NSWindow in front of every app and in front of the menu bar Objective-c Mac

Question

How can I make my NSWindow appear in front of every app and the menubar? I also don't want a title bar on my window. Just a fullscreen app without the dock menubar and not in apple's fullscreen mode. I can get my window above all of the other apps and dock like this:

[window setLevel:kCGPopUpMenuWindowLevel];

but it doesn't cover the mac menubar.

Can you move it behind the menu bar? Or can you just not move it higher that the menubar? — DrummerB, Nov 04 '12 at 18:47
@DrummerB I can't move it behind the menubar of in front of the menubar. The menubar is like a barrier. — atomikpanda, Nov 04 '12 at 18:49

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 04 '12 at 18:49

7

You can't move a default window higher that the menu bar, because it's constrained. You have to subclass NSWindow and override constrainFrameRect:toScreen:

- (NSRect)constrainFrameRect:(NSRect)frameRect toScreen:(NSScreen *)screen {
    return frameRect;
}

answered Nov 04 '12 at 18:49

DrummerB

39,814
12
105
142

How can I subclass an NSWindow? – atomikpanda Nov 04 '12 at 18:51
4

[The Objective-C Programming Language](https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Cocoa/Conceptual/ObjectiveC/Chapters/ocDefiningClasses.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP30001163-CH12-SW1) – DrummerB Nov 04 '12 at 18:54
Paste it where? Did you subclass NSWindow? – DrummerB Nov 04 '12 at 19:43

score 2 · Answer 2 · edited Mar 03 '13 at 11:28

2

Set the window level to NSMainMenuWindowLevel + 2.

If you use NSMainMenuWindowLevel + 1 the top menu bar will still appear sometimes but is very unpredictable. NSMainMenuWindowLevel + 2 forces it to stay above the menu bar and keep focus permanently.

[window setLevel:NSMainMenuWindowLevel + 2];

edited Mar 03 '13 at 11:28

Bo Persson

90,663
31
146
203

answered Mar 03 '13 at 00:31

Justin

2,122
3
27
47

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Oct 11 '16 at 15:11

2

In Swift 3:

window.level = Int(CGWindowLevelForKey(.mainMenuWindow)) + 2

answered Oct 11 '16 at 15:11

Sam Soffes

14,831
9
76
80

NSWindow in front of every app and in front of the menu bar Objective-c Mac

3 Answers3