To compose your application's interface, you just drag objects off a palette, drop them on a window or other ªsurface,º and then manipulate and arrange them into an effective user interface. 
This chapter introduces you to Interface Builder by showing how to compose the elements of your interface.

Working with Interface Builder
1

Composing 
the Interface

Opening a nib file

Creating a nib file

Using palettes

Placing interface objects

Sizing windows and panels

Initializing text

Sizing interface objects

Positioning and sizing precisely

Duplicating objects

Moving objects to other windows

Arranging objects

Removing objects

Making interface objects the same size

Shrinking objects to their minimum size

Grouping objects

Layering objects

Creating menus

Creating matrices of objects

The last thing one knows in constructing a work is 
what to put first.
	Blaise Pascal, PensÝes

Measurement began our might.
	W. B. Yeats, ªUnder Ben Bulbenº

IB1_OpeningFile;,OPENING A NIB FILE

,	Double-click a nib file in Project Builder.

Or

,	Double-click a nib file in the nib filewindow.

Or

,	In Interface Builder, choose the Open command and select a file in the Open Panel.

You'll usually open a nib file in Project Builder, since that is the central tool for application development. When you create an application in Project Builder,  an empty nib file is automatically created for you and added to the project's Interfaces suitcase. This file has the same name as your application project and, like all nib  files, ends with the extension .nib.

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You can also open nib files directly in the Workspace's File Viewer by double-clicking them. And you can open nib files from within Interface Builder by choosing the Open command from the Document menu; in the Open panel locate and select the file.

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Nib files (so called because of their .nib extension) archive the class definitions, objects, and the connections between objects when you create an interface in Interface Builder. See ªWhat's in a Nib Fileº later in this chapter for some conceptual background on nib files.

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IB1_StartingUp;,When Interface Builder Starts Up

When you open a nib file, Interface Builder displays several windows and panels on your screen.

The palette window holds all currently loaded palettes  of objects. You select a palette by clicking its icon (if it is not already visible). Then drag objects from the palette to the appropriate surface.

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The interface window This window or panel displays the  actual interface that you're working on. If this is the first time you've opened a main nib file in Project Builder, an empty window is displayed.

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The nib file window This window contains multiple views that display the contents of the nib file. Selected by clicking a folder tabs, these views show archived objects; the connections among objects, the current class hierarchy (including any custom classes that you may have created), and the images and sounds stored in the nib file.

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The Inspector panel This multiform panel displays the attributes, connections, and size of a selected object. It also presents the object's resizing characteristics and its associated help.

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You can control whether the palette window and the Inspector panel appear when Interface Builder starts up by checking the appropriate boxes in the Preferences panel. 

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CREATING A NIB FILE

,	Choose one of the panels in the New Modules submenu of the Document menu.

Or

,	Choose New Empty from the New Modules submenu, then drag a window or panel from the Windows palette.

Or

,	Choose New Application from the Document menu.

Nib files are created for you automatically when you create applications in Project Builder. But sometimes you need to create nib files directly in Interface Builder, typically when you want to add additional windows and panels to your application. 

To create a new panel (and the nib file that contains it) choose the desired panel type from the New Module submenu of the Document menu. For example, if you choose New Info Panel, you'll get the following template panel:

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Most commands of the New Module submenu create new nib files that contain a special kind of ready-made panel; your application can later load these nib files when it needs them. The New Empty command just creates an empty nib file; you must create the windows and panels for it by dragging these objects from the Windows palette. The New Application command in the Document menu can create your application's main nib file (a nib file with the owner of Application) if that hasn't already been done for you in Project Builder.

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IB1_StartingUp;,
Saving the Nib File

An UNTITLED nib file window appears for each newly-created nib file. After you make changes to an interface, remember to save the nib file. Choose Save from the Document menu and specify a path and file name in the Save Panel. Interface Builder may ask if you want to insert the file into your project; you usually confirm by clicking Yes.

