Using Sherlock to find files on your harddrive - The Bard Erin MacDonald (mailto:bardemacd@xoommail.com)

 

Ever needed to find a specific type of file, but didn't know its type and creator codes? With Sherlock, this is not a problem. Simply load Sherlock, select "File Type" or "Creator" in the first popup button, then locate a file like the ones you are looking for, and drag it to the open box at the right. Sherlock will then automatically fill in the missing information for you. So, for example, let us suppose that you needed to find all of the ClarisWorks/AppleWorks files that you have on your system, but that you didn't know that the creator code for Claris/AppleWorks is "BOBO" (it is, by the way...) All you would have to do is perform the steps mentioned above, locate one Claris/AppleWorks document, and drag & drop it into the text field. Sherlock will fill in the creator code (if you are looking for creator codes, or it will fill in the type code if that is what you are searching for...) Hit the search button, and your problem has been solved.

A handy links page, courtesy of Mac OS 8.5 - The Bard Erin MacDonald (mailto:bardemacd@xoommail.com)

How would you like to have access to any of your favorite website with just a single click of the mouse button? Would you like to have a new email pop up, already addressed to you friend, and with no more effort than a single click? Or maybe you would prefer to access your favorite newsgroup - again, with just a single click of the button...? What new program will allow us to do all of this? Surprise! It's not a new program that you have to try and track down off some remote website, but rather all these capabilities are built into the Mac OS 8.5, OS 8.5.1, and OS 8.6, and these features can really make you life a lot easier.

 

With Mac OS 8.5 and above, if you type a URL (a web address) into your NotePad, or SimpleText - or just about anywhere for that matter - then highlight it and drag it to the desktop, your Mac will automatically convert that text into a clickable link to whatever website that it pointed to. So, if you wanted to make a clickable link to < http://www.2fords.net/stmug/ > (one of my favorites, I might add!) then all you would have to do is copy that address into NotePad or SimpleText, then drag it to the desktop, and voilà! If, on the other hand, you wanted to have your email package create a new document already addressed to the person you wanted to send it to, all you have to do is put "mailto:" (without the quotes) in front of their email address - making sure that there are no spaces. So if you wanted to have an email address for auntie Ruthy, all you would have to do is go to NotePad or SimpleText, and type mailto:auntieruthy@hillbilly.com and then drag and drop like before. There you have it. The same principle applies to other types of web sites, such as a newsgroup which would look like this: alt.sys.mac.newuser-help and when you drag and drop it to the desktop, it will create a clickable link that will automatically launch your news program of choice (I highly recommend MTNW - "Multi Threaded News Watcher" - especially over Microsoft's programs... but that's just my preference; to each their own...)

 

In order to really take advantage of these new links, you might want to make a popup window (simply drag an open window to the bottom of the screen, and it will automatically change to a popup) which contains all of your favorite links. But rather than just stopping there, if you take a few extra minutes, you can really enhance your newly found resource. Here's how: Open your new popup window (I presume you will call it "Links" or something equally innovative...) then go to the "Views" option in the menu bar and choose "as List". Then go to the bottom of the "Views" menu and select "View Options". In there, deselect everything except "comments" - make sure that is selected, then exit the Views Menu.

 

As you create a new clickable link, highlight the new file and "Get Info" on it (either in the file menu, or by pressing Command-I). There, you can rename it to be more representative of what the link is for, rather than some web-lingo that doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, the important part: go to the comments box at the bottom of the info window, and type in some information that will help you remember who or what this link is for.

 

On top of everything else, you can select different labels for different types of links, that way allowing you to arrange the list by the type of link as well as the name. Here's how it all looks when you're done:

 

As you can see, this is a very handy way to keep track of your friends, family and favorite websites. And the neat thing is that it doesn't cost you any extra money, as it is built into the operating system. With one click, your Mac will automatically establish a connection to the Internet, launch the proper application to work with whatever type of site the link pointed it to, and will even address your email for you! All I can say is: Macintosh Rules!

The new shape-shifting Application Switcher - The Bard Erin MacDonald (mailto:bardemacd@xoommail.com)

If you have ever looked at the upper-right-hand corner of your desktop, in the menu bar you will see an icon (literally "little picture") of the currently active program, whether it is the Finder, or AppleWorks, Photoshop or what have you. Well, in OS 8.5 and higher, this little menu - called the Applications Menu, strangely enough! - has been enhanced, and can do much more than you probably realize!

For example, do you see the faint dotted-bar to the left of the Application Menu's icon? Well, if you grab it with your mouse (by clicking and holding the mouse button down), you can slide it to the left or right, thus allowing you to see either just the icon, or the icon along with the name of the application to which it belongs. Neat, huh?

But this new and improved Application Switcher doesn't just stop there, oh no! If you place your mouse on this menu/icon, and click and hold the mouse button down (this is called "dragging" by the way, and will be referred to as such from this point on...) and begin dragging down the list of active applications, if you keep dragging once you get past the last name in the list, you will "tear off" the menu and create a free-floating menu that will stay on your desktop - thus allowing you to quickly switch between one program and another without having to wait for the Applications menu to drop down.

Application Switcher's Tear-Off Menu with Labels

Now for the shape-shifting part... If you place the mouse over the far right-hand side of this "tear-off" menu, you will see the cursor change from the standard pointer icon to a black bar with an arrow pointing to either side. When you get this new cursor, you can click and drag the right side of the menu to shrink or expand the amount of information shown for each icon; anywhere from displaying just the icon, to the icon and part of the name, all the way up to showing the icon and the full name.

The Resize Box can toggle between this...

