In the first three chapters, you learned how to work with the desktop and windows and how to navigate the file system. Along the way, you encountered folders, files, and applications. In chapter, we’ll take a closer look at using them productively. Let’s begin with a brief explanation of each.
Folders, files, and applications appear as icons on the desktop and in the Finder window, as shown in Figure 4.1.
The folders on your computer are like folders in an office—they hold collections of (hopefully) related items, including other folders. (Most folders look alike, but some are customized with an icon.) To look inside a folder, double-click its icon, and a Finder window opens to reveal the contents.
Files, on the other hand, contain information of some kind. File icons reflect their type or the application that will be used to open them. (In Figure 4.1, for instance, the bottom item in the column of icons on the right is a PDF that would be opened by the Preview application, whose icon is displayed upper right in the open Finder window.) If you double-click a file icon, the application that made (or one that recognizes) the file is launched, and the file opens in a window on your screen.
To move a folder or file, click its icon and drag to a new location. You can even drag files into folders if you feel like getting organized.
As you may have gathered from the discussion in the previous chapters, applications are computer programs designed for various purposes. Double-clicking an application’s icon (in a window or the Dock) launches the application so that you can use it.
Aliases are shortcuts that point to a folder or file. They let you have access to things you need from anywhere you need them—without making redundant copies or moving the original from its current location.
Did you Know?
You can’t make an alias for an application, but you can add an application to the Dock where its icon will act as an alias.
Figure 4.1 shows an alias icon. The little arrow at the lower left indicates that this is not the actual folder or file, but a pointer to it (hence the arrow). Double-click the alias icon for a folder, and you’ll see the contents of the original folder.
To create an alias for an original file or folder, press Command-L when you select an icon. You can also choose File, Make Alias from the menu, or hold down Command-Option while dragging a folder, to accomplish the same thing.
Watch Out!
If you move the alias of a file to the trash, the original is not deleted, just the alias. If you really want to delete the original, too, you need to drag both icons to the trash. If you trash the original and not the alias, the latter becomes nonfunctional, although the Finder usually gives you the chance to pick another file for it to point to when it’s double-clicked.
To rename a file or folder in the Finder, click once to select the file, pause, and click a second time on the file’s name. The filename becomes editable in a few seconds, as shown in Figure 4.2.
By the Way
In Chapter 2, “Using the Finder,” you learned about file extensions, which you can choose to make visible under the Finder Preferences. If you change a file extension when renaming a file, OS X shows a dialog box asking you to confirm the change.
It’s best not to rename applications.
Copying a file or folder creates an exact duplicate of an original. (Note that this is different from creating an alias to a file, which is just a pointer and not a separate object.) The new file contents and creation/modification dates are identical to those of the original. There are a number of ways to create a copy in Mac OS X:
Drag a file to a different disk—. Dragging a file to a disk other than the one it is currently stored on creates a copy with the same name as the original.
Drag a file while holding down the Option key—. If you drag a file icon to a folder on the same disk it is currently located in while holding down the Option key, a duplicate of that file is created in the new location. The copy has the same name as the original. (As you drag the file icon, a + appears next to your cursor.)
Choose Duplicate from the contextual or Finder menu—. If you want to create an exact duplicate of a file within the same folder, highlight the file to copy and then choose Duplicate from the Finder’s File menu (Command-D), or Ctrl-click the icon and choose Duplicate from the pop-up contextual menu. A new file is created with the word copy appended to the name.
As the file is copied, the Finder displays an alert box in which you can see the progress of the copy operation. If multiple copies are taking place at the same time, the statuses of the operations are shown stacked on one another in the Copy alert box.
If you attempt to copy over existing files of the same name, the Finder asks whether you want to replace the files. Also, if you attempt to replace existing files to which you don’t have access, the copy operation fails.
Your Mac allows you to delete folders, files, and applications from the desktop, and consequently from your hard drive. It is important to remember that deletion permanently removes these things from your system.
