docs » hs.chooser

A global callback function used for various hs.chooser events

Notes:

• This callback should accept two parameters:
  • An hs.chooser object
  • A string containing the name of the event to handle. Possible values are:
  • willOpen - An hs.chooser is about to be shown on screen
  • didClose - An hs.chooser has just been removed from the screen
• There is a default global callback that uses the willOpen event to remember which window has focus, and the didClose event to restore focus back to the original window. If you want to use this in addition to your own callback, you can call it as hs.chooser._defaultGlobalCallback(event)

Creates a new chooser object

Parameters:

• completionFn - A function that will be called when the chooser is dismissed. It should accept one parameter, which will be nil if the user dismissed the chooser window, otherwise it will be a table containing whatever information you supplied for the item the user chose.

Returns:

• An hs.chooser object

Notes:

• As of macOS Sierra and later, if you want a hs.chooser object to appear above full-screen windows you must hide the Hammerspoon Dock icon first using: hs.dockicon.hide()

Sets the background of the chooser between light and dark

Parameters:

• beDark - A optional boolean, true to be dark, false to be light. If this parameter is omitted, the current setting will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a boolean, true if the window is dark, false if it is light

Notes:

• The text colors will not automatically change when you toggle the darkness of the chooser window, you should also set appropriate colors with hs.chooser:fgColor() and hs.chooser:subTextColor()

Cancels the chooser

Parameters:

• None

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Sets the choices for a chooser

Parameters:

• choices - Either a function to call when the list of choices is needed, or nil to remove any existing choices/callback, or a table containing static choices.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Notes:

• The table of choices (be it provided statically, or returned by the callback) must contain at least the following keys for each choice:
  • text - A string or hs.styledtext object that will be shown as the main text of the choice
• Each choice may also optionally contain the following keys:
  • subText - A string or hs.styledtext object that will be shown underneath the main text of the choice
  • image - An hs.image image object that will be displayed next to the choice
• Any other keys/values in each choice table will be retained by the chooser and returned to the completion callback when a choice is made. This is useful for storing UUIDs or other non-user-facing information, however, it is important to note that you should not store userdata objects in the table - it is run through internal conversion functions, so only basic Lua types should be stored.
• If a function is given, it will be called once, when the chooser window is displayed. The results are then cached until this method is called again, or hs.chooser:refreshChoicesCallback() is called.

Example:

local choices = {
 {
  ["text"] = "First Choice",
  ["subText"] = "This is the subtext of the first choice",
  ["uuid"] = "0001"
 },
 { ["text"] = "Second Option",
   ["subText"] = "I wonder what I should type here?",
   ["uuid"] = "Bbbb"
 },
 { ["text"] = "Third Possibility",
   ["subText"] = "What a lot of choosing there is going on here!",
   ["uuid"] = "III3"
 },
}

Deletes a chooser

Parameters:

• None

Returns:

• None

Sets the foreground color of the chooser

Parameters:

• color - An optional table containing a color specification (see hs.drawing.color), or nil to restore the default color. If this parameter is omitted, the existing color will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a color table

Hides the chooser

Parameters:

• None

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Checks if the chooser is currently displayed

Parameters:

• None

Returns:

• A boolean, true if the chooser is displayed on screen, false if not

Sets/gets placeholder text that is shown in the query text field when no other text is present

Parameters:

• placeholderText - An optional string for placeholder text. If this parameter is omitted, the existing placeholder text will be returned.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object, or the existing placeholder text

Sets/gets the search string

Parameters:

• queryString - An optional string to search for, or an explicit nil to clear the query. If omitted, the current contents of the search box are returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a string

Notes:

• You can provide an explicit nil or empty string to clear the current query string.

Sets/clears a callback for when the search query changes

Parameters:

• fn - An optional function that will be called whenever the search query changes. If this parameter is omitted, the existing callback will be removed.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Notes:

• As the user is typing, the callback function will be called for every keypress. You may wish to do filtering on each call, or you may wish to use a delayed hs.timer object to only react when they have finished typing.
• The callback function should accept a single argument:
  • A string containing the new search query

Refreshes the choices data from a callback

Parameters:

• None

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Notes:

• This method will do nothing if you have not set a function with hs.chooser:choices()

Sets/clears a callback for right clicking on choices

Parameters:

• fn - An optional function that will be called whenever the user right clicks on a choice. If this parameter is omitted, the existing callback will be removed.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Notes:

• The callback may accept one argument, the row the right click occurred in or 0 if there is currently no selectable row where the right click occurred. To determine the location of the mouse pointer at the right click, see hs.mouse.
• To display a context menu, see hs.menubar, specifically the :popupMenu() method

Gets/Sets the number of rows that will be shown

Parameters:

• numRows - An optional number of choices to show (i.e. the vertical height of the chooser window). If this parameter is omitted, the current value will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a number

Gets/Sets whether the chooser should search in the sub-text of each item

Parameters:

• searchSubText - An optional boolean, true to search sub-text, false to not search sub-text. If this parameter is omitted, the current configuration value will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object if a value was set, or a boolean if no parameter was passed

Notes:

• This should be used before a chooser has been displayed

Closes the chooser by selecting the specified row, or the currently selected row if not given

Parameters:

• row - an optional integer specifying the row to select.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Get or set the currently selected row

Parameters:

• row - an optional integer specifying the row to select.

Returns:

• If an argument is provided, returns the hs.chooser object; otherwise returns a number containing the row currently selected (i.e. the one highlighted in the UI)

Returns the contents of the currently selected or specified row

Parameters:

• row - an optional integer specifying the specific row to return the contents of

Returns:

• a table containing whatever information was supplied for the row currently selected or an empty table if no row is selected or the specified row does not exist.

Displays the chooser

Parameters:

• An optional hs.geometry point object describing the absolute screen co-ordinates for the top left point of the chooser window. Defaults to centering the window on the primary screen

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Sets/clears a callback for when the chooser window is shown

Parameters:

• fn - An optional function that will be called when the chooser window is shown. If this parameter is omitted, the existing callback will be removed.

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object

Notes:

• This callback is called after the chooser is shown. To execute code just before it's shown (and/or after it's removed) see hs.chooser.globalCallback

Sets the sub-text color of the chooser

Parameters:

• color - An optional table containing a color specification (see hs.drawing.color), or nil to restore the default color. If this parameter is omitted, the existing color will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a color table

Gets/Sets the width of the chooser

Parameters:

• percent - An optional number indicating the percentage of the width of the screen that the chooser should occupy. If this parameter is omitted, the current width will be returned

Returns:

• The hs.chooser object or a number

Notes:

• This should be used before a chooser has been displayed