Drawing views into NSImage

FROM : Geert B. Clemmensen
DATE : Mon Apr 04 08:27:37 2005

Hello,

I have N views (or more specifically, N subviews of a content view that
holds M subviews with M >= N). I want to draw these N views into an
NSImage. I calculate the proper rect and initializes an NSImage
instance accordingly, i.e. its size matches that of the calculated
rect. I then do:

   [myImage lockFocus];
       // fill the image with clearColor
       // draw the N views via drawRect: calls
   [myImage unlockFocus];

This kinda works, i.e. I get an NSImage that almost looks right, but I
haven't been able to consistently have the N views draw so their
relative position to each other is kept. I have tried enough variants
of NSAffineTransform with -concat/-set (with and without
save/restoreGraphicsState) to realize that this may not be the way to
go. What is the recommended/preferred way to change the coordinate
system before each call to drawRect:?

I believe I have googled and otherwise searched the topic quite
extensively, but haven't yet found a solution. Any pointers will be
highly appreciated.

Regards,
Geert B. Clemmensen
www.frontbase.com