Console in full screen

[neverever]

Ok, I got this GL app that goes fullscreen using coregraphics. I want to pull down a console when a key is pressed. Of course when the console comes up you can enter in commands to get the app to perform tasks/change variables.

Is there a way I can use NSTextView or do I have to implement my own text processing system? If I could subclass NSText or NSTextView what would I hook it up with? I tried a making a window but I cant bring it above the shielding window.

Since my app already can process events my own implementation would consist of drawing polys/bitmaps/textures as letters everytime the user hit a key, and when the user hits enter execute the command.

So should I bother subclassing or just make my own?

[arekkusu]

You might look at NSOpenGLContext's -createTexture:fromView:internalFormat:, if all you want to do is draw the content of an NSView (i.e. no mouse clicks, drags...)

[OneSadCookie]

Er, -createTexture:FromView:internalFormat: only creates it from the OpenGL content of a view...

That said, it's pretty easy to get an NSView to draw to an NSBitmapImageRep, which you can then upload as a texture.

I've always thought it should be possible to pass events directly to the view, and keep updating the texture from it as it redraws itself, but I've not actually tried this.

[arekkusu]

Arrrgh, you're right. Apple has this technote (http://developer.apple.com/qa/qa2001/qa1325.html) showing how to make any NSView into a texture, but it's not going to be very fast with NSBitmapImageRep's current RGBA pixel format limitations.

[neverever]

Hmmm. Im using coregraphics so instead of NSOpenGLContext I have CGLContextObj. From what you say, Looks like its possible to make an offscreen NSView, make it draw to a bitmap, then keep reloading the texture? Sounds easier----ill try to do it.