ikemitsu

Q: How to clear check marks all at once?

I can't figure out if it's possible to clear all check marks from one column. I don't want to remove the check boxes but just un-check all boxes. Can anyone help? I'm using Numbers 3.2.

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on May 29, 2014 6:11 PM

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Q: How to clear check marks all at once?

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  • by Jerrold Green1,Solvedanswer

    Jerrold Green1 Jerrold Green1 May 29, 2014 6:26 PM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 7 (29,991 points)
    May 29, 2014 6:26 PM in response to ikemitsu

    Ike,

     

    Copy an Unchecked box, Select the entire column and Paste.

     

    The entire column's body cells (everything but the Header and Footer rows) can be Selected by Double-Clicking the Column letter Tab at the top of the columm.

     

    Jerry

  • by ikemitsu,

    ikemitsu ikemitsu May 29, 2014 7:08 PM in response to Jerrold Green1
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 29, 2014 7:08 PM in response to Jerrold Green1

    Thank you Jerry. The doube-click tip is most useful here, I think I would have been doing it the hard way. It seems I'm most uninventive in spreadsheet matters. Maybe this thread will save some others alike from asking, I hope.

  • by SGIII,Helpful

    SGIII SGIII May 30, 2014 9:43 AM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 9:43 AM in response to ikemitsu

    And if you are doing this often, instead of copying and pasting, you can just click once on the Column letter tab and then click once to run the script below.  (Copy into AppleScript Editor and click the green 'run' button. Or, even more convenient, put it in an Automator Service and assign a keyboard shortcut.)

     

    SG

     

     

    --clears check marks in cells formatted as Checkbox

    tell application "Numbers"

              set t to front document's active sheet's first table whose selection range's class is range

              tell t's selection range to repeat with aCell in cells

                        if aCell's format is checkbox then set aCell's value to false

              end repeat

    end tell

    --end script

  • by ikemitsu,

    ikemitsu ikemitsu May 30, 2014 10:46 AM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 10:46 AM in response to SGIII

    Thanks, this script does the trick. I just don't succeed in making it into a working service.

     

    I created a service in Automator that runs the script. In "Service receives selected" I selected "text" and checked "Output replaces selected text". (Firstly I feel suspicious about this because the checkboxes aren't text, are they? I don't see any better choice however.) The service appears on the services list.

     

    But in Numbers I'm not able to use any services. In the context menu, there is no Services for the cells or columns, and the Numbers main menu Services list is empty.

     

    I don't know if the trouble is with the service itself or with Numbers, or both. I'm a rookie in Automator use although a keen service user and I've managed to create one previously all by myself...

  • by SGIII,Helpful

    SGIII SGIII May 30, 2014 11:12 AM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 11:12 AM in response to ikemitsu

    Services are useful!  Here are the steps again.

     

    In Automator choose Service as your document type and save it with the name you want (something like 'Uncheck Checkboxes').

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.48.33 PM.png

     

    Drag a 'Run AppleScript' action into the right pane:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.49.47 PM.png

     

     

    Copy and paste the script into the action, replacing all the default text there, so after hitting the "hammer" compile button it looks like this:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.53.15 PM.png

     

    Change 'Service receives' to 'no input' and 'in' to 'Numbers.app' (you have to choose 'Other...' and navigate to the app in the main Applications folder, not the iWork '09 subfolder) so you get something that looks like this:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.55.29 PM.png

     

    Save and close.  In Automator File > Open Recent and choose the service you just saved. You should see this:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.57.09 PM.png

     

    Click 'Install' and if necessary 'Open Anyway' in System Preferences > Security & Privacy, giving you this:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 1.58.44 PM.png

     

    The service should now appear in your Numbers > Services menu.  Done.

     

    Then, if you do this so often it would be useful to assign a keyboard shortcut, go here in System Preferences > Keyboard:

     

    Screen Shot 2014-05-30 at 2.04.02 PM.png

     

     

    Click 'add shortcut' and type the shortcut you want (that does not conflict with existing shortcuts).

     

    These steps are easier than this description makes them appear. If you have trouble, post and I'll set up the service so you can just download the .workflow package and double-click to install.

     

    SG

  • by ikemitsu,

    ikemitsu ikemitsu May 30, 2014 5:10 PM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:10 PM in response to SGIII

    Thank you for the steps! I followed as far as I could. The problem is, I don't get the Service Installer dialogue after opening the service from recents. It just opens in Automator and I'm not offered installing. Still, the service is in services and basically available, just not in Numbers. I wonder why I don't the get install option?

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII May 30, 2014 5:12 PM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:12 PM in response to ikemitsu

    Does it show up in Numbers > Services after you quit Numbers and relaunch it?

     

    SG

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII May 30, 2014 5:20 PM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:20 PM in response to ikemitsu

    If all else fails try downloading this workflow package. and doubleclicking it, then if necessary clicking 'Open anyway' in System Preferences > Security & Privacy.  (You may want move the service you already have out of Library > Services before you do that).

     

    SG

  • by ikemitsu,

    ikemitsu ikemitsu May 30, 2014 5:22 PM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (11 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 5:22 PM in response to SGIII

    Ah, now it does appear in Numbers! So the installation part was not necessary. Great. Thank you very much for the instructions. Now I can actually use several services in Numbers which wasn't the case earlier.

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII May 30, 2014 6:19 PM in response to ikemitsu
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 30, 2014 6:19 PM in response to ikemitsu

    Glad to hear you got not just this one working, but others too!  Thanks for the gold stars.

     

    SG

  • by tabbycat14,

    tabbycat14 tabbycat14 Jun 15, 2014 6:53 PM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iWork
    Jun 15, 2014 6:53 PM in response to SGIII

    Hi SGIII,

    All was successful in getting the script into Nmber Services through Automator, thanks.

     

    However, when I went to hammer or run the script in the editor, I got an error

    "Numbers got an error: Can’t get selection range. Invalid index." number -1719 from selection range (All I did was copy and paste originally)

    Not sure what this means, and I'm sure you can tell by now, I'm the novice of novices, but I will hang in.

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII Jun 15, 2014 6:56 PM in response to tabbycat14
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 15, 2014 6:56 PM in response to tabbycat14

    Hi tabbycat14,

     

    I think your post is more related to the other thread. Can you post there, specifying which of the several scripts you are using?

     

    SG

  • by tabbycat14,

    tabbycat14 tabbycat14 Dec 26, 2015 7:47 PM in response to SGIII
    Level 1 (12 points)
    iWork
    Dec 26, 2015 7:47 PM in response to SGIII

    SGIII,

    I learned to use Automator, through your excellent postings, for loading up data on a Numbers spreadsheet. Just recently I added other quote properties, and am getting two different ready to paste boxes. They both work fine, so more curious than concerned.

    Screen Shot 2015-12-26 at 10.30.39 PM.png

    Any thoughts on why this is happening.

    TCat14

  • by SGIII,

    SGIII SGIII Dec 26, 2015 7:54 PM in response to tabbycat14
    Level 6 (10,622 points)
    Mac OS X
    Dec 26, 2015 7:54 PM in response to tabbycat14

    Hi TCat14,

     

    This seems to be related to a script/Automator Service in another thread.  Perhaps you could post there with specifics, or start a new thread with specifics.  It looks as if you are displaying both a Dialog Box and a Notification.  You probably only want one.

     

    SG