[macintologist]

Nice...

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Nice...

Where is the rest of the post?

[macintologist]

I have no clue. As you can see the topic starter is not me. I opened it and saw nothing..so I replied.

[diehlr]

Well, apparently the body of my post got nuked for some reason.

My question was, how do you select multiple ranges of files in Finder? In Windows Explorer, this is done by holding down shift to select a range, then holding down control to select the first file in the 2nd range of files, then pressing shift+control to select the second range... which can be repeated to select any number of ranges of files. How is this done in Finder?

For example, if I have the following files:

File1*
File2*
File3*
File4*
File5
File6
File7*
File8*
File9*
File10*

How would you select File1-File4 and then add File7-File10 to the selection?

[macintologist]

Drag and select the first group. THEN, hold down the command key (Apple key) and select your new group.

Cheers.

-Steve

[macintologist]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Drag and select the first group. THEN, hold down the command key (Apple key) and select your new group.

Cheers.

-Steve

Also, Shift does the job.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Also, Shift does the job.

Shift is if you want simultaneous groups. (Selecting everything from file1-file10) You could select them all with command shift and then deselect the one you don't want.

[tooki]

Originally posted by macintologist:
Also, Shift does the job.

No, in OS X, shift is for contiguous selection. Use command.

tooki

[MartiNZ]

Actually, it depends on the view in the Finder. When I just read "shift does the job as well," I was thinking: exactly! And then I just tried it - I use icon view almost exclusively, and therein, shift does the same thing as command for selecting. For list and column views, shift does what it does on Windows.

[digiology2]

yuck, i hate the way you have to select multiple files in Panther

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by digiology2:
yuck, i hate the way you have to select multiple files in Panther

And exactly how would you suggest selecting non-contiguous files? You cannot use the control key, or shift key, so the command key is it.

[diehlr]

Command key does not work as intended. It allows adding a single file to a grouping of files, but using it along with shift causes the entire range of files to be selected. For example:

File1
File2
File3
File4
File5
File6
File7
File8
File9

Using shift to select File1-3 works. Letting go of shift and pressing command on File7 will cause File1-3 and 7 to be selected. However, holding shift+command and then selecting File9, one would expect File1-3, and File7-9 to be selected, but skipping over File4-6. That is not the case, File4-6 will also be selected. Am I doing something wrong?

[lenox]

They've switched functionality of the modifier keys for selecting multiple groups from classic mac os to mac os x. Kinda confusing.

[SMacTech]

Originally posted by diehlr:
Command key does not work as intended. It allows adding a single file to a grouping of files, but using it along with shift causes the entire range of files to be selected.
< snip >
Using shift to select File1-3 works. Letting go of shift and pressing command on File7 will cause File1-3 and 7 to be selected. However, holding shift+command and then selecting File9, one would expect File1-3, and File7-9 to be selected, but skipping over File4-6. That is not the case, File4-6 will also be selected. Am I doing something wrong?

Just click and drag while holding the command key for selecting ranges of files or single files.
However, when using the List view, don't click on the name of a file using command or it won't work.

[diehlr]

Originally posted by SMacTech:
Just click and drag while holding the command key for selecting ranges of files or single files.
However, when using the List view, don't click on the name of a file using command or it won't work.

Hm.. sounds like a good solution. Thanks.

[tooki]

Originally posted by diehlr:
Command key does not work as intended. It allows adding a single file to a grouping of files, but using it along with shift causes the entire range of files to be selected. ... Am I doing something wrong?

That is what I said: shift does CONTIGUOUS selection.

In any case, Apple changed it for a very good reason: to make shift's behavior in the Finder match its behavior in text editors. Before, it did different things in different programs, now it's uniform.

tooki

[diehlr]

Just an addendum, but wouldn't it be nice if iTunes had a selection column like Finder does in List mode? Then you could just click and drag to select tracks.

[tooki]

That would be good. Make everything consistent. (Of course, it would be just as fair to go the other way, making the Finder list view work more like iTunes, which works more like the OS 9 Finder's list view.)

Consistency is the key -- learn something once, be able to apply it everywhere.

tooki