The option-(click-a-checkbox) trick works for many long lists of checkboxes, and it usually works in both directions (i.e., option-clicking on an unchecked box causes all boxes to be checked; option-clicking on a checked box causes all boxes to be unchecked). As far as I recall, every time I've tried this trick when I've wanted to set or reset a large checklist in any Cocoa program, it's worked.

Yea! Great Hint! My wrist feels better already.

Related question: tabbing thru and checking boxes on web forms with keyboard like tab - spacebar in Windows? Anybody know?

Yea! Great Hint! My wrist feels better already.

Related question: tabbing thru and checking boxes on web forms / all OS dialog boxes / application dialog boxes with keyboard like tab - spacebar in Windows? Anybody know?

And another: lots of installer etc. dialog boxes have, for instance, a "agree" and "disagree" button with neither highlighted (or with semi-highlighted where "enter" does not hit the semi-highlighted). Is there any consistant formula for selecting the desired button from keyboard, like "command - dot" for "cancel" (even this is now inconsistant, an example would be when opening a zip archive, hitting "command - dot" does not hit "cancel", which is the only button.

Maybe someone has a link to "worlds best Tiger KB shortcuts site?

That's easy to answer, when tabbing around with the "blue glow" around buttons, press the spacebar to "select" the one you want.

(You must have "Full Keyboard Access" set to "All controls" at the bottom of the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences pane. This will not work otherwise.)

Example: Under the Apple menu, select "About this Mac." In the window that pops up, you'll see the blue glow around the top button, and if you press TAB it will move to the bottom button. To select the button that you have highlighted press the spacebar. =)

Inconsistant, but worth a try is also this one:

If a button is neither glowing blue nor blueish surrounded, you can always try COMMAND and the first letter of the button's text.
An example would be Photoshop when closing a window: Command+D = Don't save. Some things are localised, so in german it would be: Command+N = Nicht sichern.

Just give it a try from time to time, does not work everywhere though...

Thanks, yes, command+D = Don't Save for most apps.

And thanks to john7jr for info on: when tabbing around with the "blue glow" around buttons, press the spacebar to "select" the one you want. You must have "Full Keyboard Access" set to "All controls" at the bottom of the Keyboard Shortcuts tab of the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences pane.

But looks like no help for installers, like right now I'm installing NUDC and the 1st box has 4 buttons, none highlighted or "blue-glowed", cmd+X (where X is 1st letter) does nothing so there's nothing to do but grab the mouse. Gets old when you're installing stuff all the time.

I like how you phrased that: "...requires no fewer than eleven brutally wrist-scraping repetitive mouse clicks." I'm with ya!

I'm not sure where all the inconsistencies lay [lie?], but it seems to me that sometimes, in Panther, I must use the Enter key rather than the spacebar.

I wish programmers would spend more time setting up good tab-order and keyboard shortcuts [especially conventional ones], but I can understand how that can fall to the wayside when you're making a piece of software for free, or cheap, and you don't much care about the users by the end of it. If it's pricey software, I feel comfortable demanding keyboard navigability, though -- it should be there. Maybe not top priority, but it should be there, and it ain't hard to code.

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osxpounder