Select All Text in a Nstextfield Using Swift

Select all text in a NSTextField using Swift

Try this in a playground:

import XCPlayground
import AppKit

let view = NSView(frame: CGRect(x: 0, y: 0, width: 300, height: 300))

XCPShowView("view", view)

let txtf = NSTextField(frame: CGRect(x: 50, y: 50, width: 200, height: 50))

view.addSubview(txtf)

txtf.stringValue = "falling asleep at the keyboard..."

txtf.selectText(nil) // Ends editing and selects the entire contents of the text field

var txt = txtf.currentEditor() // returns an NSText

txt.selectedRange // --> (0,33)

Command-click on selectedRange, then on NSText (its return type), which will jump you to its Swiftened header where you can check out its rich functionality...

Select all text in a UITextField using Swift

textField.becomeFirstResponder()
textField.selectAll(nil)

How can I get Select All working in my subclassed NSTextField/NSTextFieldCell?

The application menu handles sending the keyboard shortcut actions to the application's current first responder. The missing connection would explain why your regular NSTextField objects are missing this functionality as well.

Select all text in TextField upon click SwiftUI

SwiftUI Solution:

struct ContentView: View {
    var body: some View {
        TextField("Placeholder", text: .constant("This is text data"))
            .onReceive(NotificationCenter.default.publisher(for: UITextField.textDidBeginEditingNotification)) { obj in
                if let textField = obj.object as? UITextField {
                    textField.selectedTextRange = textField.textRange(from: textField.beginningOfDocument, to: textField.endOfDocument)
                }
            }
    }
}

Note : import Combine

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Use UIViewRepresentable and wrap UITextField and use textField.selectedTextRange property with delegate.

Here is the sample demo

struct HighlightTextField: UIViewRepresentable {
    
    @Binding var text: String
    
    func makeUIView(context: Context) -> UITextField {
        let textField = UITextField()
        textField.delegate = context.coordinator
        return textField
    }
    
    func updateUIView(_ textField: UITextField, context: Context) {
        textField.text = text
    }
    
    func makeCoordinator() -> Coordinator {
        Coordinator(parent: self)
    }
    
    class Coordinator: NSObject, UITextFieldDelegate {
        var parent: HighlightTextField
        
        init(parent: HighlightTextField) {
            self.parent = parent
        }
        
        func textFieldDidBeginEditing(_ textField: UITextField) {
            textField.selectedTextRange = textField.textRange(from: textField.beginningOfDocument, to: textField.endOfDocument)
        }
    }
}

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For macOS

struct HighlightTextField: NSViewRepresentable {
    
    @Binding var text: String
    
    func makeNSView(context: Context) -> CustomTextField {
        CustomTextField()
    }
    
    func updateNSView(_ textField: CustomTextField, context: Context) {
        textField.stringValue = text
    }
}

class CustomTextField: NSTextField {
    override func mouseDown(with event: NSEvent) {
        if let textEditor = currentEditor() {
            textEditor.selectAll(self)
        }
    }
}

How to get the selected string from a NSTextView in Swift?

What about

let str = mainTextField.text.substring(with: range)

Edit:

This should work now:

let range = mainTextField.selectedRange()     // Returns NSRange :-/ (instead of Range)
let str = mainTextField.string as NSString?   // So we cast String? to NSString?
let substr = str?.substring(with: range)      // To be able to use the range in substring(with:)

Highlight a selection in NSTextField

You may have noticed that an NSTextField only shows a selection range when it has focus, i.e., is the first responder. In this case, editing is handled by an NSTextView called the field editor. So, make sure the field has focus (e.g., by using the makeFirstResponder: method of NSWindow), then use the NSControl method currentEditor to get the field editor, and then you can use the NSText method setSelectedRange:.

ObjC

NSText* fieldEditor = [myField currentEditor];
[fieldEditor setSelectedRange: mySelRange];

Swift

let fieldEditor = textfield.currentEditor()
fieldEditor?.selectedRange = range

Deselecting Text in NSTextField

In a simple app with just a window and textfield.

I set the textField to firstResponder.

This makes the text selected when the app runs.

If I add to the the applicationDidFinishLaunching

NSRange tRange = [[ _theTextField currentEditor] selectedRange];
[[ _theTextField currentEditor] setSelectedRange:NSMakeRange(tRange.length,0)];

Now when run the Text is not selected and the insertion point is at the end of the text.

I used selectedRange to get the selection char length. As the text was selected in the first place and seem more simple.

- (void)awakeFromNib{
    [_theTextField setStringValue:@"100000"];

}
- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(NSNotification *)aNotification {
    [[[NSApplication sharedApplication] mainWindow] makeFirstResponder:_theTextField];

    NSRange   tRange = [[ _theTextField  currentEditor] selectedRange];
    [[ _theTextField  currentEditor] setSelectedRange:NSMakeRange(tRange.length,0)];

}

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