Like copying a file, there are a number of ways to delete one:
Drag to Dock Trash—. Dragging an icon from a Finder window into the Dock’s Trash is one of the most obvious and easy ways to get rid of a file.
Finder toolbar—. A Delete shortcut can be added to the Finder’s toolbar (refer to the section “The Finder Window Toolbar,” in Chapter 2 for details). Any items selected can be quickly moved to the Trash by clicking the Delete shortcut. Delete is not one of the default toolbar icons.
As you learned in Chapter 3, “Exploring the Dock,” moving an item on your desktop to the Trash does not delete it permanently. Instead, it places the item inside the trash folder. To completely remove a file from your system, choose Empty Trash from the Finder’s application menu or press Shift-Command-Delete.
If you want to rescue a file you’ve accidentally moved to the Trash, you can click the Trash icon and drag the file’s icon out of the window.
In Chapter 2, during our look at the Finder window, we postponed our discussion of the Action pop-up menu in the toolbar. We’ll return to it now to see how it can be used to make working with folders, files, and applications more convenient.
The items in the Action menu are context-dependent, which means they will differ depending on whether a folder, file, or application is selected. The Action menu for files, shown in Figure 4.3, contains the most options, so we’ll start by listing those options.
Open—. Opens the selected item.
Open With—. Allows you to choose which application installed on the system will be used when the selected file is opened. A list of recommended applications is presented along with the option Other, which allows you to select any application on your hard drive or connected to it. When you select an application, the file will be opened in it.
Get Info—. Opens the Info window for the selected item. (We’ll talk about the Info window in greater detail later in the chapter.)
Color Label—. Allows you to color-code the selected file for easy identification. Also, if you recall from Chapter 2, you can perform file searches for items marked with a specific color. (We’ll talk about using Color Labels in just a moment.)
Move to Trash—. Provides another way to place an item in the Trash for deletion from your system.
Print—. Allows you to print a file without having to open it.
Duplicate—. Provides another way to copy an item. When Duplicate is used, the copy appears in the same place as the original with the word “copy” appended to its name.
Make Alias—. Provides another way to make an alias of an item.
Archive—. Creates a compressed, or “zipped,” version of an item that takes up less space than the original.
Copy/Paste—. Provides yet another way to copy an item. When Copy is used, the file is copied but not pasted. You can then navigate to the location where you want the copy and choose Paste from the Action pop-up menu. (The Paste option is visible only after an item has been copied.)
The options available for a folder are similar to those for a file, except that the options Open With and Print are not given.
For applications, the list of available options includes Open, Get Info, Move to Trash, Archive and Copy/Paste. (Color Label also appears in the menu but is grayed out to indicate unavailability.) There is also the option Show Package Contents, which opens a second Finder window to display the supporting files associated with the selected application.
Watch Out!
Applications on your drive are often really folders of items that work together. When you choose Show Package Contents, you can see elements “inside” the application that are normally hidden from view. Although it’s interesting to see how things work, you shouldn’t rename or remove any of the items needed by a program unless you are prepared to deal with the consequences.
Previously, you learned that one of the items in the Action pop-up menu is Color Label, which can be used to color-code your files and folders. There are seven colors from which to choose. Besides helping you visually locate important documents, the colors can be used as search criteria in the Find window.
By the Way
You can change the names of the color labels from simply their colors to more meaningful terms, such as “work” or “book project,” in the Labels section of the Finder preferences. You can access the Finder preferences under the Finder application menu.
To apply color labels to a selected file or folder, do the following:
Locate the item you want to label in the Finder window and select it.
Click the Action pop-up menu to open it and reveal the Color Label options, as shown previously in Figure 4.3.
Click one of the seven colors to apply it to the selected file or folder.
The color appears as a background behind the file or folder’s label, as shown in Figure 4.4.
To remove a color label, select the item, open the Action pop-up menu, and choose the “x” under the Color Label option.
Now, let’s take a close look at the Info window that can be launched from the Action pop-up menu.