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IB1_UsingPalettes;,USING PALETTES

1	Choose the palette you want.

2	Drag an object from the palette to the appropriate ªsurface.º

3	Release the mouse button.

The palette window of Interface Builder displays all currently loaded palettes. Each palette is represented in the window by an icon. If more than four palettes are loaded, a horizontal scroll bar gives access to those palette icons that are not visible. Choose a palette and then drag an object from the palette and drop it on an appropriate surface.

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The palettes for the Application Kit are loaded by default. These palettes provide windows, panels, browsers, scroll views, buttons, text fields, and a number of other interface objects. You can also load palettes for other kits, such as the Enterprise Objects Framework, and you can load your own custom palettes.

Note: Where you ªdropº a window or panel is important, since that sets its initial position on the screen, the location that appears when the application starts up or when its nib file is loaded.

You can have auxiliary nib files, such as an Info panel, that  you load into your program  only when you need to. The programming technique of loading nib files on demand (lazy instantiation) is described in Chapter 5, ªWorking with Multiple Nib Files.º

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IB1_WhatsInFile;,What's in a Nib File

When you save an interface in Interface Builder, it's archived to a nib file. Every application has a main nib file, which contains the main menu and often a window and other objects. A nib file (actually a file package) has the extension .nib. This nib file contains:

·	Archived objects, in their hierarchy
·	Sound and image data
·	Information on custom classes
·	Connection information

Archived Objects
The nib file stores encoded information on kit objects, including their size, location, and position in the object hierarchy (for View objects, determined by superview/subview relationship). At the top of the hierarchy of archived objects is the File's Owner object, a proxy object that points to the actual object that owns the nib file.  (For a description of File's Owner, see the concept summary on File's Owner, First Responder, and Font Manager in Chapter 3.)

Sounds and Images
Any sound or image files (TIFF or EPS) that you drag and drop over the nib file window are stored in the nib file.

Class References
Interface Builder can store the details of kit objects and objects that you palettize (static palettes), but it does not know how to archive instances of your custom classes since it doesn't have access to the code. For these classes, Interface Builder stores a proxy object to which it attaches class information.  

Connection Information
A nib file also contains information about how objects within the object hierarchy are interconnected. Connector objects special to Interface Builder store this information. When you save the document, connector objects are archived in the nib file along with the objects they interconnect. 

When You Load a Nib File
The following things take place when you load a nib file with the loadNibSection:owner:withNames: method:

·	The run-time system unarchives the objects from the object hierarchy, allocating memory for each object and sending it a read: message. After its unarchived, an object receives awake and finishUnarchiving messages.

·	It unarchives each proxy object and queries it to determine the identity of the class that the proxy represents. Then it creates an instance of this custom class (alloc and init) and frees the proxy.

·	The system unarchives the connector objects and allows them to reestablish connections, including connections to File's Owner.

·	As the final step, the run-time system sends awakeFromNib 
to all objects that were derived from information in the nib file, signalling that the loading process is complete.

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ªWhere Palette Objects Goº  later in this chapter illustrates the proper ªsurfacesº for interface objects.

 See the Enterprise Objects Framework Developer's Guide for more information on Enterprise Objects Framework palettes.

See the task ªManaging Palettesº in Chapter 5 for instructions on loading and installing palettes.

IB1_PlacingObjs;,PLACING INTERFACE OBJECTS

1	Select the object you want to move.

2	Drag the object to the new location in the window or panel.

To move an object around the ªsurfaceº of a window or panel, select the object and drag it with the mouse. The currently selected object has resizing handles around its perimeter. 

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When you move an object, make sure that the mouse pointer is inside the object and not on a resize handle. 

For greater precision, select an object and press the arrow keys; this moves the object an incremental distance in the required direction. If the alignment grid is off, this distance is one pixel; if it is on, it is the distance of the grid.

You can adjust the size and location of objects precisely by specifying their origins, width, and height in the Size display of the object's Inspector. 

See ªPositioning and Sizing Preciselyº later in this chapter for details.

