i'm working through a tutorial for a webpage design program and have once again run into a problem that perplexes me from time to time.

the instructions say to drag files from a folder, say, in Documents, onto a page in this program. well, the only way i know to navigate to the documents folder is by going to the finder and clicking to it. but once i'm in the Finder, the application i'm working in hides so there's no where to drag the file to. and once i click back to the application, the finder hides so i can't drag the files.

in other words, i think i need to be able to see the application and the Finder window at the same time but i can't seem to do that.

a work around has been to place what i need to drag and drop onto the desktop because i can see the desktop behind any application window. but i figure there must be some setting or something i'm missing here.

Does File>New Finder Window let you have both open? It works for some things I do, but I don't know if it'll solve your problem or not.

Does File>New Finder Window let you have both open?

just tried it. nope. sigh...

graylocks Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> well, the only way i know to navigate to the
> documents folder is by going to the finder and
> clicking to it. but once i'm in the Finder, the
> application i'm working in hides so there's no
> where to drag the file to. and once i click back
> to the application, the finder hides so i can't
> drag the files.

> a work around has been to place what i need to
> drag and drop onto the desktop because i can see
> the desktop behind any application window. but i
> figure there must be some setting or something i'm
> missing here.

If you can see the Desktop (and any files you've placed on it), then the Finder isn't hidden (the Desktop and the files on it are part of the Finder). And if you can see the Desktop and the files on it, you should be able to see an open Finder window (assuming you've sized it so it's not blocked by any other application windows).

Here's an example:



With the Finder active (whether it's activated by command-tabbing, clicking on the Desktop, clicking on the Finder icon in the Dock, or clicking on an alias of the desired folder which I've placed in the Dock doesn't matter--the end result is the same--the Finder becomes the frontmost application) and the folder window open containing the necessary files, all other running apps (a web browser, a word processor, an image editor and QuickTime Player) remain visible (with windows accessible via drag and drop). And activating any of those other apps doesn't automatically hide anything else.

If it did, there'd be no need for third-party utilities like AutoHide.

Is it possible you're running something like AutoHide?

Or perhaps you're thinking something is hidden when in fact it's only blocked by another application's window(s)?

There are many ways to solve this problem. Here are just a few suggestions.

One way, is to drag the icon for your documents folder, or hard drive, or the application document in question, or all of them, into the sidebar of your finder window.

Then, you can drag a file from the finder window, hover over the icon in the sidebar, and if it is the app document, drop the file there, if you want to place the item you are dragging into a nested folder in your doc folder for instance, you can hover over the doc folder icon until the nested folders open up, and then so on, until you drill down until you reach the folder you want to place the file in, and drop it there. (The folders are spring loaded.) When you are done working with that particular document, just drag it out of the sidebar.

Another method, is to navigate to the file location in the finder, right click (or ctrl+click) on the file you want to drag, and select "copy..." from the resulting mouse menu. Then you can close that finder window if you wish, and navigate to the app you want to drop it on, right click (or ctrl+click) on the document where you want to drop it, and select paste from the mouse menu, and it will drop a copy there.

I will often have 10-20 or more finder windows open at a time. From the document you want to paste into, you can click and hold on the finder icon, then select the window you want to drag the file from and let off. It will come to the top, and lay over the document (but you can probably still see the document hanging out behind the finder window, unless you have your finder windows full screen size). Then you can drag the file from the finder window and drop it onto the document easily (or use the copy and paste method outlined above.).

I typically use cmd+tab to toggle between two apps that I am using, such as the finder and an application document. If you hold down the cmd. key and tab twice, you go to the app that you had open before the two that you are toggling between. I find this very useful, and use it all the time. Shift+cmd.+tab goes back the other way.

I often have 30-75 documents open at one time and 10-20 apps, and have no problem toggling between them using these methods. Sometimes I hide an app and its documents, but not always. Of course, I am used to working this way, so YMMV.

HTH

hwystar



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2005 11:14PM by hwystar.

Or maybe clicked on some auto hide function?

Also, what OS version are you using?

BGnR

BigGuynRusty and Johnc win!

it was a hack!

i started searching through my shareware add-ons. i have an indispensable application called Keyboard Maestro and i had it set to 'Always Hide' other applications. turned that sucker off and it's all better now.

thank you! this was driving me nuts!

I hate hacks just for that reason!
Also, they cause a lot of mystery system problems.

BGnR