Drawing NSControl when windows are key or not

You can use the NSWindow property keyWindow, and if you want to check if your control is the first responder for keyboard events, also check [[self window] firstResponder] == self. I do not believe that the keyWindowsupport KVO, but there is NSWindowDidBecomeKeyNotificationand NSWindowDidResignKeyNotificationthat you can listen to. For instance,

- (id)initWithFrame:(NSRect)frameRect;
{
    if ( self = [super initWithFrame:frameRect] )
    {
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(display) name:NSWindowDidResignKeyNotification object:nil];
        [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserver:self selector:@selector(display) name:NSWindowDidBecomeKeyNotification object:nil];
    }

    return self;
}

- (void)drawRect:(NSRect)aRect;
{
    if ( [[self window] isKeyWindow] )
    {
    // one way...
    }
    else
    {
    // another way!
    }
}

- (void)dealloc;
{
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:NSWindowDidResignKeyNotification object:nil];
    [[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] removeObserver:self name:NSWindowDidBecomeKeyNotification object:nil];
    [super dealloc];
}