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Selecting Multiple Objects

You can select multiple objects and then move, copy, or do other things with them as a group. There are two ways to select more than one object:

·	Hold down the Shift key while you click objects in succession. 

·	Click in an empty area, then draw a ªrubberbandingº rectangle around all objects you want selected. 

After making the selection, press (don't momentarily click) the mouse pointer on one of the objects and drag the group to the new location. (Or do another suitable operation, such as copy and paste.)

To de-select an object in a grouped selection, hold down the Shift key and click that object.

You cannot do sizing operations on multiple selected objects.

To select all objects in a window or panel, first select the window or panel, and then choose the Select All command from the Edit menu. You can select all items in the Instances or Classes display by choosing Select All from the Edit menu. The command-key equivalent for Select All is Command-a.

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Where Palette Objects Go

You can put windows and panels anywhere in the work space. Nothing contains them except the screen.

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You put items from the Views and TextViews palettes anywhere within the bounds of a window or panel. These items include buttons, labels, pop-up menus, fields, boxes, text fields, scroll views, browsers, and custom Views.

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You drag a menu cell from the Menu palette and drop it in the application's menu. When you release the mouse button, Interface Builder inserts the cell between the two menu commands underneath it.

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Some palettes, like the one for the Enterprise Objects Framework, carry objects that do not appear on an interface. These usually are controller objects that perform management or computational functions. Drop these objects anywhere on the Instances display of the nib file window.

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IB1_SizingWindows;,SIZING WINDOWS AND PANELS

,	Drag the resize bar in the direction you want the window to grow.

Or

,	Bring up the Inspector panel and enter the dimensions in the Size view.

After you drag a window or panel from the Windows palette and drop it on the screen, you'll probably want to resize the object to a suitable dimension. To resize a window, drag the resize bar in the required direction.

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Many panels and some windows are not set for resizing and therefore do not have  a resize bar visible. To make this bar temporarily visible for resizing in Interface Builder, click the miniaturize button in the upper-left corner of the window or choose the Resize Window command from the Format menu.

You can also resize windows and panels with greater precision by entering the exact dimensions in the Size display of the Inspector panel. To bring up the Size Inspector for a window, select the window by clicking its title bar, then choose Inspector from the Tools menu (or press Command-3).

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You can also use the  Inspector panel to size View objects with numerical exactness. See ªPositioning  and Sizing Preciselyº for further information.

Also see ªThe Coordinate System of Interface Builderº for some conceptual background.

IB1_InitText;,INITIALIZING TEXT

1	Select the object.

2	Double-click the text inside the interface object.

3	Edit the text.

4	Deselect the text by clicking outside of it.

Many of the palette objects include text as a component. Buttons of all sorts  usually have titles, boxes usually name the elements they group, and so on. Interface Builder initially sets the text in most of these objects to the name of the object  itself (such as ªButtonº or ªTextº).  After you drag the palette object onto a window or panel, you will probably want to delete these text strings or rename them to something meaningful. This text is what is initially displayed when your application loads the nib file; your application can later change the text.

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Once text is selected, you can move the cursor among the characters by pressing the left and right arrow keys; you can delete characters by pressing the Delete key. Text fields are initialized to ªTextº (which you'll almost always want to delete). To delete this, double-click it and press the Delete key.

MatricesÐcompound objects, such as radio buttons and form fieldsÐneed a slightly different procedure for selecting text for initialization: You must double-click  the embedded text item twice, the first time to select the embedded object, and the second time to select the text inside the object.

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ªCreating Matrices of Objectsº later in this chapter describes how to create these compound objects. Also see ªCompound Objectsº in Chapter 2 for a conceptual summary of Matrix objects and other compound objects.

IB1_SizingObjs;,SIZING INTERFACE OBJECTS

1	Select an object.

2	Drag a resize handle in the desired direction.

Interface objects in Interface Builder scale to any practical dimension. You can, for instance, increase the size of a button so it fills a window. Most interface objects, however, do not scale below a certain minimum size of usefulness.

