Where's That File_

downloading, capturing, dragging

Teaching digital graphics to incoming freshmen at JMU, I get the opportunity to look over the shoulders of many new Mac users. It's always a pleasure showing these young folks how cool the Mac is compared to their parent's clunky old PCs. Amazingly enough most new students in both sections are not very familiar with the Mac -- and most have PCs in their dorm rooms or at home.
      Most new users will utilize the default "full screen browser" mode of their PC forefathers. I've been asked more than once "where did the file go I just downloaded_" They're delighted to discover the complete control most veteran Mac users have used since the advent of drag-n-drop.

Drag & Drop for easy file management

Look at the lower right-hand corner of the Browser window. There, you'll see the traditional hatch-marks which indicate the window can be made larger or smaller merely by clicking and dragging. Click and drag. Notice you can move that corner around and size the window to your liking, just like all the other windows in the Mac environment. Now click and drag the corner of the browser window, moving it to the left an inch or so. Notice that you have now exposed a narrow strip of your desktop down the right-hand side of your monitor behind the browser window.
      Now when you want to grab that link, file or graphic, don't click it -- Click/hold/ and DRAG it off into that desktop area you just created. When your surf is over, your files will be in plain view where you can easily put the files away.
      Better yet, when doing purposeful surfing, create the folder for your research in the directory where it will permanently reside. Now open that folder and adjust it so it shows in the exposed desktop strip you created. Now you can drag images, web pages and even download files directly into their target folder. You'll be amazed at how fast you can grab lots of stuff.

Purposeful collection

I also show my students two ways to save web pages they're gathering for research.
      First, if you need the page formatted as you see it on the web, then drag the link to the page into the target folder. Notice it retains its .html extension. Later, off-line, just drag and drop that file directly on top of the browser icon to view it.
      Now, if it's one of those heavy-duty advertising sites with umpteen links down both sides and all kinds of sidebars and other screen spam framing the content, just select the content you want and drag that off into the waiting folder. Your content will arrive there as a "Clippings" file which will open later in a text editor or word processing program. Rename those clippings sequentially and drag them all -- at the same time -- into the open window of a good text editor like BBEdit. PRESTO, all your content arrives in the text file in the order you designated.
      On many web pages you'll have problems dragging to select just the content you want. In this case just select a single word then use Command/A to select "all" and then while selected, Click/hold and drag the entire content off to a clippings file.

Careful with PDF files

Here's another trick I'll pass along: If you have the browser open, and a text editor, and perhaps an image viewer your memory could be reaching its limits. Now you run across a link for a PDF file that you want. STOP: don't click it. The memory hog Acrobat Reader plug-in takes so long to load, and it takes so long to trip to the next page, clicking to open online PDF files could lock things up if you're into the fringes of your memory.
      Not for me -- I always glance down at the "Status" bar at the bottom of the browser window which reveals the domain and actual path to the file you want. Hover your cursor/pointer over the link and look. If you see a "PDF" extension (filename.pdf) at the end of a target link, click/hold/ and drag the link to the desktop. Your PDF file will begin downloading and will arrive where you dragged it for off-line reading.
      Many sly websites these days hide the "Status" bar so you can't see the links. You can bring it back to life by accessing it under the "View" menu. Watch for the PDF extension: dot-pdf. Open it later, off-line, and read it the way it was intended to be read. Additionally, I'll almost always open the file in Acrobat version 4, because it loads and quits much faster than v5 or v6. I only use those if the file requires those versions.

Never lose another file

Follow these techniques and your freshly arrived file will always be waiting for you -- exactly where you put it -- when you get offline.
 

Until next time, happy mousing.
 

 

If you have tips, tricks or questions you'd like to add to "This Old Mouse" just let me know.   Macintosh User Groups are invited to use this column in their newsletters, but Please read the "Read Me" first, okay!

About the Author:
      Fred Showker is Editor in Chief of "MUG" the AACUG Mac User Guide, and the User Group Network News service, and a founding Apple User Group Advisory Board (UGAB) member. He was an original founder of the User Group Forum on AppleLink Personal Edition, and America Online where he was AFA for eight years. Many MUG (Mac User Group) members know him for his work with the Mug News Service (MNS), National Home & School Mac (NHSM), or his many speaking appearances at NAUG, NAUGSAW and Macworld Expo and others. Today, he's a familiar name in many user group newsletters around the world for his 60-Second Window, now in its 13th year of syndication... read more

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