Comments on: Interprocess Dragging is a Drag (Sometimes) http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes Mac & Technology Writings by Daniel Jalkut Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:05:23 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: Daniel Jalkut http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-182 Daniel Jalkut Tue, 18 Oct 2005 02:16:03 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-182 Hi Matt - yeah I definitely use that shortcut all the time! Thanks for reminding everybody about it. Hi Matt - yeah I definitely use that shortcut all the time! Thanks for reminding everybody about it.

]]> By: Matt Gemmell http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-179 Matt Gemmell Mon, 17 Oct 2005 20:58:02 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-179 Remember that you can also use cmd-backtick (`) to cycle between the windows of the current application. You can combine this with cmd-tab during drags to select any window at all as your drag destination, even if it's not the frontmost window in its own application. I use this all the time. Cmd-` is obviously also really useful even when you're not dragging, if you want to switch windows via the keyboard without invoking Expose. Cmd-shift-` cycles through the current app's windows in reverse order, as you'd expect. Remember that you can also use cmd-backtick (`) to cycle between the windows of the current application. You can combine this with cmd-tab during drags to select any window at all as your drag destination, even if it’s not the frontmost window in its own application. I use this all the time.

Cmd-` is obviously also really useful even when you’re not dragging, if you want to switch windows via the keyboard without invoking Expose. Cmd-shift-` cycles through the current app’s windows in reverse order, as you’d expect.

]]> By: Simone Manganelli http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-67 Simone Manganelli Sat, 24 Sep 2005 00:50:02 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-67 I'm with David Dunham: I usually cancel drags by dragging to the menubar. That's 100% reliable -- at least as far as I can tell -- to cancel drags. :) -- Simone I’m with David Dunham: I usually cancel drags by dragging to the menubar. That’s 100% reliable — at least as far as I can tell — to cancel drags. :)

– Simone

]]> By: Jacob Rus http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-66 Jacob Rus Fri, 23 Sep 2005 20:33:56 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-66 This is off the subject, but one great way to drag to another application is to start dragging, hit F10, the application exposé key, and then tab through the applications. If you do this, the other application doesn't even need to have the target window active at the beginning of the drag! The escape thing bug still happens, but I think the drag cancels if you drop outside of any of the windows revealed by exposé (another workaround?). This is off the subject, but one great way to drag to another application is to start dragging, hit F10, the application exposé key, and then tab through the applications. If you do this, the other application doesn’t even need to have the target window active at the beginning of the drag! The escape thing bug still happens, but I think the drag cancels if you drop outside of any of the windows revealed by exposé (another workaround?).

]]> By: Chris Thomas http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-65 Chris Thomas Fri, 23 Sep 2005 20:25:33 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-65 Kind of a tangent: It used to be that the classic Window Manager would hide the window outline when you dragged it into the menu bar. If you dragged back out of the menubar without releasing the mouse the outline would reappear. If you instead released the mouse in the menubar, the drag would be canceled. (This makes less intuitive sense with live drag, hence the current behavior of sliding the window along the bottom of the menubar.) When the Drag Manager was implemented, they too canceled the drag if it went into the menubar (IIRC) except that the drag outline didn't disappear, so you had no visual indication that the drag would cancel. I wrote a bug up against this years ago, but it's probably sitting in the pile along with "Menu Manager doesn't allow events to occur in the background when a menu is pulled down..." (I can't believe all of this stuff is still in my brain. I use Cocoa primarily now...) Kind of a tangent:

It used to be that the classic Window Manager would hide the window outline when you dragged it into the menu bar. If you dragged back out of the menubar without releasing the mouse the outline would reappear. If you instead released the mouse in the menubar, the drag would be canceled.

(This makes less intuitive sense with live drag, hence the current behavior of sliding the window along the bottom of the menubar.)

When the Drag Manager was implemented, they too canceled the drag if it went into the menubar (IIRC) except that the drag outline didn’t disappear, so you had no visual indication that the drag would cancel. I wrote a bug up against this years ago, but it’s probably sitting in the pile along with “Menu Manager doesn’t allow events to occur in the background when a menu is pulled down…”

(I can’t believe all of this stuff is still in my brain. I use Cocoa primarily now…)

]]> By: Daniel Jalkut http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-56 Daniel Jalkut Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:53:03 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-56 Cool. I just noticed that Mail responds to drops of arbitrary files in that way, too. Good to know! I usually neglect the droppability of apps in the dock, but I might get used to this feature. Cool. I just noticed that Mail responds to drops of arbitrary files in that way, too. Good to know! I usually neglect the droppability of apps in the dock, but I might get used to this feature.

]]> By: Mike Zornek http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-55 Mike Zornek Fri, 23 Sep 2005 17:27:36 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-55 That command-tab while dragging is really cool. Never thought to try it before on my own. In my own case for attaching files to email, I usually just drag a file to the Entourage icon in the Dock and it will either create a new mail message with the attached file, or attach it to the front most new mail window. It works well. Thanks again for the trick! That command-tab while dragging is really cool. Never thought to try it before on my own.

In my own case for attaching files to email, I usually just drag a file to the Entourage icon in the Dock and it will either create a new mail message with the attached file, or attach it to the front most new mail window. It works well.

Thanks again for the trick!

]]> By: Daniel Jalkut http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-54 Daniel Jalkut Fri, 23 Sep 2005 15:03:21 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-54 Hi David - that sounds like a great workaround. I had never thought of the menu bar as a "safe destination" for such drags, before. I would still prefer to have the escape key work all the time, so there was one reliable method of cancelling, but I will keep the menu bar in mind the next time I'm too lazy to tab back to to the original app! Hi David - that sounds like a great workaround. I had never thought of the menu bar as a “safe destination” for such drags, before.

I would still prefer to have the escape key work all the time, so there was one reliable method of cancelling, but I will keep the menu bar in mind the next time I’m too lazy to tab back to to the original app!

]]> By: David Dunham http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/33/interprocess-dragging-is-a-drag-sometimes#comment-53 David Dunham Fri, 23 Sep 2005 14:57:03 +0000 http://www.red-sweater.com/blog/?p=33#comment-53 What about cancelling by dragging to the menu bar? What about cancelling by dragging to the menu bar?

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