Groups > comp.sys.mac.system > #73487 > 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 09:09 -0700
Articles	20 on this page of 379 — 28 participants

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#73496

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:05 +0000
Message-ID	<mh1msl$3dm$3@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73491

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?

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#73501

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:11 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73496

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> 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?

Nope, just you. You are trying to use your Mac like your grandfather's
crappy Windows computer, which is a bad idea and will result in lots of
wasted time and frustration on your part. Until you embrace better ways,
you won't be very productive. This has been explained to you ad nauseam,
but your bull-headed attitude prevents you from understanding. Your
loss.

> Or am I still doing something wrong (i.e., not the Macintosh way)?
> What selection is a plain ASCII text document?

It's extremely simple:

1. Open TextEdit.
2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
3. Save.

-- 
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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#73515

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:32 +0000
Message-ID	<mh1og8$3dm$9@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73501

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net

> 1. Open TextEdit.
> 2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
> 3. Save.

And that saves a portable ASCII text file named filename.txt?

How?

http://i.imgur.com/GifasHd.png

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#73524

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:35 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj6v0F5p92U8@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73515

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net
>
>> 1. Open TextEdit.
>> 2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
>> 3. Save.
>
> And that saves a portable ASCII text file named filename.txt?

Absolutely. You think I'm lying or something?

> How?
>
> http://i.imgur.com/GifasHd.png

Like so:

<http://i58.tinypic.com/2wnbklv.png>

-- 
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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#73531

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:47 +0000
Message-ID	<mh1pbm$3dm$15@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73524

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj6v0F5p92U8@mid.individual.net

> Like so:
> 
> <http://i58.tinypic.com/2wnbklv.png>

That's *exactly* what this thread is asking how to do!

Why don't I see that option in TextEdit?

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#73534

From	nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid>
Date	2015-04-19 22:48 -0400
Message-ID	<190420152248195486%nospam@nospam.invalid>
In reply to	#73531

In article <mh1pbm$3dm$15@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> > <http://i58.tinypic.com/2wnbklv.png>
> 
> That's *exactly* what this thread is asking how to do!
> 
> Why don't I see that option in TextEdit?

because you're not paying attention.

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#73537

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 03:01 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj8gkF5p92U12@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73531

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj6v0F5p92U8@mid.individual.net
>
>> Like so:
>> 
>> <http://i58.tinypic.com/2wnbklv.png>
>
> That's *exactly* what this thread is asking how to do!
>
> Why don't I see that option in TextEdit?

Because you are incredibly dense or just plain trolling. 

I and others have given you instructions showing you exactly how, yet
you refuse to acknowledge them so you can continue your silly "OS X
can't do ____" game. 

Boring.

-- 
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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#73613

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 06:05 +0000
Message-ID	<mh2500$i5o$24@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73537

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj8gkF5p92U12@mid.individual.net

> I and others have given you instructions showing you exactly how, yet
> you refuse to acknowledge them so you can continue your silly "OS X
> can't do ____" game.

I fully acknowledge that it was unintuitive to me that, initially, I was 
trying to create a text file to paste information into, and then, once I 
had that text file, it wasn't obvious to me that two different menus were 
needed in order to preserve the option of saving to either ASCII text 
(which is what I was looking for) and the other available options.

It turns out that, of the two suggested methods:
1. The preference method
2. The two-menu method

The preferences method isn't all that useful, unless the user *only* 
wishes to save to ASCII text (all the time).

Luckily, the two-menu method will keep all the file-saving options open 
to the user. The user merely needs to realize to look for the word 
"format" to save a new file to ASCII text while they'd look to the word 
"Save As" to save in all other available formats (but not ASCII text).

In summary, this menu sequence will save a new file to ASCII text:
1. Format > Make Plain/Rich Text, File > Save

This can't save a file to ASCII text (but it will save to other formats):
2. File > Save > File Format > {a variety of formats}

Is there logic to the two different menus to perform essentially the same 
task (of saving a file to a specified format)?

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#73556

From	Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org>
Date	2015-04-19 20:31 -0700
Message-ID	<190420152031034141%michelle@michelle.org>
In reply to	#73515

In article <mh1og8$3dm$9@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net
> 
> > 1. Open TextEdit.
> > 2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
> > 3. Save.
> 
> And that saves a portable ASCII text file named filename.txt?
> 
> How?
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/GifasHd.png

You forgot step 2.

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#73565

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 04:12 +0000
Message-ID	<cpjclfF7dq8U3@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73556

On 2015-04-20, Michelle Steiner <michelle@michelle.org> wrote:
> In article <mh1og8$3dm$9@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
><ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>
>> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
>> cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net
>> 
>> > 1. Open TextEdit.
>> > 2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
>> > 3. Save.
>> 
>> And that saves a portable ASCII text file named filename.txt?
>> 
>> How?
>> 
>> http://i.imgur.com/GifasHd.png
>
> You forgot step 2.

No, he purposely ignored it so that he could continue his lame troll.

-- 
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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#73609

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 06:00 +0000
Message-ID	<mh24mp$i5o$23@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73565

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpjclfF7dq8U3@mid.individual.net

> No, he purposely ignored it so that he could continue his lame troll.

I apologize for initially misunderstanding; but I believe I now 
understand the suggested methods.

1. The preference method
2. The two-menu method

The preferences method, I think we all agree, is suboptimal if the user 
wishes to retain the option of easily saving to various formats.

The two-menu method, while oddly unintuitive, will keep all the file-
saving options open to the user. The user merely needs to acknowledge the 
use of the "format" menu versus use of the "save" menu, when deciding 
what type of file to save.

