spector@brillig.umd.edu (Lee Spector) (01/11/90)
Is there some easy way, via some OS trick or an available init, to make multifinder hide all but the frontmost layer? This is for a friend of mine who needs to use multifinder, but who gets very confused when the screen shows several open applications and the finder simultaneously. Thanks, and sorry if this is an old topic - I tried scanning some archives but I came up with nothing... -Lee (spector@cs.umd.edu)
ar4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Piper Keairnes) (01/11/90)
In article <21743@mimsy.umd.edu> spector@brillig.umd.edu (Lee Spector) writes: >Is there some easy way, via some OS trick or an available init, to make >multifinder hide all but the frontmost layer? This is for a friend of mine >who needs to use multifinder, but who gets very confused when the screen >shows several open applications and the finder simultaneously. I know of two well-working solutions that I use everyday. MasterJuggler 1.5 allows application switching from pop-up menus with what I have set as cmd-option-click. This closes all windows but White Knight 11.0 as I hear. Also, there is a Multifinder out there of version 6.1b7. This has a new feature called SetAside that is available in the Apple menu. That feature hides all windows for the current application and removes that applications from the normal click-on-the-little-MF-icons list. You can take the shortcut and option-click on the MF-icon and that will set aside the current applications. I just use a series of option-clicks to reach the application I want at that moment and keep the rest hidden. +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Piper Keairnes | ar4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu | General Consultant | | (317) 495-4273 | Macintosh Enthusiast | Purdue Univ. Computing Center | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) (01/13/90)
In article <6324@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> ar4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Piper Keairnes) writes: > I just use a series of option-clicks to reach the application I want at that > moment and keep the rest hidden. There's also a feature in MultiFinder 6.1b9 to set aside everything bu the frontmost application. Pull down the Apple menu. Press the Option key. The Set Aside menu item will change to Set Aside Others, which will set aside eveything but the frontmost application. Larry Rosenstein, Apple Computer, Inc. Object Specialist Internet: lsr@Apple.com UUCP: {nsc, sun}!apple!lsr AppleLink: Rosenstein1
erics@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Eric Schlegel) (01/13/90)
In article <6172@internal.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes: >There's also a feature in MultiFinder 6.1b9 to set aside everything bu the >frontmost application. Pull down the Apple menu. Press the Option key. >The Set Aside menu item will change to Set Aside Others, which will set >aside eveything but the frontmost application. I find both Set Aside and Set Aside Others to be tremendously useful for decreasing screen clutter, especially on a my Plus. My only wish is that MultiFinder would _automatically_ set aside the current application when I switch to another app. Since it doesn't, I usually switch to another app via the Apple menu and then select Set Aside Others to set aside whatever app I was just in. Just takes a little longer than it should. -eric -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Eric Schlegel '90 | "Never underestimate the bandwidth of a eric.schlegel@dartmouth.edu | station wagon full of tapes."
mystone@mondo.engin.umich.edu (Dean Yu) (01/14/90)
In article <18487@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> erics@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Eric Schlegel) writes: >I find both Set Aside and Set Aside Others to be tremendously useful for >decreasing screen clutter, especially on a my Plus. My only wish is that >MultiFinder would _automatically_ set aside the current application when >I switch to another app. Since it doesn't, I usually switch to another app >via the Apple menu and then select Set Aside Others to set aside whatever >app I was just in. Just takes a little longer than it should. > You can just hold down the option key when you switch to another application. This will automatically hide the application you switch out of. Eventually, you'll get to the point where only the frontmost application is visible. _______________________________________________________________________________ Dean Yu | E-mail: mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu Mac Support & | Real-mail: Dean Yu Self declared License Czar | Rm 145 Chrysler Building University of Michigan | 2121 Bonnisteel Computer Aided Engineering Network | Ann Arbor, MI 48109 INCLUDE 'Disclaimers.a' | Phone: (313) 763-3070 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ar4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Piper Keairnes) (01/14/90)
erics@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Eric Schlegel) writes: > >I find both Set Aside and Set Aside Others to be tremendously useful for >decreasing screen clutter, especially on a my Plus. My only wish is that >MultiFinder would _automatically_ set aside the current application when >I switch to another app. Since it doesn't, I usually switch to another app >via the Apple menu and then select Set Aside Others to set aside whatever >app I was just in. Just takes a little longer than it should. I believe the reason that Apple avoided automatically hiding windows when switching applications is for those people who either enjoy or need to see what their application is doing in the background. It would be terrible if you had a two-page monitor (or two monitors) and you had application windows spread out on the screen(s). Then when you switched applications, all but the current one disappeared. Ya see?! +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Piper Keairnes | ar4@mentor.cc.purdue.edu | General Consultant | | (317) 495-4273 | Macintosh Specialist | Purdue Univ. Computing Center | +---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
es2j+@andrew.cmu.edu (Edward John Sabol) (01/14/90)
>I find both Set Aside and Set Aside Others to be tremendously useful for >decreasing screen clutter, especially on a my Plus. My only wish is that >MultiFinder would _automatically_ set aside the current application when >I switch to another app. Since it doesn't, I usually switch to another app >via the Apple menu and then select Set Aside Others to set aside whatever >app I was just in. Just takes a little longer than it should. Try holding down option and clicking on a window of some program in the background. The foreground application will be set aside and the other program will come to the foreground. A friend of mine found this one by accident.
mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb) (01/14/90)
In article <1990Jan13.182405.13617@caen.engin.umich.edu> mystone@caen.engin.umich.edu writes: > You can just hold down the option key when you switch to another application. >This will automatically hide the application you switch out of. Eventually, >you'll get to the point where only the frontmost application is visible. Interesting... This seems to work if you click the little icon in the menu bar, or click a window of the app you want to switch to, but it doesn't seem to work picking the app from the apple menu. I'm using 6.1b7. Is it different in 6.1b9? While we're on the subject, are there other differences between '7 and '9? --Mike
t-jacobs@cs.utah.edu (Tony Jacobs) (01/15/90)
In article <18487@dartvax.Dartmouth.EDU> erics@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Eric Schlegel) writes: >In article <6172@internal.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes: >>There's also a feature in MultiFinder 6.1b9 to set aside everything bu the >>frontmost application. Pull down the Apple menu. Press the Option key. >>The Set Aside menu item will change to Set Aside Others, which will set >>aside eveything but the frontmost application. > > >I find both Set Aside and Set Aside Others to be tremendously useful for >decreasing screen clutter, especially on a my Plus. My only wish is that >MultiFinder would _automatically_ set aside the current application when >I switch to another app. Since it doesn't, I usually switch to another app >via the Apple menu and then select Set Aside Others to set aside whatever >app I was just in. Just takes a little longer than it should. > You can also option-click on the small icon in the menu bar to switch to the next application while hiding the current apps windows. Tony Jacobs * Center for Engineering Design * U of U * t-jacobs@cs.utah.edu
long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Richard C. Long) (01/16/90)
For those of you who don't want to run the beta MultiFinder, there is an alternative. There is an "InvisWin" FKEY floating about out there. When invoked via Command/Shift <whatever>, it makes the content section of the CURRENT window transparent, allowing access to whatever is behind it. Now, the neat thing: If, using Quickeys, that FKEY is aliased to another key, invoking that alias will hide ALL windows of the current application. Neat, eh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- /'') /'' / | long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com | Hey! You're not /''\ /__ /__ | ...!decwrl!mcntsh.enet.dec.com!long | Rockin' Ricky Richard C. Long | long%mcntsh.dec@decwrl.enet.dec.com | fans! -- "Gremlins"
long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Richard C. Long) (01/16/90)
In article <7477@shlump.nac.dec.com>, I wrote >[about the InvisiWin FKEY] I said that defining the InvisiWin FKEY as a Quickeys alias would cause the content region of all windows to be made invisible. I was wrong! It turns out the reason this works is because my Quickeys alias was Control-Space. It's the "Control" part that's significant. Apparently, it's a feature of the FKEY, thus Command/Shift/Control <whatever> will cause the "all windows" behavior, while Command/Shift <whatever> affects only the currrent window. Sorry for any confusion! Rich
ercm20@castle.ed.ac.uk (Sam Wilson) (01/17/90)
In article <7477@shlump.nac.dec.com> long@mcntsh.enet.dec.com (Richard C. Long) writes: > >For those of you who don't want to run the beta MultiFinder, there is an >alternative. > >There is an "InvisWin" FKEY floating about out there. . . There's also the WindowShade INIT which lets you shrink a window into just its title bar with a double click. You can then get back to other applications by clicking on the title bars that are floating around over the desktop. Great for us little-screen users - we can still find the waste bin! (That's the Trashcan for you Transatlantics.) Sam Wilson Edinburgh University