Code and cars

NSTableView and its related classes are probably a few of the most abused in the Cocoa API. We make it put icons and text together, feed it strange new NSCells, change its look, subclass it beyond recognition, and call it funny names.

So here's another NSTableView subclass to add to the pile.

The war is over. Let's face it. You lost. Things will never be like it used to be. But it's not all doom and gloom. There's still a spot for you in the new world order. Pessimistically, I expect not a single change from this. Everything I've seen indicates the heads of your industry are firmly against the necessary changes.

I'm reminded of a monkey trap. It involves a box with a hole and fruit inside. The hole's large enough for the monkey to slip his hand in, but only empty. Holding onto the fruit, the hand's too big to leave. Sure enough, the monkey's greed does him in, self-imposed shackles firmly on until the end. Tricks like DRM, root-kits, and suing grandmas only seal the industry's fate, discouraging people from listening to any new music.

The trick is to play to your strengths. Cost isn't your strength; that goes to Kazaa or Gnutella or whatever kids use for P2P these days. But why does iTunes still do well? ITunes can't beat P2P's price of free either. Their secret sauce isn't DRM. It never has been. It's been ease of use.

Like a fan-made tribute, I'm trying to copy the look and feel of the finder while improving a few spots. As I iconForFile: and iconForFileType: are quick and easy. But there's no 'darken' option, and I couldn't find a way to specify a generic folder as a file type. I suppose I could make my own solutions, but it'd break when later versions of the OS changes the default icons. Enter GetIconRefFromFileInfo and GetIconRefFromTypeInfo. (Yes, there's almost no mention of FromTypeInfo on the dev pages, either -- I radared it as Bug ID# 5504413)

Included is the result of this, for your use.