Groups > comp.sys.mac.apps > #28976 > unrolled thread

How do mac users create a blank text file where you want it?

Started by	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
First post	2015-04-20 00:40 +0000
Last post	2015-04-22 09:45 -0400
Articles	20 on this page of 393 — 26 participants

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#29030

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 03:03 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj8j4F5p92U13@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#29026

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> 190420152216371344nospamospam@nospam.invalid
>
>> change that in the app's preferences before saving. 
>> it's a dumb design to put it there
>
> That's what needs to be done!
> Thanks!
>
> TextEdit > Preferences > New Document > Format (o) Plain text]

So you refuse to install TextWrangler because it's not your computer,
but you don't mind at all changing the preferences on the machine. Makes
complete sense.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#29143

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 07:01 +0000
Message-ID	<mh288a$i5o$43@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#29030

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj8j4F5p92U13@mid.individual.net

> So you refuse to install TextWrangler because it's not your computer,
> but you don't mind at all changing the preferences on the machine. Makes
> complete sense.

I was blindsided.

I'm sorry I changed the preferences, and I have already said I will 
change them back tomorrow when I see the person again.

I was wholly unaware that changing the preferences actually *disabled* 
the ability to save as other file formats.

I had intuitively thought that changing the preference merely *added* the 
capability to save as plain text; hence, it was a complete shock that 
changing the preferences actually deleted (temporarily) functionality for 
the user.

Given that the preference method stinks in that regard, I will switch the 
preferences back to the default as soon as I can.

I will explain to the user the fact they have to utilize two different 
menus, one to save to pure text and a different menu to save to various 
other formats. It won't make any sense logically, but at least it can be 
done.

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#29222

From	Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org>
Date	2015-04-20 07:34 -0700
Message-ID	<200420150734202049%michelle@michelle.org>
In reply to	#29143

In article <mh288a$i5o$43@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> I was wholly unaware that changing the preferences actually *disabled* 
> the ability to save as other file formats.

IT DID NO SUCH THING!!!!!!!!!

Tell the user that you can't help him because you don't understand the
Macintosh.

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#29256

From	jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz (Jamie Kahn Genet)
Date	2015-04-21 03:36 +1200
Message-ID	<1m37lxf.pr7pvlmu9broN%jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz>
In reply to	#29222

Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org> wrote:

> In article <mh288a$i5o$43@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
> <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> 
> > I was wholly unaware that changing the preferences actually *disabled*
> > the ability to save as other file formats.
> 
> IT DID NO SUCH THING!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Tell the user that you can't help him because you don't understand the
> Macintosh.

Do you think there really is a 'user'? If so - should we not try to make
some kind of humanitarian effort to save them from this dickhead's
'help'?
-- 
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

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#29234

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 14:50 +0000
Message-ID	<cpki1cFg4haU19@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#29143

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj8j4F5p92U13@mid.individual.net
>
>> So you refuse to install TextWrangler because it's not your computer,
>> but you don't mind at all changing the preferences on the machine. Makes
>> complete sense.
>
> I was blindsided.

No, you are just *incredibly* dense. You don't seem to be able to grasp
basic concepts very easily, and bitch and moan the entire way while
someone tries to drag you there.

> I'm sorry I changed the preferences, and I have already said I will 
> change them back tomorrow when I see the person again.
>
> I was wholly unaware that changing the preferences actually *disabled* 
> the ability to save as other file formats.

Wrong yet again. It disables nothing. The format you choose simply
changes the mode in which TextEdit operates. TextEdit doesn't display
options that pertain only to rich text format documents when the format
is set to plain text. It's really that simple. 

If you want to save a plain text document as rich text, use the Format >
Make Rich Text command to change it to rich text before saving it. 

If you want to save a rich text document as plain text, use the Format >
Make Plain Text command to change it to plain text before saving it.

It's that simple!

