When you use NSTableView in an macOS application, there is no direct way to know a specific NSTableViewCell was clicked by the user. In my Localization Editor project I wanted the user to be able to focus a NSTextField when clicking anywhere in the NSTableViewCell it is contained in, so I had to implement it myself.
I created a new delegate extending the NSTableViewDelegate with one additional method informing about a NSTableViewCell getting clicked
protocol NSTableViewClickableDelegate: NSTableViewDelegate {
func tableView(_ tableView: NSTableView, didClickRow row: Int, didClickColumn: Int)
}Then I added an extension to the NSTableView to compute the index of the clicked NSTableViewCell
extension NSTableView {
open override func mouseDown(with event: NSEvent) {
let localLocation = self.convert(event.locationInWindow, to: nil)
let clickedRow = self.row(at: localLocation)
let clickedColumn = self.column(at: localLocation)
super.mouseDown(with: event)
guard clickedRow >= 0, clickedColumn >= 0, let delegate = self.delegate as? NSTableViewClickableDelegate else {
return
}
delegate.tableView(self, didClickRow: clickedRow, didClickColumn: clickedColumn)
}
}To be able to use this extension you just need to implement NSTableViewClickableDelegate instead of NSTableViewDelegate and use the additional method it provides.