[angevine41]

The G3 8.5 I installed on my Performa 6360 continues to work REALLY well (despite some worriers telling me it wouldn't). The only anomoly I find so far is that I can't locate the clipboard! ("Simple Finder" is NOT checked in prefs.) Is the "Show Clipboard" that should be under Edit the only way for someone afraid of Applescript to see it?

[wlonh]

hmmm... odd! Do you have a file called 'Clipboard' in your System Folder? If so, you_should_be in bizness.

If you don't have that file, I'm sure I can't imagine why you don't! If you do have that file and are not seeing the 'Show Clipboard' command under the Edit menu while in the Finder, I'd recommend that you run DiskFirst Aid or your fave disk repair utility and then zap your PRAM using TechTool 1.1.8 (freeware) then 'trash' your Finder Preferences and restart and then rebuild your desktop using TechTool. If that doesn't help, then neither can I!

I've never heard of the Show Clipboard command disappearing...

[angevine41]

Well, today the "show clipboard" appears under Edit in Finder, and I can look at, say, a summary page I've requested from from the Sherlock function in IE4.5, but I don't see any way to DO anything with clipboard contents! (No "Save as".) And I can't "Show Clipboard" from IE, only from Finder.

The "How to use clipboard" in Help isn't any help, to me. (It's written in East Nerdese; why is it those guys never seem to be able to write a simple declarative sentence?) Shouldn't I be able to do a simple "Save As" with Clipboard? Isn't the "Clipboard" just an openable area for the "Copy" function?

I have both Control Strips extensions turned off, which seem the only possible culprits for the problem.

I'll run Disk Aid, but I hesitate to zap pram; last time I did, w/ 7.6.1, it seemed to take forever to restore lost prefs. (Course, the os, and/or hd, was goofed up, which the clean/reformatted install of 8.5 rectified.)

[angevine41]

I should have mentioned: yes, the file is in the system folder, and when I "Show Clipboard" the option to "Print Window" is there, but nothing else. Is that the normal way it works?

hi there,
i'm sorry angevine41, but that's the way the clipboard works, all the time. the "show clipboard" item is only in the finder, unless it is specifically included in a program. the only reason the "show clipboard" item is in the finder is so that you can check before you paste it over something, make sure you have the right stuff in there, etc. you can't "save as..." or anything straight from the clipboard, you have to paste it into something first. i do agree, though, that saving the clipboard would be very nice, and i'm rather surprised that apple hasn't included in the os after all thes years.
hope that cleared thing up,
-ster

I think what you want is the ScrapBook, which is in the Apple Menu. You can save all sorts of different things in that, then copy and paste them into your documents as needed. The clipboard merely shows you what will get pasted the next time you choose paste.

[angevine41]

I feel kinda foolish. For some reason, I'd never seen/used clipboard before, and thought it was a new feature of 8.5. (Becase it was a component of the Sherlock pulldown in IE4.5 after I installed 8.5.)

Still don't know why it wasn't in Finder when I first looked.

Is there a safe shareware product that will take copied material directly to an editable app like simpletext, with, say, the right keystrokes?

[wlonh]

well, all you need do is copy text (say, from a webpage or from any document containing text) and then paste it into SimpleText...

no need for any thirdparty stuff.

[angevine41]

Oh I know; these things just make one lazier and lazier.

I'm sure if I took the trouble to understand applescript, I could write something that would, when I hit maybe F6, open simpletext AND paste clipboard contents into it.

The only reason I asked is that from time to time I find myself going back and forth between a web page and simpletext, copying and pasting. If I could just eliminate one step........

But wait, is there a way to make simpletext a popup window?

[wlonh]

have a look at CopyPaste, shareware:
http://www.scriptsoftware.com/copypaste/index.html

and maybe go to
http://www.versiontracker.com/

and there you can search for files... try doing a search for 'clipboard'...

and if you really want to try to work out some Apple Script/pop-up window hybrid arrangement, go to
http://www.resexcellence.com

and search their scripts and 'user contributions', an incredible resource!

[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 10-01-1999).]

SimpleText, and many other programs Do support "Drag and Drop" editing these days. This means that you can, for example, select some text in SimpleText, click and hold the mouse down on the selection, and drag it onto the desktop (where it becomes a clipping) or into another Application. Holding down the option key clones the selection before dragging starts. Beats the heck out of the old Copy,click on the other App, paste, switch back to the first App, copy...

[wlonh]

Partridge... that is the best routine... clippings, of course...

DOH!!

(pardon me whilst i check if i have a pulse)

[angevine41]

I think we have this tent peg set.

Hmmm...at first I thought the Clipboard is an important part of the system folder that if you throw away you will never be able to copy and paste anymore. Don't woryy, open some graphic program to copy a picture or copy a texts and the finder will created a new Clipboard in your system folder.

If that didn't help and the menu still havent come back it's probably your system or finder is damaged and you will need to raplace with a new one. Just install MacOS 8.5 or 8.6 whatever you are using and you will have a healthy and fresh operating system to start with.