To size an object you must first select it. A selected object has resize handlesÐsmall, gray rectanglesÐaround its perimeter. Drag one of these handles in the direction you want the object to increase (or decrease) in size. 

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To affect just one dimension of the object, drag a top, bottom or side handle. To adjust both dimensions simultaneously, drag one of the corner handles. To size both dimensions proportionally, hold down the Shift key while you drag a corner resize handle.

You can adjust the size and location of objects precisely by specifying their origins, width, and height in the Size display of the object's Inspector panel. 

See ªPositioning and Sizing Preciselyº on the following page for details.

IB1_PreciseSize;,POSITIONING AND SIZING PRECISELY

1	Select an object.

2	Choose the Size Inspector for that object.

3	Modify the object's origin point or its dimensions.

You can move and resize objects in your interface with numerical exactness using 
the Inspectors for those objects. You'll occasionally find need for such exactness, such as when you want to size a custom view to the same dimensions as the image that 
it will display. More frequently you'll use this method to align objects or make sure they're the same size.

To size and move objects with precision, select a reference object and then choose 
the Inspector option from the Tools menu. Choose Size from the pop-up menu at 
the top of the Inspector panel. (You can also bring up the Size display by pressing Command-3.) Note the position and dimensions of the reference object. 

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When you press Return in an origin or dimension field, the object moves to the new position or expands or contracts to the new size.

Tip: You can also move selected objects incrementallyÐand preciselyÐby pressing 
the arrow key that points in the required direction. Each incremental ªnudgeº moves the object the distance of the grid or, if the grid is turned off, one pixel.

IB1_DupObjs;,DUPLICATING OBJECTS

1	Select an object.

2	Copy the object to the pasteboard.

3	Paste the object back to the interface.

4	Position the new object.

To duplicate an object, select it and then copy and paste it just as you would with geometric shapes in a drawing application. The copied object has the dimensions and most other attributes of the original object.

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Choose Copy from the Edit menu, then choose Paste from the Edit menu.

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The new object is offset slightly from the original one to help you select it. Move the new object to its new location.

In addition to the objects that appear on the interface, you can copy your custom  non-UI objectsÐrepresented as cubes in the icon mode of the nib file windowÐas well as your windows and panels. Just click to select them and then copy and paste them.

Tip: Instead of choosing Copy and Paste from the menu, you can press Command-c (Copy) and Command-v (Paste).

You can also duplicate groups of selected objects by copying them and then pasting them. See ªSelecting Multiple Objectsº earlier in this chapter for details on making multiple selections of objects.

IB1_MovingOther;,MOVING OBJECTS TO OTHER WINDOWS

1	Select one or more objects.

2	Alternate-drag the objects to the other window or panel.

To move objects from one window or panel to another, drag them between windows while holding down the Alternate key.

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If you want to copy rather than move the selected objects (in other words, the original objects remain in the original location), you have two alternatives:

·	Copy the objects using the Copy command; click the other window or panel to activate it, and use the Paste command to copy the objects from the pasteboard.

·	Copy and paste the objects in one window, than Alternate-drag the duplicated objects to their new window or panel. 

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Copying Objects to Other Interfaces

With the same Alternate-drag technique, you can copy objects between different nib files. Simply select a group of objects in one nib file and, while pressing the Alternate key, drag and drop those objects on the appropriate ªsurfaceº of the other nib file.

Both nib files must be open when you initiate the copy operation. You can copy entire windows or panels as well as custom, non-UI objects between interfaces. 

The surface you drop objects onto must be compatible: 

·	Non-UI objects must be dropped over the Instances display of the nib file window.

·	View objects are dropped over a window or panel or over the Instances display.

·	Windows and panels can be dropped anywhere on the screen.

The basic technique of Alternate-drag also copies the connections among selected objects. See ªCopying interconnected connectionsº in Chapter 3, ªMaking and Managing Connectionsº for details.