The Info window displays detailed information, such as graphical previews and user permissions, about your folders, files, and applications. TheInfo window can be displayed by selecting the file you want to examine in the Finder, and then choosing Get Info from the Action pop-up menu in the Finder toolbar. Alternatively, you can select an item and choose File, Get Info (Command-I) from the menu.
Like the options in the Action pop-up menu, the Info window is context-dependent, with slightly different options depending on what it’s giving information about. Let’s examine the information available in the Info window.
As shown in Figure 4.5, the General section supplies basic facts about the selected resource, including the kind, size, and date of creation.
If the item you’re viewing is an alias file (remember, an alias is a shortcut to the place where the real file is stored), the General section shows the location of the original file along with a Select New Original button that enables you to pick a new file to which the alias should be attached.
In the General section of the Info window is a check box labeled Locked—and for files, one labeled Stationary Pad. If an item is locked, a small lock appears in its icon that shows you won’t be able to move or delete it. If you try, your system displays a message that it can’t comply because the item is locked. You also won’t be able to rename an item.
Stationary Pad is an option only for files—and only if they aren’t already locked. Checking this box makes a file into something of a template. If you double-click a file set as stationary pad, it won’t open, but an exact copy of it will be made in the same place so that you can make changes to the copy while the original remains untouched.
Watch Out!
Although an identifying icon appears for locked items, there is no indication that a file is a template—except that a duplicate file automatically appears whenever you try to open the file. It’s a good idea to title stationary pad files to indicate their purpose so that you’ll know which files are affected this way.
As you’ve learned, a filename can contain an extension—a period followed by several letters at the end of a name that indicates what kind of file it is. Common examples of file extensions are .doc for Microsoft Word documents and .html for Web pages. Many other operating systems rely on file extensions to identify file types. The Name & Extension section, shown in Figure 4.6, enables you to choose whether to view the filename with or without its extension. If you plan to exchange files with other systems (Windows), you might want to verify that your files include the extensions before sending them through email and so on.
For folders and applications, the Name & Extension section simply shows the name of the item.
If you select a file icon (not an application or a folder), you can access the Open With section in the Info window, which is similar to the Open With item in the Action menu discussed previously. If you download a file from a non–Mac OS X system, your computer might not realize what it needs to do to open the file. The Open With section enables you to configure how the system reacts.
Did you Know?
If there are multiple files you want to have open with a different application than is currently configured, you can select them all by holding down the Command key as you click the files’ icons. Then, you can open the Info window and change the Open With settings for all of them at once.
To use this feature, click the disclosure triangle next to Open With. The default application name is shown as the current choice in a pop-up menu containing alternative application choices. Use the pop-up menu to display options and make a selection. If the application you want to use isn’t shown, choose Other, and then use the standard Mac OS X Open dialog box to browse to the application you want to use.
If you have a group of files that you want to open with a given application, you can select the entire group and follow the same procedure, or use the Change All button at the bottom of the window to update all files on your system simultaneously.
When you view the Info window for a folder, the Content Index option enables you to index the folder’s contents or check the last time it was indexed. As discussed in Chapter 2 in the section on file searches, indexing allows searches on a folder to be performed on the text within files, not just on the filenames.
If you select a QuickTime-recognized document, Preview enables you to quickly examine the contents of a wide variety of media files, including MP3s, CD audio tracks (AIFFs), JPEGs, GIFs, TIFFs, PDFs, and many more (see Figure 4.7).
If you’re previewing a video or audio track, the QuickTime Player control appears and enables you to play the file’s contents.
If you select a folder or an application, the Preview section displays its icon.
For an application, the Info window includes a section called Languages that enables you to see which languages the application recognizes. If you uncheck the currently active language, the application’s menus are presented in another available language the next time you open it.
Mac OS X is a multiuser system, and by default all the files and folders on your system identify themselves with the user who created them. That means only the owner can move or modify them. Applications have different permissions depending whether they are shared or stored in a personal account. The Ownership & Permissions section, shown in Figure 4.8, enables you to change who owns a file, what other groups of users can access it, and what actions can be performed on it. You learn more about working with multiple user accounts and administrative access in Chapter 33, “Sharing and Securing Your Computer and Files.”