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#29149

From	jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz (Jamie Kahn Genet)
Date	2015-04-20 19:07 +1200
Message-ID	<1m36y9z.10b9j2s1h1vogmN%jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz>
In reply to	#29030

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> > nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> > 190420152216371344nospamospam@nospam.invalid
> >
> >> change that in the app's preferences before saving. 
> >> it's a dumb design to put it there
> >
> > That's what needs to be done!
> > Thanks!
> >
> > TextEdit > Preferences > New Document > Format (o) Plain text]
> 
> So you refuse to install TextWrangler because it's not your computer,
> but you don't mind at all changing the preferences on the machine. Makes
> complete sense.

Maybe that is the only way Adam gets work - by fucking up user's
settings.
-- 
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

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#29060

From	JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca>
Date	2015-04-20 00:21 -0400
Message-ID	<55347ec8$0$54724$c3e8da3$fdf4f6af@news.astraweb.com>
In reply to	#28985

Creating an empty file:


Terminal.App (in utilities)

$ touch Myfilename.txt

done.

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#29065

From	Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com>
Date	2015-04-20 16:28 +1200
Message-ID	<200420151628038499%YourName@YourISP.com>
In reply to	#29060

In article <55347ec8$0$54724$c3e8da3$fdf4f6af@news.astraweb.com>, JF
Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote:
> 
> Creating an empty file:
> 
> Terminal.App (in utilities)
> 
> $ touch Myfilename.txt
> 
> done.

Nope, You go to the AppStore and purchase the MyTextFile document for
25c.  ;-)

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#29139

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 07:02 +0000
Message-ID	<mh289a$i5o$44@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#29060

JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote in message
55347ec8$0$54724$c3e8da3$fdf4f6af@news.astraweb.com

> Terminal.App (in utilities)
> 
> $ touch Myfilename.txt
> 
> done.

That's good to know because it's the same way on Linux.

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#29237

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 14:51 +0000
Message-ID	<cpki2kFg4haU20@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#29139

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote in message
> 55347ec8$0$54724$c3e8da3$fdf4f6af@news.astraweb.com
>
>> Terminal.App (in utilities)
>> 
>> $ touch Myfilename.txt
>> 
>> done.
>
> That's good to know because it's the same way on Linux.

Seriously? Did you forget OS X is Unix all of a sudden?

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#29388

From	Alan Baker <email@domain.com>
Date	2015-04-22 12:25 -0700
Message-ID	<mh8sk7$6hg$1@news.datemas.de>
In reply to	#29139

On 2015-04-20 07:02:02 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:

> JF Mezei <jfmezei.spamnot@vaxination.ca> wrote in message
> 55347ec8$0$54724$c3e8da3$fdf4f6af@news.astraweb.com
> 
>> Terminal.App (in utilities)
>> 
>> $ touch Myfilename.txt
>> 
>> done.
> 
> That's good to know because it's the same way on Linux.

No. That actually doesn't do what you claim it does.

It creates an EMPTY file which happens to have a filename extension 
which will tell other applications that it contains text.

But in truth, it could contain JPEG image data, or any other data you 
care to name.

You really don't understand any of this stuff, do you?

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#29381

From	Alan Baker <email@domain.com>
Date	2015-04-22 12:16 -0700
Message-ID	<mh8s2h$5ao$1@news.datemas.de>
In reply to	#28985

On 2015-04-20 02:05:09 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:

> nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> 190420152050160494nospamospam@nospam.invalid
> 
>> it's very easy. launch the text edit application (or equivalent)
>> and start writing, then save it.
> 
> 1. There is no text application in the menu, so,
> 2. I hit the magnifying glass and search for "text".
> 3. The first hit is Application "TextEdit".
> 4. Up comes a window saying something about iCloud dragging.
> 5. I switch the default from "iCloud" to "On My Mac".
> 6. I navigate to where I want the empty ASCII text file to be.
> 7. I hit the "New Document" button.
> 8. I paste in the desired ASCII text.
> 9. This creates a file named "Untitled - Edited".
> 10. When I press the save button, a "Save As" box comes up.
> 11. The box defaults to Rich Text Document.
> 12. There is no clear ASCII Text option, as the options are:
> a. Rich Text Document
> b. Rich Text document with Attachments
> c. Web Page (.html)
> d. Web Archive Document
> e. OpenDocument Text (.odt) Document
> f. Word 2007 (.docx) Document
> f. Word 2003 (.xml) Document
> f. Word 97 (.doc) Document
> 13. The closest thing to an ASCII text is the first.
> 14. Up pops a warning:
>     You cannot save this document with extension ".txt"
>     at the end of the name. The required extension is ".rtf".
> 
> Is this what Mac users go through every day?
> Or am I still doing something wrong (i.e., not the Macintosh way)?
> What selection is a plain ASCII text document?

An intelligent person, upon opening an application with which they are 
unfamiliar for the first time, might peruse all the menus to see what's 
what. If an intelligent person did this, then he (or she) would see the 
"Make Plain Text" command on the "Format" menu, plain as can be. This 
menu command would inform an intelligent person, that:

1. The document is NOT currently plain text.

2. That it can be MADE into plain text should the intelligent person 
care to have it so.

What a pity no intelligent person was involved on your end.

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#29402

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-22 22:07 +0000
Message-ID	<cpqkdbF3ijcU3@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#29381

On 2015-04-22, Alan Baker <email@domain.com> wrote:
>
> An intelligent person, upon opening an application with which they are 
> unfamiliar for the first time, might peruse all the menus to see what's 
> what.

It's hard to imagine basing your computing experience on *avoiding*
exploration. Clicking a menu on the screen is *not* asking much!

> If an intelligent person did this, then he (or she) would see the 
> "Make Plain Text" command on the "Format" menu, plain as can be. This 
> menu command would inform an intelligent person, that:
>
> 1. The document is NOT currently plain text.
>
> 2. That it can be MADE into plain text should the intelligent person 
> care to have it so.
>
> What a pity no intelligent person was involved on your end.

LOL! : )

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#28982

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 01:57 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj4o2F5p92U1@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#28976

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> I tried to help a friend create a simple text file on
> Macintosh OSX 10.9.5 and it was very difficult.

Changed your nym yet again, I see. You're fooling nobody.

> Right clicking didn't have any option to create a text file.
> http://i.imgur.com/RkrcG3M.png

That's a silly ass-backwards Windows UI design that I am glad Apple
didn't provide in OS X. And I'm not surprised at all that you would
choose that method over any other, considering your affinity for doing
things in the most convoluted, complicated manner possible.

In operating systems that aren't as schizophrenic and brain-dead as
Windows, you don't create spreadsheets, graphics, presentations, or any
other file types by right-clicking on the desktop. Instead, you run a
spreadsheet (or whatever) program and create one that way. The same
naturally applies text files.

> Given the simple goal of 
> a) Creating a blank text file
> b) In a desired location
> c) With some indication that it's a text file
> How would a Mac user have done this task?

1. Open TextEdit (or any text editor).
2. Save the file wherever you want it.
3. There is no step 3.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#28995

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:27 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj6g3F5p92U5@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#28982

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj4o2F5p92U1@mid.individual.net
>  
>> 1. Open TextEdit (or any text editor).
>> 2. Save the file wherever you want it.
>> 3. There is no step 3.
>
> Which of these TextEdit "Save As" options is the ASCII text option 
> (so that I can save the file as a portable filename.txt)?
> http://i.imgur.com/FDYa45h.png

TextEdit default to creating rich text documents. 