...and this

But that's not all. Do you see the little resize box (the "box-within-a-box" square) towards the right side of the "tear-off" menu? If you click this, the Application Switcher is smart enough to remember the different sizes you have selected, and will toggle between the smallest size and your last setting.

Also, if you hold down the Option key while clicking the Resize Box, you will toggle between small icons and large icons:

Application Switcher's Tear-Off Menu can also display Large Icons - great for people with vision difficulties!

 

Now, if you would like to have the list displayed sideway (like you see in "GoMac" or in Windows...) then all you have to do is hold down the Option and Shift keys while clicking the Resize Box, and Application Switcher grants your wish! You can even select the size you like:

small

 

medium

 

and large!

Also, if you want to switch between applications, you don't even have to point and click. Instead, simply press Command (that's the funny-looking propellor like icon) key and the Tab key in order to scroll through the list of open applications in alphabetical order; i.e., ...W, X, Y, Z, A, B, C, D..., or press the Command-Shift-Tab keys in order to go through the list in reverse alphabetical order; i.e., ...D, C, B, A, Z, Y, X, W...

And last, but not least, if you want to open a document using an application that is already listed in the Application Switcher menu, simply drag the icon of the file you want to open onto the icon of the program you wish to open it with, and once you release the mouse button, the program will open the file if it can. You can tell if the program recognizes the file, because the program's icon will darken - thus indicating that it may be able to open that type of file. If the program's icon doesn't darken, then the program doesn't recognize that particular type of file, and you may need to try using either a different program to open it, or use FileBuddy or ResEdit or a similar program to change the file's Type and Creator codes... but that's a whole 'nother tip entirely!

ABORT SEQUENCE: First, try pressing the <Escape> key (located in the upper left corner of the keyboard). If this should fail, then try pressing the <Command> Key (the "Apple" key, but referred to in writting by the use of that little cloverleaf-looking thingy...) and the period key at the same time. This is often written as follows: <Command-Period> or <Command-.> If this should fail to abort the activity, then try pressing the <Command> and <Power> keys (upper right keyboard) at the same time. On revision A and B iMacs, press the programmers switch (indicated by a triangle) which is located below the reset button inside the right sidepanel... If this works, then you will be dropped into the programmer's box (a blank white window with a cursor). Here, type "G Finder" (without the quotes) and press <Return>. If all goes well, you will be returned to the Finder - at which point, you should save all unsaved data and restart the computer in order to minimize further complications.

FORCED RESTART: If all these attempts fail, then your last resort is to press the <Command-Option-Power> keys and force a reboot (or on Rev A and B iMacs, this is the little reset hole located in the right side panel, above the one indicated by the triangle.) This will force the Mac to restart - you will lose all data that had not been saved at that time.

UPDATE: 23 Dec 1999@17:18:52hrs CST -

After much analysis (atleast 5 minutes, I swear! =;ob ) I have changed from my above recommendations in the following way: on my PowerMac 5400/180 (see below) when a program hangs, and both the <Escape> key and <Command-Period> key combination fail to abort the presumedly crashed program, instead of resorting to a force quit of <Command-Option-Escape> as I used to, I now use <Command-Power> (to access the programmer's box) and enter "g finder" to abort to the Finder. I have noticed that when I use this sequence of abort options, I have had fewer freezes requiring a Forced Restart Sequence.

 

 

SYSTEMS REFERENCED: PowerMac 5400/180 (603ev) / 88MB RAM (RAM Doubled to 183) + 15 MB RAM Disk

ATTEMPTED ON OTHER SYSTEMS: (Y/N) - No

To take a picture of your desktop (also called taking a "ScreenShot"....), simply press Command-Shift-3 and release after you hear the camera "shutter" snap the picture. To take a screenshot of only a selected area of your desktop, press Command-Shift-4 and a crosshair cursor will appear, thus allowing you to select the area you wish to take a picture of. If you want to take a picture of a specific window, such as a directory listing, then simply press Command-Shift-CapsLock-4, and you will see the "Bullseye" cursor. When that appears, just click on the window you wish to take a screenshot of - note: it doesn't have to be the active window... as long as you can see any portion of it, it will take a picture of it.

All these pictures will be placed on your Startup Volume and be labeled as "Picture 1", "Picture 2", "Picture 3", et cetera, and will be labeled according to chronological sequence.

Also, if you hold down the Control key while using any of the above key combinations, a copy of the picture will be placed on the clipboard - thus allowing you to paste the image directly into your files, without having to resort to an image editting application like Photoshop or GraphicConverter.

UPDATE: 01 Dec 1999@15:48:02hrs CST -

Pressing <Command-Shift-Caps Lock-4> will bring up a bullseye cursor that will take a picture of whatever window it is clicked on. It will take a picture of that window's active appearance, whether or not it is the active window. This allows you to take a picture of one window while looking at another.

SYSTEM REFERENCED: Mac OS 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.6

ATTEMPTED ON OTHER SYSTEMS: (Y/N) - Yes

Eject All Removable Media (AS) - The Bard Erin MacDonald (mailto:bardemacd@xoommail.com)

Here is an AppleScript that will eject, and remove from the desktop, all removable disks (such as floppies, CDs, Zips, etc) and servers (if any) that are currently showing on your desktop.

tell application "Finder"

activate

put away (every disk whose ejectable is true or not local volume is true)

beep 2

end tell

Check Need For Archive (AS) - The Bard Erin MacDonald (mailto:bardemacd@xoommail.com)

This AppleScript will check the capacity of your startup disk and, if less than 10% is unused, will tell you that you need to back up files.

tell application "Finder"

activate

if the free space of the startup disk is less than the (capacity of the startup disk) / 10 then beep

display dialog "Your startup disk is almost full. Time to archive!" buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon 2 giving up after 45

end tell