In later chapters, we will explore specific applications ranging in complexity from your system’s Calculator to iMovie. For now, however, let’s talk about some fairly common practices for working with applications.
Although you can launch an application by double-clicking a file created by it, sometimes you are already in an application and want to open additional files. To open existing files in an open application, choose File, Open from the menu. This launches the Open dialog box, as shown in Figure 4.9.
The Open dialog box is a modified Finder window where the toolbar has been replaced with a pop-up menu to help you quickly navigate to a different level of the file system. There’s also a pair of buttons, Cancel and Open, at the bottom of the window so that you can cancel the dialog box or open a selected file.
By the Way
In addition to Open and Save, other common dialog boxes and helpers are the Page Setup and Print windows and the Font panel, which we discuss in Chapter 20, “Printing, Faxing, and Working with Fonts.”
You can use the shortcut list and content area to move through the file system to locate a specific file. Applications, which can’t be opened in another application, will be grayed out to show that they are unavailable. You can, however, click folders to open them. The Open button at the bottom of the Open dialog box will be grayed out until you select a file.
Did you Know?
You can select more than one document to open in the current application by holding down the Command key on your keyboard. If you want to select a long list of files all in a row, you can hold down the Shift key and select the first and last file in the list—all the files in between will also be selected.
When you are using an application, you will likely create new documents that you want to save. To save a document, choose File, Save or File, Save As from the menu. This opens a Save sheet window attached to the current document, as shown in Figure 4.10.
By the Way
The first time you save a new document, Save and Save As cause the same outcome. Later, however, there is a difference. Save saves changes to the file you’ve already saved with that name. Save As allows you to rename your document and save—which is especially useful if you want to keep the original intact for comparison later.
If you want to save your document in its current location, as indicated by the Where pop-up menu, you can simply enter a title and click the Save button. (Use the Cancel button if you’ve changed your mind about saving.)
If you want to save the document to another location (or if aren’t sure where the Where pop-up is putting your document), click the disclosure triangle button to the right of the Save field. An expanded version of the Save sheet window appears, as shown in Figure 4.11.
The expanded Save sheet window is like the Open dialog box, with a few additional options. You can use it to move to any folder on your hard drive, or even to connected storage devices. The New Folder button allows you to create and name a new folder into which to save your document. You also have the option to show or hide the file extension, as discussed previously.
When you’ve chosen the location and given your file a name, click the Save button to store your file.
Occasionally, applications fail to work as expected. A feature that’s sometimes necessary when using applications is Force Quit, which exits a program that has stopped responding. In Mac OS X, the Option-Command-Esc keyboard shortcut brings up a process manager, shown in Figure 4.12, that contains a list of running applications. Applications that the system deems to have stopped responding are marked in red. To force an application to close, choose it in the list and click the Force Quit button.
By the Way
Forcing an application to quit does not save any open documents. Be sure that the application is truly stalled, not just busy, before you use this feature.
You can also access the Force Quit feature from the Apple menu, or by opening the pop-up Dock menu for a running application and pressing the Option key to toggle the standard Quit selection to Force Quit. If the system deems that an application has stopped responding, a Force Quit option automatically appears in the Dock pop-up menu.
If the Finder (which is also an application!) seems to be misbehaving, you can choose it from the application list. The Force Quit button becomes the Relaunch button, enabling you to quit and restart the Finder without logging out.
As briefly discussed in Chapter 1, “Introducing Mac OS X,” the Classic environment is a way for you to operate some older Mac software while still using the Mac OS X operating system. Using Classic, almost any application that was functional in Mac OS 9 can run inside Mac OS X.
Did you Know?
You must have at least 128MB of memory to use Classic. Also, a 400MHz G3 (or faster) computer is recommended. Why? Classic is a process running under Mac OS X. When it’s in use, your computer is really supporting two operating systems simultaneously. As you can imagine, this is resource intensive.
