Trackpad and touch gestures across the macOS app

Start with the listed entry points: ViewMenuBuilder.swift, ZoomCommandResponding.swift, DataGridTableView.swift, EditorTabInteractionView.swift, and TableProTextEngine/TextView+NSTextInput.swift. Read the relevant AppKit gesture APIs and the linked WWDC26 and TN3212 guidance, then map each proposed gesture to its menu command and surface. Done means the specified gestures, system preferences, accessibility behavior, and hardware checks work across the listed surfaces.

Problem

• Only the ER diagram, EXPLAIN diagram and maps answer trackpad gestures. The welcome window has native row swipe actions.
• The data grid and SQL editor have Zoom In/Out and Back/Forward commands, but no pinch and no page swipe.
• macOS 27 adds direct touch. Custom mouse loops and hover-only controls do not get it for free.
• Goal: one gesture policy for the whole macOS app.
  • Native AppKit APIs only. No raw touch recognizers, event taps or private defaults keys.
  • Follow System Settings > Trackpad and Touch. No TablePro gesture setting.
  • Every gesture maps to a menu command with a shortcut.

Current state

• Back/Forward: apple/TablePro/Core/Menu/ViewMenuBuilder.swift:146, :152. History is per tab (apple/TablePro/Views/Main/Extensions/MainContentCoordinator+NavigationHistory.swift:69), table tabs only (:29), behind the discard-changes prompt (:105).
• Zoom In/Out write the shared editor and grid font-size settings, so every window changes: apple/TablePro/Core/Menu/ZoomCommandResponding.swift:40, :42.
• Diagrams: allowsMagnification at apple/TablePro/Views/Components/MagnifiableCanvasView.swift:197, Cmd+scroll zoom at apple/TablePro/Views/Components/DiagramScrollView.swift:54.
• Maps are MKMapView (apple/TablePro/Views/Results/ResultMapSurface.swift:19). Inspector map rotation is off on purpose (apple/TablePro/Views/Results/InspectorMapSurfacePool.swift:105).
• Welcome rows: NSTableViewRowAction Delete, Edit, Favorite at apple/TablePro/Views/Welcome/WelcomeOutlineCoordinator.swift:368.
• The editor tab strip turns horizontal scroll into strip scrolling: apple/TablePro/Views/Main/EditorTabInteractionView.swift:205.
• The SQL editor is a custom NSView that implements NSTextInputClient (apple/Packages/TableProEditor/Sources/TableProTextEngine/TextView/TextView+NSTextInput.swift:28), with hit testing at :378. What Look Up does there today is untested.
• No swipe(with:), magnify(with:), smartMagnify(with:), quickLook(with:) or pressureChange(with:) override in the app.

Decisions

• Zoom is a view zoom. Pinch and View > Zoom In / Zoom Out / Actual Size magnify the pane under the pointer (pinch) or the focused pane (menu). Font sizes stay in Settings as the base. Actual Size returns to 100% of that base. Zoom is not persisted app-wide. Precedent: Notes (View > Zoom vs default text size), Numbers, Preview. Safari keeps pinch separate from its saved page zoom.
• Back/Forward follows the active tab's history. Table history stays as is. SQL editor locations join only once there is a real semantic jump history, as in Xcode's per-editor history. Typing, caret moves, runs and tab switches are never history entries.
• Look Up targets the text under the pointer. Pass the cell or line string with a zero-length range at the hit character to showDefinition, and the system picks the word or phrase. A whole-value preview stays a separate action. Selecting a cell is not selecting text.
• Query history gets one trailing swipe action, Delete. Leading edge stays empty. Load, Copy and Save as Favorite stay in the menu. Run in New Tab, Restore Previous Values and Clear History never sit on a swipe. Precedent: Mail, Notes, Safari Reading List.
• Touch uses separate preferences. NSEvent.isTouchSwipeNavigationEnabled for touch, isSwipeTrackingFromScrollEventsEnabled for trackpad. Neither requires the other.