This TextEdit menu sequence can save a new file to ASCII text:
1. Format > Make Plain/Rich Text, File > Save

This can't save a file to ASCII text (but it can save to other formats):
2. File > Save > File Format > {a variety of formats}

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#73747

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 14:38 +0000
Message-ID	<cpkhbkFg4haU16@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73609

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpjclfF7dq8U3@mid.individual.net
>
>> No, he purposely ignored it so that he could continue his lame troll.
>
> I apologize for initially misunderstanding; but I believe I now 
> understand the suggested methods.

No, you do *not* understand.

And stop copying and pasting the exact same response into multiple
posts.  It's fucking boring and asinine. 

-- 
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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#73916

From	Alan Baker <email@domain.com>
Date	2015-04-22 12:17 -0700
Message-ID	<mh8s45$5ao$2@news.datemas.de>
In reply to	#73515

On 2015-04-20 02:32:40 +0000, Adam H. Kerman said:

> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj5ijF5p92U2@mid.individual.net
> 
>> 1. Open TextEdit.
>> 2. From the menu bar, choose Format > Make Plain Text.
>> 3. Save.
> 
> And that saves a portable ASCII text file named filename.txt?
> 
> How?
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/GifasHd.png

You hadn't chosen "Make Plain Text" at that point in the process obviously.

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#73503

From	nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid>
Date	2015-04-19 22:16 -0400
Message-ID	<190420152216371344%nospam@nospam.invalid>
In reply to	#73496

In article <mh1msl$3dm$3@news.albasani.net>, Adam H. Kerman
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> > 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, 

why would that be in a menu?

applications are in the applications folder.

> 2. I hit the magnifying glass and search for "text".
> 3. The first hit is Application "TextEdit".

that's the one.

> 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.

change that in the app's preferences before saving. it's a dumb design
to put it there, but that's what it is.

if you want to edit text files, get text wrangler, which is free.

it's by far the best text editor on any platform. even the free version
will do a shitload of stuff, including formatting html or source code,
all very configurable. there are even command line tools for it.

<http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/>

> 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".

that's because it's rtf. duh.

> Is this what Mac users go through every day?

nope.

only those who try to overcomplicate things.

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#73508

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 02:30 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj6luF5p92U6@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73503

On 2015-04-20, nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> wrote:
> In article <cpj69jF5p92U4@mid.individual.net>, Jolly Roger
><jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote:
>
>> > it's a dumb design to put it there, but that's what it is.
>> 
>> Doesn't seem very dumb to me. It's a design choice that TextEdit creates
>> rich text documents by default. Providing both a default setting in
>> preferences along with a menu command (and key binding) to change the
>> format at will seems fine to me.
>
> there should be an option at the time of saving.

I agree. I just don't agree that allowing you to set the default
document type in preferences is dumb.

-- 
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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#73535

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 03:00 +0000
Message-ID	<mh1q50$3dm$18@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73508

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj6luF5p92U6@mid.individual.net

> I agree. I just don't agree that allowing you to set the default
> document type in preferences is dumb.

It's a moot point now, but once that hidden option is set, then
the default text editor on the Macintosh easily saves ASCII 
text.

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#73541

From	Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com>
Date	2015-04-20 03:05 +0000
Message-ID	<cpj8nnF5p92U14@mid.individual.net>
In reply to	#73535

On 2015-04-20, Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj6luF5p92U6@mid.individual.net
>
>> I agree. I just don't agree that allowing you to set the default
>> document type in preferences is dumb.
>
> It's a moot point now, but once that hidden option is set, then
> the default text editor on the Macintosh easily saves ASCII 
> text.

You took the more complicated of two solutions, rather than simply
choosing Format > Make Plain Text. Not surprised.

-- 
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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#73619

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 06:16 +0000
Message-ID	<mh25j5$i5o$27@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73541

Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
cpj8nnF5p92U14@mid.individual.net

> You took the more complicated of two solutions, rather than simply
> choosing Format > Make Plain Text. Not surprised.

Actually, I had errantly assumed the "format" command converted file 
formats, but you have disabused me of that incorrect notion.

And, I have discarded the "preference method" since it restricts the 
users options unnecessarily (although it's good when ASCII text is the 
*only* format that the user desires).

I will suggest the Mac user learn the "two-menu" method, which is:

1. To save to ASCII text:
   Format > Make Plain Text, File > Save

2. To save as other formats (but not ASCII text):
   File > Save > File Format > {a variety of formats}

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#73546

From	Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies>
Date	2015-04-20 03:25 +0000
Message-ID	<slrnmj8sfh.1eq.g.kreme@amelia.local>
In reply to	#73535

In message <mh1q50$3dm$18@news.albasani.net> 
  Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
> Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> wrote in message
> cpj6luF5p92U6@mid.individual.net

>> I agree. I just don't agree that allowing you to set the default
>> document type in preferences is dumb.

> It's a moot point now, but once that hidden option is set, then
> the default text editor on the Macintosh easily saves ASCII 
> text.

Are you under the mistaken impression that .rtf is not ASCII text?


-- 
Q is for QUENTIN who sank in the mire
R is for RHODA consumed by a fire

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#73616

From	"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com>
Date	2015-04-20 06:10 +0000
Message-ID	<mh2592$i5o$26@news.albasani.net>
In reply to	#73546

Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote in message
slrnmj8sfh.1eq.g.kreme@amelia.local

> Are you under the mistaken impression that .rtf is not ASCII text?

I'm fully familiar with the fact that Rich Text Format is ASCII text just 
as HTML or XML or even a Perl script, a bash script, and even C++ source 
code is ASCII text.

What would you wish me to call the "plain text" files if you're confused 
by the words "ASCII text"?

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csiph-web

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

Contents

#73496

#73501

#73515

#73524

#73531

#73534

#73537

#73613

#73556

#73565

#73609

#73747

#73916

#73503

#73508

#73535

#73541

#73619

#73546

#73616