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IB1_ArrangeObjs;,ARRANGING OBJECTS

1	Set the characteristics of the grid in the Alignment panel.

2	Turn on the grid.

3	Align objects with the grid.

When you compose your interface, you usually want to arrange the objects in that interface in some appealingly regular way. You want buttons, for instance, to be aligned on the same invisible horizontal or vertical line. Or you want the distance between text fields in a form application to be exactly the same. Interface Builder gives you a set of tools for arranging objects.

Every window or panel has a grid associated with it. You may turn this grid off and on. When it is on and you move an object, an edge of that object ªsnaps,º like a nail to a magnet, to the adjacent intersecting lines of the grid. 

You set the dimensions of this grid and the edges of alignment in Interface Builder's Alignment panel. To bring up this panel, choose the Alignment command in the Align menu (the Align menu is a submenu of the Format menu). 

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The buttons in the Align section of the Alignment panel determine what point or edge of interface objects snaps to the grid. 

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Once you have your grid set up, make sure the grid is turned on: 
Choose Format  Align  Turn Grid On. If you also want the grid visible, choose Show Grid from the same menu. 

Now align the objects, either individually or as a group, using the grid.

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There are other ways to align objects that don't require using the mouse. With the grid turned off, you can drag view objects from a palette and visually align them as precisely as possible. Then set the grid spacing, turn the grid on, and choose the Align To Grid command.

Once the grid is set and on, align the objects, either individually or as a group.

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With the Align To Grid command, the direction of alignment is toward the origin point of the window or panel (in other words, toward the lower-left corner). You should be aware of this when placing objects for later alignment. 

Tip: You can align selected objects to a grid, singly or as a group, by pressing the arrow keys in the direction of alignment. When the grid is turned on, the unit of increment changes from one pixel to whatever the grid spacing is

Making Columns and Rows of Objects

It is more efficient to align groups of objects than to align single objects successively. With the Make Column and Make Row commands, Interface Builder aligns groups of selected objects to a reference object. You designate the reference object by the way you select multiple objects.:

·	If you press the Shift key while clicking objects in succession, the first object clicked is the reference object.

·	If you draw a selection rectangle around a group of objects, and so select objects simultaneously, the topmost object in the selection (usually the most recently added object) is the reference object.

For most purposes, Shift-clicking objects is the preferred method because it permits more control.

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IB1_RemoveObjs;,REMOVING OBJECTS

1	Select one or more objects.

2	Choose Cut from the Edit menu.

To delete objects from an interface, select the objects and choose the Cut command.

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You can also delete an object by pressing the Delete key, but the differences between the Delete key and the Cut command are significant. The Cut command saves the selected objects to the pasteboard, so you can retrieve the objects with the Paste command (Command-v). The Delete key permanently deletes the selected items.

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The Coordinate System in Interface Builder
 
The Size display of an object's Inspector panel shows that object's precise location and dimensions. The x and y fields hold the origin point (horizontal and vertical) for the object within the drawing context of its enclosing window or panel. The w and h fields hold the width and height. All values are in pixels.

Within a window or panel, the lower left corner is origin 0,0. This is the point of reference for objects within that window or panel. 

Therefore, when you move or size objects downward or to the left, the values in the Size display are decremented.

The point of reference for a window or panel (or origin 0,0) is the lower-left corner of the screen. This means that the same relationship applies: if you decrement its x value in the Size display, it moves to the left; if you decrement its y value, it moves toward the bottom of the screen; decrement its w or h values and it becomes smaller.

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IB1_UIDesign;,NeXT's Basic UI Design Philosophy

Composing a user interface involves much more than techniques for placing, sizing, and arranging objects on a window. When you put your application's UI together in Interface Builder, keep in mind the following principles that NeXT has developed, through trial and test, to guide interface designers.