The Classic environment needs to be launched only once during a Mac OS X login session, and it can be launched manually or automatically. After it’s running, Classic remains active (but mostly unnoticeable) until you log out or manually force it to shut down.
Did you Know?
How can you find out whether a piece of software on your hard drive is indeed a Classic application? You can always ask the Finder. Simply select the icon for the program in question and choose File, Get Info (or press Command-I) from the Finder’s menu. A Kind of Classic Application indicates that the software requires Classic to operate.
There are two ways to launch the Classic environment: through the Classic pane in System Preferences or by double-clicking a Classic application.
First, let’s start Classic from the System Preferences pane. Here’s what to do:
Locate the System Preferences icon in the Dock and double-click it (the icon looks like a wall-mounted light switch) or choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
In System Preferences, click the Classic icon to open its Preferences pane, shown in Figure 4.13.
Click the Start/Stop view of the Classic Preferences pane. Here you see several options, including a Stop or Start button for manually turning Classic off or on, Restart for when you want to reboot Classic, and Force Quit for when the Classic system is unresponsive after a crash.
Click the Start button to launch Classic. Mac OS 9 takes a few minutes to boot and then you’re ready to run your older applications.
By the Way
The first time you start Classic, your system requests permission to make some changes that allow Classic to operate.
Let’s try the second way to launch Classic:
Yes, there’s only one step. If Classic isn’t already running, it boots automatically before the application you’ve chosen is launched. It may take a little while for both Classic and the application you’ve launched to open and be ready for use. Remember that, after it’s started, Classic remains in the background until you log out of Mac OS X or manually stop Classic. Even when you log out of all Classic applications, Classic itself is still running.
By the Way
The Classic System Preferences pane shows the status of the Classic environment—that is, whether or not it’s running. Because Classic does not appear as an active task in the Dock, this is one way to check its status.
Although it’s true that in most cases Classic will run until you log out or manually stop the process, it’s still (like Mac OS 9 was) susceptible to crashes. If Classic crashes, so do any applications running within it. You must restart the Classic process to continue working.
The first time you open a Classic application, you’ll notice that several interesting things happen.
Watch Out!
Be careful not to alter settings in a Mac OS 9 control panel! When running Classic, the Mac OS X menu bar is replaced by the Mac OS 9 menu bar with a rainbow apple at the upper left in place of the solid-color one you usually see. Using the Mac OS 9 Apple menu, you can access all the earlier system’s control panels and associated functionality. Settings in control panels such as Appearance and Sound are harmless enough, but it’s possible to accidentally disrupt your network connections by working with the TCP/IP and AppleTalk control panels. It’s best to avoid the Mac OS 9 control panels altogether.
Visually, Classic applications look different from applications that run under OS X. These older applications appear just as they would under Mac OS 8 and 9. The appearance of Mac OS X interface elements does not carry over to their windows or buttons, but the Mac OS X Dock and Process Manager do recognize Classic applications, as shown in Figure 4.14.
After it starts, Classic is easy to use without extra detail about how it interacts with Mac OS X. You simply operate programs as you normally would. However, there are a few exceptions that might be confusing for you:
Copy and paste/drag and drop—. Two of the most common means of moving data in the Mac OS suffer when working between native and Classic applications. It can take several seconds before data copied from one environment is available for pasting into another. Dragging and dropping text and images between native and Classic applications fails altogether.
Open and Save dialog boxes—. Mac OS X applications are aware of the special folders and files used by the system and take care to hide them. The same cannot be said for Classic applications. The Open and Save dialog boxes clearly show the invisible items. Although normal, these invisible files could be alarming to users not accustomed to seeing them.
In this chapter, we covered many of the basics of interacting with folders, files, and applications. We examined options in the Finder window’s Action menu and the Get Info window. You also learned how to rename, copy, delete, and create aliases for files, folders, and applications. Finally, we discussed some more special techniques for working with applications, including running older Mac applications in Classic mode.