Proposed gestures

No new gesture, keep native behavior:

• ER and EXPLAIN diagrams: pinch and smart zoom already work.
• Maps: MapKit owns pan, zoom and rotate.
• Welcome window: row actions already native.
• Editor tab strip, window tabs, result set tabs: switching on swipe would change what the same motion does today. Switching stays on Previous/Next Tab and Previous/Next Result.
• Sidebar, connection rail, lists, forms, sheets, settings, AI chat, charts: native scrolling only.
• No swipe or pressure that drops objects, runs, approves, terminates, applies or submits anything.

Touch (macOS 27)

New in the macOS 27 SDK: NSScrollView.isTouchScrollingEnabled, scrollGestureForRelationships, NSGestureRecognizer.isCancellableByScrollGesture, NSView.exclusiveGestureBehavior, NSTextSelectionManager, NSView.beginDraggingSession(items:gesture:source:), NSScreen.touchCapabilities, NSEvent.isTouchSwipeNavigationEnabled. NSGestureRecognizer.allowedTouchTypes now defaults to .direct.

• Standard controls and NSScrollView work on touch. Custom mouseDown / nextEvent loops do not, per WWDC26 "Modernize your AppKit app" and TN3212.
• Move custom tracking loops to gesture recognizers:
  • Grid selection: apple/TablePro/Views/DataGrid/DataGridTableView.swift:239, loop at apple/TablePro/Views/DataGrid/DataGridViewController+Selection.swift:341.
  • Editor tab strip: apple/TablePro/Views/Main/EditorTabInteractionView.swift:266.
  • Inspector resize handle: apple/TablePro/Views/RowInspector/FieldEditors/FieldResizeHandle.swift:95.
  • Statement run ribbon: apple/Packages/TableProEditor/Sources/TableProEditorKit/StatementRunning/StatementRunRibbonView.swift:143.
• SQL editor: adopt NSTextSelectionManager for touch selection.
• Hover-only controls need a touch path:
  • Unselected tab accessories: apple/TablePro/Views/Main/EditorTabStrip.swift:454.
  • Favorite star: apple/TablePro/Views/Sidebar/FavoriteStarButton.swift:18.
• Grow touch hit regions, not the Mac layout. Apple's sample uses 36 pt.
• Long press uses the native context menu and drag APIs, not a timer.
• Not in the 27.0 SDK yet, though Apple's tech talk shows them: NSWindow.disablesDirectTouchSystemGestures, SwiftUI directTouchSystemGesturesDisabled(). Gate by availability.
• Unconfirmed: whether direct touch drives trackSwipeEvent page navigation.

Risks

• Grid horizontal scroll vs page swipe. Rely on the AppKit edge-at-start rule, not a delta threshold. Momentum must not cross into navigation.
• A responder that gets scrollWheel before an NSScrollView must check NSEvent.isSwipeTrackingFromScrollEventsEnabled itself.
• Natural scrolling is already in the deltas. Do not invert twice or hardcode finger counts.
• Zoom In/Out change behavior: today they write the shared font setting, after this they magnify one pane. The font setting stays in Settings.
• Magnifying the grid and editor is untested with the frozen pane, floating gutter and custom drawing.
• The existing canvases record wrong SwiftUI points under magnification (MagnifiableCanvasView.swift:184). Keep pointer input in AppKit views in any newly magnified view.
• Reduce Motion: no large page-slide animation when accessibilityDisplayShouldReduceMotion is on.
• XCUITest scroll is pixel scrolling, not a gesture. Hardware pass needed:
  • Page swipe set to two fingers, three fingers, either and off.
  • Natural scrolling on and off.
  • Force Touch and non Force Touch trackpads, Magic Mouse, wheel mouse.
  • Touchscreen Mac, VoiceOver, Reduce Motion.

Sources

• HIG: Pointing devices, Gestures, Designing for macOS
• Touch: WWDC26 Modernize your AppKit app, TN3212, Bring Touch to your Mac app, Design for touch on Mac
• wantsScrollEventsForSwipeTracking(on:), trackSwipeEvent, isSwipeTrackingFromScrollEventsEnabled
• allowsMagnification, smartMagnify(with:), rectForSmartMagnification(at:in:)
• quickLook(with:), showDefinition(for:range:options:baselineOriginProvider:)
• tableView(_:rowActionsForRow:edge:)
• Apple apps: Notes zoom, Numbers zoom, Preview zoom, Safari zoom, Xcode history, Mail swipe, Notes gestures
• Mac gestures, Force click