Make It Consistent
When all applications share the same basic interface, each application benefits. Consistency makes each application easier to learn, and so increases the likelihood of acceptance and use. Just as with so many natural ªinterfacesº in life, conventions count for a great deal. Although different applications are designed to accomplish different tasks, they all share, to some degree, a set of common operations such as selecting, editing, scrolling, and setting options. Reliable conventions are possible only when these operations are carried out the same way for all applications.

Make it Feel Natural
Try to make the screen a visual metaphor for the real world, so that the objects in it reflect the way the represented things actually behave. That's what an ªintuitiveº interface is ± it behaves as we expect based on our experience with objects in the real world.

Modeled objects don't have to mimic every detail of their real counterparts, but they should behave in similar ways. For example, objects in the real world stay where we put them; they don't disappear and reappear again, unless someone causes them to do so. Users should immediately recognize the objects in your interface and should use them for the sorts of operations that people typically use their real counterparts for.

Put the User in Charge
Users should have the widest freedom of action. If an action makes sense, your application should allow it. In particular, avoid setting up arbitrary modes, periods during which only certain actions are permitted. On occasion, however, modes are a reasonable way of solving a problem, particularly in these forms:

·	attention panels

·	modal tools

·	ªspring-loadedº mode (while mouse or key down)

But these modes should be freely chosen, provide an easy way out, be visually apparent, and keep the user in control.

At the same time, you should try to anticipate what users will do and ease their way, reducing the actions they must perform. Give them freedom, but still act on their behalf without waiting for their instructions. These helping actions should be simple and convenient, like, in the Open panel, preselecting a directory that is probably in the path of the final selection.

Focus on the Mouse
The mouse is the most appropriate instrument for a graphical interface. The keyboard is principally used for entering text, but the mouse is the instrument by which users manipulate the objects of your interface. Your user interface should support three paradigms of mouse action:

·	Direct manipulation

·	Targeted action

·	Modal tool

See NEXTSTEP User Interface Guidelines for more on action paradigms and much more information important to the design of your user interface.

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IB1_SameSize;,MAKING INTERFACE OBJECTS THE SAME SIZE

1	Select the reference object.

2	Add to the same selection the objects that you want resized.

3	Choose the Same Size command.

To lend a look of consistency to your interface, you often want to make similar objects have the same size. Buttons across the bottom of an attention panel, for instance, should be the same exact size. Interface Builder gives you an easy way to do this, allowing you resize selected objects to a reference object. You designate the reference object differently, depending on your method of selection:

·	If you press the Shift key while clicking objects in succession, the first object clicked is the reference object.

·	If you draw a selection rectangle around a group of objects, selecting the objects simultaneously, the topmost object in the selection (usually the most recently added object) is the reference object.

Making objects the same size involves identifying and selecting a reference object, selecting several other objects, and choosing a command.

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Choose Same Size from the Size submenu (you can find the Size submenu on the Format menu).

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Tip: In most situations, you should select multiple objects by Shift-clicking them because this method gives you more control (you don't always have to keep track of the topmost object as the reference object).

IB1_ShrinkSize;,SHRINKING OBJECTS TO THEIR MINIMUM SIZE

1	Select one or more objects.

2	Choose Size To Fit.

To conserve screen real estate, or to enhance the appearance of your interface, you might want to have view objects just large enough for any text they contain. You can do this with the Size To Fit command.

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The Size To Fit command has no affect on matrices, custom views, and some other objects. If you delete the text from a button, text field, or other object that holds text, and then apply the Size To Fit command to it, that object shrinks to its minimum (and probably unusable) size.

IB1_GroupObjs;,GROUPING OBJECTS

1	Select the objects you want grouped.

2	Choose the Group command.

When you group objects, Interface Builder draws a box around them. The box has a title (initially ªTitleº). You select, move, copy, and cut and paste the objects within the box as a group. Interface Builder gives you two ways to group objects.

In the first method, you select the objects of the group and choose a menu command.

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The default title of the box around the grouped objects is ªBox.º To change this, double-click the title to select it (as in the example above, on the right). Then type the new name for the grouped objects.

