A sorta-known functionality tidbit of Cocoa is the ability to manipulate nearly all (not the close, Dock, and zoon widgets) of the interface elements of window when it's in the background (see hints 1, 2, 3). Today, however, I discovered more sweet Cocoaness by accident ...
Click, hold, and drag to select any normally selectable text of a Cocoa app's window when it's in the background, and it won't change the overall window focus! You can then drag that text anywhere you want, and you still won't have to switch back to your originally on-top window.
[Editor's note: To get this to work, I had to hold down the Command key prior to the click and drag operation, otherwise the first click simply switched to the background application. After selecting the text, release the mouse and Command key, then hit Command again and click and drag the selection as desired.]
Click, hold, and drag to select any normally selectable text of a Cocoa app's window when it's in the background, and it won't change the overall window focus! You can then drag that text anywhere you want, and you still won't have to switch back to your originally on-top window.
[Editor's note: To get this to work, I had to hold down the Command key prior to the click and drag operation, otherwise the first click simply switched to the background application. After selecting the text, release the mouse and Command key, then hit Command again and click and drag the selection as desired.]
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