Shift selecting files isn't working properly

I uploaded a bunch of photos from my CF Card to the pictures folder on my MBP's internal HD. I used Image Capture to import and was actually able to selectively download the photos I needed with the shift key from within Image Capture (meaning contiguously) as well.

When they were all finished uploading, I needed to move certain photos to a different folder because I forgot to set the first set of photos to download into the folder I had intended. So within finder, i highlighted one photo and then held Shift in order to select a bunch of other photos in between the next (last) highlighted photo, but I got no love.

In fact, the Shift key is acting like the CMD key in that it is only selecting one file at a time.. ? I've restarted the Mac and have tried different types of files in different folders. But still no love ? What would cause this to happen ? It's very annoying/frustrating !

Thanks,

Doug

P.S. I just tried doing it on the text in this message and it works here. I don't get it. Is there a Finder setting which I might have messed up ?

Thirty Three reads and not one word of advice or questions ? Turns out that it's not something which is necessarily broken, but just a fault (IMO) of Leopard. The shift select function works in list and columns view but not for icon view, which I find very strange and irritating, to say the least.

This feature should especially work in icon view since you need to see what you're copy/pasting or dragging to a other folder or external hard drive. Sure, you can senselessly use the arrow buttons to highlight every photo or file you need to, but it would be utterly more convenient to just highlight one file, then another, such as the last in the batch which in turn would highlight everything in-between.

Oh well, I guess ? Or is there something I'm missing ?

Doug

In icon view, there is not (necessarily) an order to the files, so shift-clicking does not work. Instead, you'd generally click in a blank area and drag a box around whichever files you want to select.

As you'll see, the box you invoke with the first click grows dynamically when you move the cursor. That box just has to partially "enclose" the icon or file name below or to the side of it for a file to be included.

Shift-clicking in Icon View is more for skipping files that you don't want included. Just clicking without the Shift means whatever was highlighted is no longer, in favor of the most recent click.

technologist said:

In icon view, there is not (necessarily) an order to the files, so shift-clicking does not work. Instead, you'd generally click in a blank area and drag a box around whichever files you want to select.

Click to expand...

But actually, there IS an order to the files since you are given a choice when using "view options". I always either use "view by name" or "view by date created".

toMACsh said:

As you'll see, the box you invoke with the first click grows dynamically when you move the cursor. That box just has to partially "enclose" the icon or file name below or to the side of it for a file to be included.

Sure, I'm very familiar with this way of doing things for files, but it's a bit inefficient and a time waster. Granted, I would only have to either the command or shift key to deselect the files I didn't want included in the batch. But this brings me to the next silly thing. Shift works exactly like the command key in that you can use it to select single files (or deselect), so I hardly even see the point of assigning it this function in icon view.

technologist said:

Shift-clicking in Icon View is more for skipping files that you don't want included. Just clicking without the Shift means whatever was highlighted is no longer, in favor of the most recent click.

Click to expand...

I'll try and wrap my head around that one eventually, but it just seems a silly (useless) "feature". Just another one of those things that makes the Mac 'different' I guess ? I have pretty much gotten used to everything and love my Mac(s) but these little things are annoyances I could do without I guess.

Thanks for helping.
Doug

Click to expand...

Doug b said:

But actually, there IS an order to the files since you are given a choice when using "view options". I always either use "view by name" or "view by date created".

Click to expand...

Yes, but he meant that there doesn't have to be. It's possible to have them randomly sorted, which isn't possible in List, Column, or Cover Flow.

Doug b said:

Shift works exactly like the command key in that you can use it to select single files (or deselect), so I hardly even see the point of assigning it this function in icon view.

Click to expand...

What's the alternative? (given that an order is not compulsory) It could have no function. What would be the point in that?

I haven't used Windows in awhile, but I never had the Explorer in Icon view. Are you telling me that using the shift key renders the same behavior as in Detail or List?

toMACsh said:

Yes, but he meant that there doesn't have to be. It's possible to have them randomly sorted, which isn't possible in List, Column, or Cover Flow.


What's the alternative? (given that an order is not compulsory) It could have no function. What would be the point in that?

I haven't used Windows in awhile, but I never had the Explorer in Icon view. Are you telling me that using the shift key renders the same behavior as in Detail or List?

Click to expand...

Nothing to do with detail or list view at all, which is my point for the kind of files I'm working with. The scenario came up yesterday, when I was finished uploading photos to the MacBook Pro. I usually just upload them to one of my external HD's, but at the moment, we are living a bit out of suit cases, staying here and there in Hungary, so it wasn't available at the moment.

Finished uploading and by mistake, I had Image Capture move the files to the wrong directory. No biggie though. Figured I'd just sift out the photo's I knew I'd trash and move the rest to the proper directory. I already knew which one's I wanted to move to the right place and were the Shift method available, I'd have been able to do it all in just 3 seconds.

In icon view, you have the best shot at knowing what is what because you can zoom the icon's in so big. Otherwise, you have to just import to your preferred software of choice and just delete from there afterward. And yes, I can just click in an empty area and then drag away.. but it's still a bit more awkward in general.

The comparison I was drawing between the Shift and Cmd function is how they both do the same exact thing in icon view. It would be nothing but a positive if in a future iteration of OS X, they'd make the Shift key perform the same function as it does in List and Detail views. Otherwise (IMO) it's a waste.

Doug

thanks for more detail

But, the reason the Shift key does not do what you want has already been explained by the other responder. In Icon View, it's possible to have a mess. If Arrange By is set to None, there's no order. Just because you don't do that doesn't mean others don't.

I thought you were lamenting how it doesn't behave the same as it does in Windows. Thus, my question above. You really didn't address that question. But, maybe that's because I misunderstood.

Again, given that an orderly arrangement is not compulsory, and therefore the behavior you want out of the Shift key is not possible, what other alternative for it do you see? Seems like the options are no function, or duplicate the function of another key.

The premises above are what prompted my question about Windows. Perhaps one can be proven to be incorrect.

Haven't been here in a while due to moving and such, and I might have forgotten about this thread but people sure do love to dole out rep marks here.

What a bunch of sniveling babies. I get a bad reputation mark on a thread which I created, and which isn't inappropriate in any way, shape or form and for what exactly ? To whom ever left me that rep mark, you really need to get a life.

And to Tom, my answer to you is that I'm not really making direct comparisons to Windows. I really hate when people use Windows as the "go-to" scapegoat for all things which bear any resemblance to a scenario one might face on the Windows side. I've not used Windows for about 7 years now. If anything, I'd rather compare to any form of Linux.

But then, why shouldn't we make comparisons ? It's not as if each of these operating systems behave totally dissimilar to one another in terms of how the GUI's and certain other operations behave ? It's actually quite natural for them to perform similarly in a lot of ways simply because of the fact that human beings created them, and most human beings like to perform tasks in the most efficient way possible. And so that boils down to OS's doing a lot of tasks in very similar ways. But I digress... And back to the point:

OK, I got you. So if I arrange the icons with no specific view, then fine. But what if "I" arrange them by name or by date created etc ? Would it not then be logical to make the Shift key serve the purpose for the task I'm trying to achieve ? I guess what I'd like to see then is for OS X to give one the option to enable that function when a specific arrange view is chosen.

Not sure of why that would be such a burden to the devs or to any end user ? And with that, I'm done. It's obvious that this won't go anywhere else since the "feature" doesn't exist and I now understand why it doesn't work the way I want it to.

Thanks.

Doug