To ungroup the objects, making each object individually selectable again, select the group and choose Ungroup from the Group menu. 

You can also use the box object in the Views palette to group objects. First, drag a box onto a window or panel. Then add its contents:

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The Group submenu has two other interesting commands. With the Group In ScrollView command, you can automatically bind a Text object (or your own custom View object) to horizontal and vertical scrollbars. With the Group In SplitView, you can group two related views (often a custom view and a browser object) in a split view, which has a sizing bar between the views.

See the specifications of the ScrollView and NXSplitView classes in Chapter 2 of the NEXTSTEP General Reference.

IB1_LayerObjs;,LAYERING OBJECTS

1	Select an object.

2	Choose Bring To Front or Send To Back.

Every object on a window or panel in Interface Builder is on its own layer. That's why when you move one object over another object, the first object moves in front of 
the second or moves behind it. The most recently added object is generally on the topmost layer.

Occasionally, you need to alter the layering order to make an object visible or to have it appear behind other objects. To do this, apply the Bring To Front command or the Send To Back command (on the Format menu) to selected objects. 

For an example, assume you want two buttons to partly overlay a ScrollView object:

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IB1_CreateMatrix;,CREATING MATRICES OF OBJECTS

1	Drag a suitable object from the Views or TextViews palette.

2	Alternate-drag a resize handle of the object.

You can easily transform certain objects in the standard Interface Builder palettes into matrices of those objects. A matrix (defined by class Matrix) imposes a regular size and intervening distance on a set of identical objects. Matrices afford an easy way to compose forms, arrays of buttons and sliders, and multiple-column browsers. To create a matrix, drag one of these objects to a window or panel:

·	text field
·	button
·	switch button
·	radio button
·	form field
·	slider (vertical or horizontal)
·	browser

Then size the object to the maximum dimension you anticipate for a cell in the matrix. Next create the matrix:

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Tip: To make a browser with more than one column, drag a browser object from the TextFields palette onto your interface; then Alternate-drag the right resize handle until the desired number of columns appear.

IB1_CreateMenu;,CREATING MENUS

1	Drag a menu cell from the Menu palette.

2	Drop it between two menu cells in your application's menu.

Menus are just as important as windows and panels for an interface. Menu commands initiate most of the standard functions of an application, such as printing, opening files, or cutting and pasting text. That's why Interface Builder's Menu palette holds a number of ready-made submenus and menu cells.

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Click several menu cells in your application's main menu and note how some cells in the submenus are dimmed. Dimmed cells indicate that, as the default, the command is inactive until some condition occurs in your code that causes your application to activate the command.

You delete a menu cell just you do with any other object in Interface Builder: select it, then choose the Cut command from the Edit menu (Command-x) or press the Delete key. Also, as with other Interface Builder objects that display text, you can easily change the titles of menu cells: 

·	Double-click the text to select it
·	Type the new title or edit the old one 
·	Click outside the cell to set the new title

You can also do two special tasks with menu cells: re-sequencing and assigning Command keys. By re-sequencing, you change the order in which cells are listed in a menu. By assigning a Command key to a cell, you give the user of your application a command key equivalentÐa shortcut way to invoke the command (as Command-x is a shortcut for invoking the Edit menu's Cut command). 

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Custom menus

In addition to the standard menu commands and submenus, Interface Builder makes it easy for you to compose your own custom menus. Use the Submenu cell in the Menu palette to create custom submenus and use the Item cell for custom menu commands. The Print command is frequently added as a custom cell.

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Change the title of Submenu and click the cell to expand it. Then add Item cells from the Menu palette to the new submenu and change their titles.

You can make menu cells active or inactive by default. Select the cell and set the Disabled button in the Attributes display of the cell's Inspector. See Chapter 2, ªSetting Object Attributesº for more information on using the Inspector panel.

See Chapter 3, ªConnecting Objectsº to learn what you must do to connect menu cells with the objects that are to handle menu commands.