1. Open TextEdit.
2. Choose Format > Make Plain Text.
3. Save the file.

-or-

1. Open TextEdit.
2. Change Preferences > New Document > Format: Plain text.

From this point on, all you have are two steps:

1. Open TextEdit.
2. Save the file.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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#29033

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 03:23 +0000
Message-ID	<mh1rfc$i5o$2@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#28995

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj6g3F5p92U5@mid.individual.net

> 1. Open TextEdit.
> 2. Change Preferences > New Document > Format: Plain text.

Thanks. 

Only nospam, up to your post above, had actually explained *how* 
to unhide the hidden option for the default text editor to save as 
portable ASCII text files.

Now everything is fine.

What I learned was two important things about Macintosh protocols.

1. In most operating system, you have a variety of options of how you 
   want to create your ASCII text files but on the Macintosh, one of
   those options doesn't exist. This is fine, as long as you're aware 
   that this option doesn't exist, as the other options work almost
   as well (depending on the need).

2. In most default text editors (on other operating systems), you can
   immediately save the file as ASCII text but on the Macintosh, you
   have to know to first unhide the hidden option to save ASCII text
   as ASCII text (because the default text editor defaults to RTL).

Thanks for helping me understand how mac users create text files.

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#29037

From	Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org>
Date	2015-04-19 20:27 -0700
Message-ID	<190420152027140383%michelle@michelle.org>
In reply to	#29033

In article <mh1rfc$i5o$2@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj6g3F5p92U5@mid.individual.net
> 
> > 1. Open TextEdit.
> > 2. Change Preferences > New Document > Format: Plain text.
> 
> Thanks. 
> 
> Only nospam, up to your post above, had actually explained *how* 
> to unhide the hidden option for the default text editor to save as 
> portable ASCII text files.

Actually, I explained it before he did.  Further, there's nothing
hidden about it.

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#29047

From	nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid>
Date	2015-04-19 23:38 -0400
Message-ID	<190420152338587793%nospam@nospam.invalid>
In reply to	#29033

In article <mh1rfc$i5o$2@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> What I learned was two important things about Macintosh protocols.

no you didn't.

> 1. In most operating system, you have a variety of options of how you 
>    want to create your ASCII text files but on the Macintosh, one of
>    those options doesn't exist. This is fine, as long as you're aware 
>    that this option doesn't exist, as the other options work almost
>    as well (depending on the need).

wrong.

*one* app doesn't have it in the save panel.

what other apps do is likely to be different.

> 2. In most default text editors (on other operating systems), you can
>    immediately save the file as ASCII text but on the Macintosh, you
>    have to know to first unhide the hidden option to save ASCII text
>    as ASCII text (because the default text editor defaults to RTL).

textwrangler.

> Thanks for helping me understand how mac users create text files.

you're making stupid generalizations again.

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#29142

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 07:04 +0000
Message-ID	<mh28e8$i5o$45@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#29047

nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
190420152338587793nospamospam@nospam.invalid

> *one* app doesn't have it in the save panel.
> 
> what other apps do is likely to be different.

I do agree that every app can be different.
I'm *only* speaking about the default text editor in this thread.
Certainly, I had *expected* a default text editor to be able to "save as" 
plain text, so it was a shocker that you have to find the plain text 
option in a different menu sequence.

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#29239

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 14:51 +0000
Message-ID	<cpki4aFg4haU21@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#29142

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
> 190420152338587793nospamospam@nospam.invalid
>
>> *one* app doesn't have it in the save panel.
>> 
>> what other apps do is likely to be different.
>
> I do agree that every app can be different.
> I'm *only* speaking about the default text editor in this thread.
> Certainly, I had *expected* a default text editor to be able to "save as" 
> plain text

Translation: I expected TextEdit to treat all documents as plain text
rather than rich text by default.

-- 
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR

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csiph-web

How do mac users create a blank text file where you want it?

Contents

#29030

#29143

#29222

#29256

#29234

#29149

#29060

#29065

#29139

#29237

#29388

#29381

#29402

#28982

#28995

#29033

#29037

#29047

#29142

#29239