- (NSWindow *)window doesn't work to show a window while loadWindow does

Question

I am trying to open a nib file called EasyWindow.xib when a button it pressed in my MainMenu.xib. I have the button connected to this IBAction method, but when I click on the button it doesn't open. When I change the "window" in this init part to "loadWindow" it works perfectly fine, but the Mac Developer Library say "You should never directly invoke this method." How do I make the window method work?

- (IBAction)loadEasyWindow:(id)sender
{
    [[[NSWindowController alloc] initWithWindowNibName:@"EasyWindow"] window];
}

Answer 1

- (NSWindow *)window only gives you a reference to the actual window object that the NSWindowController manages. It doesn't actually do anything with that window. It's more of a getter than anything else.

Meanwhile, -loadWindow is a method that's called when your program actually loads the window from the nib file and has little to do with opening it, closing it, and showing it. That's why you shouldn't call it. I'm guessing it works because a side effect is the window showing itself.

What you are looking for is probably NSWindowController's - (IBAction)showWindow:(id)sender. [reference] It should do exactly what you want:

Displays the window associated with the receiver