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Selecting large blocks of text System
The hint about variable scrolling speed in BBEdit (or any other app) is nice. I am still bored waiting for the system to scroll. Therefore I like another way to select very large pieces of text, which I guess is the fastest:
  1. Move to the first word I want selected and select it.

  2. Move to the last word I want as part of the selected piece. Note that this can be done using the thumb in the scroll bar and the mouse. Since the system supports live scrolling (with most apps), this is very quick and precise. The word you selected first remains selected!

  3. Hold down the shift key and then shift-click the final position. The WHOLE piece in between is then selected.
I hope this helps as well.

[Editor's note: If you're new to the Mac, this little trick can save tons of scrolling time when working with large documents.]
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Re:
Authored by: filburt1 on Jan 21, '03 11:35:35AM

This works in Windows as well.



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Even quicker ....
Authored by: osxpounder on Jan 21, '03 12:02:48PM

If you are really, really in a hurry, you don't have to scroll to reach the very bottom of the document.

Select the first word [at the top of the text area you wish to select], then type CMD-End. Your chosen word remains selected!

Now click, or click and drag, on or near the last word, and you'll see your selection extend to the point where you clicked. If you are dragging, you find you can drag to precisely set the end of the selection.

All this happens more quickly than my wordy explanation makes it sound. ....

Since this trick works with CMD-End, I would expect it to work with CMD-Home, too.

BTW, this seems to work in just about any recent OSX app I try.



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Even quicker ....
Authored by: ngb on Jan 21, '03 12:18:35PM

cmd-down arrow will move you to the end of the document.

cmd-shift-down arrow will select all text between the insert point and the end of the document. cmd-shift-end will do the same.

using up arrow or home will have the same effect, moving up instead of down.



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This is a Mac OS X Hint?!
Authored by: Anonymous on Jan 21, '03 12:04:03PM

This is "how to use a GUI-driven computer" stuff and works on Mac OS 9, 8, 7 and before as well as all versions of Windows I can remember as has been mentioned. Surely this really is too basic for Mac OS X hints. If not, then I've got two more hints for you:

1. Pressing the power button transforms the Mac from a useless inactive black screen into a really powerful, fully-functioning computer!

2. If you plug in a mouse, you can move the cursor around the screen! You can even click on things by pressing and releasing the mouse button!



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You can't win them all...
Authored by: robg on Jan 21, '03 12:36:44PM
No, we'll never get that basic, but as I've said many many times, I try to offer things here that will appeal to users of all experience levels. If in the course of doing that, I upset an [expert / intermediate / novice] user, then that's the price I pay. I'd rather have as much information as possible here as opposed to just that information that an [expert / intermediate / novice] would find useful.

Just because you find a particular hint [too easy / too hard / too dumb / too trivial] does not mean that everyone felt the same way. I won't satisfy 100% of the people 100% of the time, so expect to be occasionally disappointed in what you read here, regardless of your experience level -- it comes with the way I've chosen to run my site. But please, don't feel the need to comment on every hint that you find [too easy / too hard / too dumb / too trivial]; there's no value add for the rest of the readers. If you have concerns with how the site is being run, please direct them to me, not to the hints in question.

-rob.

[Edit: I changed the subject line, as it sounded overly harsh which was not my intent...]

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Life Saver!
Authored by: iRideSnow on Jan 21, '03 05:03:03PM
1. Pressing the power button transforms the Mac from a useless inactive black screen into a really powerful, fully-functioning computer!
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Now, can anyone tell me where I can find a replacement doorstop?

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Life Saver!
Authored by: filburt1 on Jan 22, '03 12:58:20PM

You people need to stop being so arrogant. Not everybody who uses a Mac is born with this knowledge.



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More basics?
Authored by: jiclark on Jan 21, '03 01:36:30PM

At the risk of offending the more advanced users, I thought I'd point out the option-shift shortcuts:

option-shift-right/left arrow = selects entire next/previous word
shift-up/down arrow = selects entire previous/next line
option-shift-up/down arrow = selects entire previous/next paragraph

Basic, yes, but I can't believe how many people don't know about these shortcuts. If you're at all keyboard oriented, these are essential to know.

Have fun,
John-o



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Select all trick
Authored by: dabeatles on Jan 21, '03 08:08:23PM

Click anywhere in a text box and press CMD and A for the same effect (it's listed under the edit menu for all aps).



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Is this broken in safari?
Authored by: whoadoggy on May 06, '04 06:13:24AM

While this is not a groundbreaking hint, since I have always used it, I have recently found that on my systems (10.3.3, PBG4, and PMac2x450) this only works in some apps. It works in Word, TextEdit, and Mail but doesn't work in Safari.
Any clues or just a bug?



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