PDFKit, the Lost Samples
When I began using PDFKit, in the the days of Tiger and Leopard, there were a number of sample apps which helped me learn the framework: PDFKitViewer / PDFKitLinker2 / Link Snoop / PDF Calendar / PDFViewSubclasser / PDFAnnotationEditor
But through the accumulation of deprecated APIs over nine builds and, especially, the pervasive breakage in the macOS 10.13 High Sierra rewrite, they broke and faded into obscurity.
These samples showed interesting aspects of PDFKit. Beyond PDFKit, they highlighted significant aspects of Cocoa. And they’re incredibly well-written – readable and well factored! I just felt it would’ve been a shame to let them fade away!
However the port to iOS – “PDFKit reloaded” (sorry Keneau) – has brought PDFKit into its own! And macOS will be a direct beneficiary of that! This gives me confidence that the framework, which had been allowed to stagnate, will now receive true support! So I thought it would be propitious to make those “lost PDFKit samples” usable once again. And as an exercise, I’ve updated their projects from Tiger and Leopard to build and run in High Sierra.
