otmaxo

Q: Open and Save dialogue boxes are useless

I have recently moved from Windows to Mac after being told I would never look back and I am already 'looking back' somewhat in terms of the OS. I work with photos and graphics and I'm on the move a lot so went for a Mac Book Pro Retina with SSD and I am not going to lie it is lightning quick and the display is beautiful. But when it comes to saving and opening workflow it does not work how I expected it would.

 

It seems such a simple thing but you cannot rename files from within mac open and save dialogue boxes. I'm so used to right clicking on a PC to create a new folder, hit F2 or right click and hit rename to rename to what I want then save the file into that new folder. You can also directly edit the name of the files and folders from within the open save dialogue box. If you right click on a mac you can create a new folder but it defaults to the name 'untitled folder' and you then can't change it's name. It find it unbelievable that you can not do this on a MacOS! So unbelievable that I went into an Apple store and spoke with someone there. When I showed them the problem they weren't even aware of it and pointed out I should just use finder. But that is not convenient if if you want to rename a new folder to then have to come out of the open save relocate in finder and change from there.

I know there is the new folder button down to the left hand side and you can rename the folder as soon as you create it using that but sometimes you may make a mistake and want to change it. Same with file names.

 

Why can't you do this on a Mac? It's crazy. After searching about, I came across the Default Folder X app which appears to fix this issue which isn't really that cheap for something I consider should be 100% native in any OS.

 

There are other issues that frustrate me from moving over from Windows to Mac (like the ability to snap windows to screen edges, Better Snap Tool fixed that for me at a much more reasonable price but still would have expected this to be native), which I know I will just have to get used to but this one really surprised me.

 

Considering I was promised so much in terms of better efficiency with work flow and ease of use overall there is still a lot that's left to be desired.

Posted on Jan 26, 2015 5:25 AM

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Q: Open and Save dialogue boxes are useless

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  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 7:10 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 7:10 AM in response to Csound1

    It is not highlighted for edit though. If it was it would look like this:

    Example.png

     

    I did this in Finder BTW. You can not do this from a open/save dialogue box from another app.

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 10, 2015 7:10 AM in response to otmaxo
    Level 9 (50,392 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 10, 2015 7:10 AM in response to otmaxo

    Again (In Pages)

     

    Control click and select new folder:

    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 15.07.22.png

     

    The folder appears thus

    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 15.07.34.png

    Then you can edit it.

    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 15.08.00.png

     

    Numbers is the same, which programs are you having a problem with.

     

    Microsoft Office produces a non editable folder name if you do the same sequence.

     

    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 15.02.14.png

  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 8:41 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 8:41 AM in response to Csound1

    Doesn't work for me from within Pages:

    I do the following.

     

    Open up pages.

    Go to File -> Open

    SCR1.png

     

    Ctrl + Click (or two fingered click)

    SCR2.png

     

    I can not then rename this new folder from within this Window.

     

    SCR3.png

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 10, 2015 8:52 AM in response to otmaxo
    Level 9 (50,392 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 10, 2015 8:52 AM in response to otmaxo

    I don't understand why it does not work for you, it is completely consistent (in Apple apps at least) for me

     

    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 16.50.52.png

  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 9:09 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 9:09 AM in response to Csound1

    Bizzar. I single click the folder text/press enter, it does not work for me. Stays unchangeable.

     

    Does seem that it is not just me though that can experience this issue though as eightpointone recognises the problem too.

  • by Csound1,Helpful

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 10, 2015 9:09 AM in response to otmaxo
    Level 9 (50,392 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 10, 2015 9:09 AM in response to otmaxo

    Don't press enter until after you edit the name

     

    Read the procedure.

     

    1 Right click in a file>open folder

    2 Select new folder

    3 Type the folder name

    4 Press enter

  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 9:29 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 9:29 AM in response to Csound1

    Ahhhh interesting this DOES work in Pages / Numbers if you type IMMEDIATELY after hitting New folder. Still, if you make a mistake you can not then change the name if you want. I just feel all dialogue boxes should work like finder in that you can edit all file and folder names should you wish from that window.


    I have also just tried the same through Photoshop dialogue boxes and it DOESN'T work. Nor does it though Mail.


    It also seem that it is a persistent problem that others experience otherwise they wouldn't have had to build an app to work around it...

