: > > 1. Drag all the views and controls onto the canvas and drop them more or less > where I want them to end up. Don't waste any time trying to align them or > make them the right size exactly -- just get position and size approximately > right and move on. Leave it looking a little ragged. Above all, don't create > any constraints yet. > > 2. Write enough of the application code to get a sense whether the layout > needs to be changed. Change it as needed, but again don't waste any time > getting it exactly right and don't create any constraints yet. > > 3. When the design feels like its ready to be frozen, create the constraints. > DO NOT move the controls and views into the exact place they belong and then > add constraints -- instead, do it the other way around: create the > constraints first and then tell the controls and views to obey them. It will > be much easier to see that they all moved into the right place, because they > will all move a relatively short distance. More on this step below. > > 4. Every time you tell a window or view to obey new constraints, watch very > carefully. If the controls and views move or resize in unexpected ways, or > disappear completely, immediately choose undo to get back to where you were > (with all the controls and views in approximately the right locations). Then > figure out which constraint you left out or got wrong, and fix it. Repeatedly > undo and fix as needed. > > 5. When you think you're done, lock the constraints down and do a lot of > window resizing, divider dragging, and so on to test them. > > More on step 3. I create constraints the way I read: start at the top left > corner, move item by item to the right, then move down one "row" and start at > the left again, and so on until I reach the bottom right corner. This leads > to some useful consistencies to help my brain figure out why something went > wrong. (a) For example, it is often only the leftmost button in the top "row" > of controls that needs a top constraint to the superview; the other buttons > in that "row" will have their vertical dimension controlled by baseline or > center alignment, or something similar. (b) Horizontal constraints are easily > made complete, because I account for each piece one step at a time from left > to right: leading constraint, width constraint, trailing constraint, etc. (c) > I don't worry about hugging priorities and the like until all else fails, > because the default priorities are designed to be right for most situations. > > -- > > Bill Cheeseman - wjcheese...@comcast.net > > _______________________________________________ > > Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) > > Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. > Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com > > Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: > https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/dev.iceberg%40gmail.com > > This email sent to dev.iceb...@gmail.com -- Packaging Resources - http://s.sudre.free.fr/Packaging.html _______________________________________________ Cocoa-dev mailing list (Cocoa-dev@lists.apple.com) Please do not post admin requests or moderator comments to the list. Contact the moderators at cocoa-dev-admins(at)lists.apple.com Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: https://lists.apple.com/mailman/options/cocoa-dev/archive%40mail-archive.com This email sent to arch...@mail-archive.com
