MAC heads - how do i use finder??

Alexis Forge · Post by **Alexis Forge** » Fri May 18, 2007 8:57 am

thanks all for the replies

the problem is not finding things - in fact spotlight is very impressive at that

the problem is dragging files to sub-folders that arent in the same roots as any of the visible "favourites" to the left

for example, in this picture if I wanted to drag the ALC file to the Live project folder, or any sub folder in the folders to the left, all I'd have to do is click on the little triangle to expand the folder until I had the sub folder I want and drag it straight in

I just cant believe I can do this on the Mac - and I'm sure I used to do it pre-OSX

nobbystylus · Post by **nobbystylus** » Fri May 18, 2007 9:51 am

The Finder is ace... it just takes a bit of a brain swap from using expolorer... spring loaded folders, column and list view, its all good...

Open up a new finder window, make that your Root folder, then drag from current window into the new window...

snakedogman wrote:the problem is: osx finder a bit crappy.
Although using the column view and navigating with arrow keys usually gets me where I want pretty quickly (but no you can't order files in any other way than alphabetically in this view, that's only for the list view ... )

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Fri May 18, 2007 1:59 pm

yeah i was going to say that unless i am just actually dragging/dropping a file to a different folder i never even use finder.

its all about quicksilver and spotlight. smart folders, quick search, and trust me it might be different but the Sidebar in finder is far better than having top level directory-tree access over there.

anti-banausic · Post by **anti-banausic** » Fri May 18, 2007 3:58 pm

Forge,
I get what you are saying. In looking at it, there might not be the exact same functionality in Finder, but it just takes a little use to get with the way OSX Finder handles things. In the end, after a little transition period, you may well find Windows clunkier in this regard.

I will also have to concur that Quicksilver is the way to go as far as using the OS. In fact, I am surprised that Apple hasn't descended upon the developer and bought him out. It is really outstanding, and the next step in OS interface. It is more than a finder/searcher/launcher. It basically handles any action you want to perform without having to click on anything. It does however take some setting up and getting used to, but the investment is well worth the time that you will save in the long run. I know when I first heard about it, I thought, "so what?". Then I tried it, and at first it was daunting, and I thought it would only ever be a launcher for me, but after just a few days it became absolutely necessary. You do have to think a little abstractly sometimes to know what you want to happen.

mike holiday · Post by **mike holiday** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:07 pm

mike holiday wrote:i just open the destination in a new window then drag/drop the folder

seems to be about the same navigation time.

kcp · Post by **kcp** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:11 pm

Alexis Forge wrote:thanks all for the replies

the problem is not finding things - in fact spotlight is very impressive at that

the problem is dragging files to sub-folders that arent in the same roots as any of the visible "favourites" to the left

for example, in this picture if I wanted to drag the ALC file to the Live project folder, or any sub folder in the folders to the left, all I'd have to do is click on the little triangle to expand the folder until I had the sub folder I want and drag it straight in

I just cant believe I can do this on the Mac - and I'm sure I used to do it pre-OSX

Well, since the top half of the left hand column in the Finder window contains all detected drives, any subfolder on your system is certainly accessible. In your example, all you would have to do is click/drag the file to your 'home' folder and pause a moment. That folder will open to reveal its contents, including subfolders, where you can place the file in any subfolder. The click/drag/pause method can be repeated to drill down as deep as necessary. Hope that's clear.

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:32 pm

but you have to understand that i can copy/move any file or folder i know part of the name of to another other folder than i know part of the name of in about 2 seconds using QuickSilver.

let's say i want to move my mpc1000 user manual from my desktop to my Documents folder right now without leaving my browser. no opening any finder windows or browsing or anything.

i type:
^space (bring up QS)
mpc (at this point QS file guesses that i want the MPC1000v2_Operators_Manual.pdf)
tab
MO (at this point QS guesses my action is MoveTo)
tab
DO (at this point QS guesses my folder of Documents)
enter

it look me way longer to type that up than it does to do it. CO would have copied the file instead of moving it.

oh and i never left Safari or this post and moving the file took about >2seconds.

do that in explorer.

Alexis Forge · Post by **Alexis Forge** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:38 pm

ejectorset wrote:but you have to understand that i can copy/move any file or folder i know part of the name of to another other folder than i know part of the name of in about 2 seconds using QuickSilver.

let's say i want to move my mpc1000 user manual from my desktop to my Documents folder right now without leaving my browser. no opening any finder windows or browsing or anything.

i type:
^space (bring up QS)
mpc (at this point QS file guesses that i want the MPC1000v2_Operators_Manual.pdf)
tab
MO (at this point QS guesses my action is MoveTo)
tab
DO (at this point QS guesses my folder of Documents)
enter

it look me way longer to type that up than it does to do it. CO would have copied the file instead of moving it.

oh and i never left Safari or this post and moving the file took about >2seconds.

do that in explorer.

I'll have a look

but the only problem I see with that method is you seem to have to know what the folder you're going to is called

maybe that's just stoned lazy thinking

bencodec · Post by **bencodec** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:41 pm

the finder can be used to behave very much like widows explorer, but if your totally addicted to the windows explorer style browsing you can have a look at an app called Macintosh Explorer X. it's a shareware app that is meant to give you windows explorer on the mac.

i've tried it briefly, can't say i've used it loads and loads, but i don't like windows explorer so i may no tbe the best judge.

edit: just looked up macintosh explorer on versiontracker and it seems that there are several other apps that do similar funcitons and work a little better. might be worth a little closer look.

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:47 pm

well, kinda, but not really, you can trill through your folder hierarchy in QS as well.

it your screen shot you have "projects" under My Documents (it seems) which then has "NOYZZZZ Project"

in QS if i know a folder is deep somewhere under Home or Documents:
^space (bring up QS)
ho or do for Home or Documents
right-arrow key
(now i have a list of all the folders under Documents which i can scroll through or skip around in by typing)

so to get to your NOYZZZZ Project folder would be something like:
^space
do (for documents)
right-arrow
pro (for projects, when you hit p it would jump down the list and you would see presets, projects, etc)
right-arrow
and BOOM i would see NOYZZZZ as its the only thing under your projects in your screenshot.

at that point i can tab and do a move to or copy to or whatever else i want to do.

i strongly recommend QS, even if at first you just use it for launching programs
^space
liv
enter - that would launch live for you, more quickly than moving your mouse to the dock or anything.

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:50 pm

cool
I'm gonna check it out!

ejectorset · Post by **ejectorset** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:51 pm

be sure to check out this blog and the other entries listed under "Popular 43 folders posts on Quicksilver):

http://www.43folders.com/2007/03/28/get ... icksilver/

and watch the videos, like merlin mann says "writing about Quicksilver is like singing about a magic trick"

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:54 pm

whoa shit!

I have a tattoo of mercury!

kcp · Post by **kcp** » Fri May 18, 2007 4:58 pm

I forgot to add:

++ for Quicksilver

thelocalhost · Post by **thelocalhost** » Fri May 18, 2007 5:01 pm

noisetonepause wrote:Mate, I've been using it for years - since before Tiger and Spotlight. For a while I didn't even run the Finder, I just used QS. I know what it can do, and I'm not asking, I'm telling you: it's a commandline. Search is 10% of what it does.

I love the internet.