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 10, 2015 9:45 AM in response to otmaxo
    Level 9 (50,392 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 10, 2015 9:45 AM in response to otmaxo

    What app?

     

    As I said in the earlier post, this behaviour seems to be consistent in Apple's apps, not so in 3rd party vendors. Mail seems to be inconsistent in this respect.

  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 9:57 AM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 9:57 AM in response to Csound1

    The app is called Default Folder X. Here is one of the features that seems to fix the issue I have (last sentence).


    Screen Shot 2015-02-10 at 17.54.50.png


    http://www.stclairsoft.com/DefaultFolderX/

  • by Csound1,

    Csound1 Csound1 Feb 10, 2015 10:03 AM in response to otmaxo
    Level 9 (50,392 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 10, 2015 10:03 AM in response to otmaxo

    Thanks, but it's not a big enough problem for me to add a 3rd party extension to the OS X file system.

  • by otmaxo,

    otmaxo otmaxo Feb 10, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Csound1
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 10, 2015 3:50 PM in response to Csound1

    I agree, it's a bit too expensive for what, in my opinion, should be inherent within the OS. I object to buying it! I'd love to contact a top designer at Apple about this issue because it really baffles me...

  • by hj1070,

    hj1070 hj1070 Sep 28, 2015 12:23 PM in response to otmaxo
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 12:23 PM in response to otmaxo

    I have this problem.

     

    Start an application. Open the "open file" dialogue. Click on a file inside the dialogue box, try and click on the filename to edit the name before you open it, for example, or another file, whatever. It won't let you do it through the "open" dialogue box.

     

    It did in OSX Tiger, and OSX Leopard. I recently upgraded to Yosemite and a new Mac, and it *doesn't* work anymore. Why I have no idea, and it's *very* irritating. The only thing I can think of is that it patches some security flaw or something.

     

    I hope this gets fixed in an update.

  • by hj1070,

    hj1070 hj1070 Sep 28, 2015 12:27 PM in response to hj1070
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 28, 2015 12:27 PM in response to hj1070

    You also can't create a new directory, and start moving the files into in from within the dialogue box, again, like you used to be able to do in Leopard. Which is a real pain if you work with audio programs and sequentially save projects with different filenames, and realise when going back to a project that it needs a tidy-up in the directory.

  • by JDGNYC,

    JDGNYC JDGNYC Feb 28, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 28, 2016 9:41 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    I so love how Apple enthusiasts respond to shortcomings in the platform as shortcomings in the user's expectations.

     

    From a UX perspective, extreme modality is useful only when you want to push a user through a series of actions without interruption. The Open/Save/Attach dialogs are perfect examples of times when users may legitimately need to perform some file maintenance (rename, etc.) en route to some other action (like Open/Save/Attach). Yes, Windows has permitted this since the beginning of time and there are a number of other productivity hacks where it excels over OS X (which has been shockingly static in terms of advances year over year).

     

    I was just in an application about to attach a file to an email when I noticed that I wanted to change the filename. It was nested deep in my directory structure and would have been a 10 second operation if the OS let me do it. But as it was, had to spend another minute opening the Finder, navigating the directory tree and doing it that way. Not the end of the world, but UX is about little niceties that add up to great user experience.

     

    And for the record, I bought my first Mac in May 1984 and cumulatively have spent $10M+ with Apple in the intervening time both personally and as a corporate CIO. It's a computing platform, not a religion.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Feb 28, 2016 10:22 AM in response to JDGNYC
    Level 8 (37,815 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 28, 2016 10:22 AM in response to JDGNYC
    I so love how Apple enthusiasts…

    I love how people who know nothing about me jump in from out of nowhere to make grand sweeping statements about how I (or others) view the Mac platform from a couple of posts.

     

    Wrong! I started using computers with an IBM XT clone running DOS 3.1. I worked my way through various versions of Windows and built all of my own PCs. I moved over to Macs when my small business required compatible hardware and software to continue work in the prepress industry as an independent. I still use both Macs and Windows, though the Macs now far more.

    And for the record, I bought my first Mac in May 1984 and cumulatively have spent $10M+ with Apple in the intervening time both personally and as a corporate CIO.

    Whoopee. How does this make a difference to anything being discussed here? My initial post was to answer the question as plainly as I could based on what each OS can or cannot do. Nothing more.

    It's a computing platform, not a religion.

    Agreed, but you'll find zealots on both sides who believe just that.

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