[kooBi]

Hi all,

This doesn't frustrate me as much as it annoys me. Services (AppName --> Services --> etc.) don't seem to work - they're all greyed out, or occasionally a handful will be active, depending on the app. For example, I can't evoke Grab from Safari or Finder, but I can from TextEdit

This happens for almost all apps.

Anyone else experiencing this, and is there a fix?

Up until now I haven't bothered to even look at them because generally when I want to use a service it won't work, but now I'm curious as to why.

[Developer]

There are services that take some data (usually text). Like the Make Stickie Note service. These types of services require that you select some text first.
There are services that take some data, modify it, then paste it back. For example a calculator service that takes a formula and replaces it with the result. These types of services require that you select some text and that the text is modifyable (i. e. you could type and replace).
There are services that just paste some data. An insert current date service might be an example. Grab is such a service. It just pastes an image (a screenshot). Since you can't paste images into Safari that service is not available.

(text is used as an example. different services might require different types of data to be selected/pasteable)

[tikki]

The grab server is so confusing. I have only gotten it to work once in TextEdit.

[JKT]

Originally posted by tikki:
The grab server is so confusing. I have only gotten it to work once in TextEdit.

It's only confusing in that it needs a "how-to" to be given:

In a (Cocoa) app that can accept image input (e.g. a TextEdit document, Mail compose text input area, Sticky note):

1. Place the cursor in the document where you wish the screen grab to appear.

2. Go to the Services>Grab> menu and make your choice of insertion, then do the necessary grab if you have chosen Selection or Timed Screen (note, at this point you can command-tab to the desired application if it has become obscured before making the grab); if you selected Screen it will have been inserted at the cursor straight away.

This only works for those apps that have been coded to use Services (most Cocoa apps, unfortunately very few Carbon ones).

[Sven G]

... For Services to work, the "serviceable" apps must also be in /Applications or in ~/Applications (and subfolders of those), AFAIK...

[kooBi]

for the replies. Services makes a lot more sense now � and might actually be of some service

[JKT]

Originally posted by Sven G:
... For Services to work, the "serviceable" apps must also be in /Applications or in ~/Applications (and subfolders of those), AFAIK...

Actually, they have to be there to offer their own Services to other apps, not the other way around.

[Sven G]

Yeah... I really meant just that, of course: thanks for the clarification.

... And, talking about Services, here's a rather idiotic thing I just thought about: Self-Service ---> Sex-Service ---> X-Service...