Missing "Cycle through Windows" menu item or shortcut?

Question

Level 1

31 points

Missing "Cycle through Windows" menu item or shortcut?

Am I missing something or is there indeed no "Cycle through Windows" menu item or shortcut in Pages 09?

Hope someone can advise.

Macbook Air II, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Feb 3, 2009 1:30 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 3, 2009 2:04 AM in response to samaki

It is universal in OSX:

command ` (the character above the tab key)

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Answer 2

samaki Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2009 2:58 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks for the quick response ...but did you actually test your suggestion? I'm wondering because it doesn't work on my German keyboard - even when switching to the US layout...

Message was edited by: samaki

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Answer 3

samaki Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2009 3:04 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks for the quick response... but did you actually test your suggestion? I'm wondering since the proposed shortcut doesn't work with my German keyboard - even when switching to the US layout...

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Answer 4

Feb 3, 2009 5:57 AM in response to samaki

Ja das gibt, ich habe das vorgehert.

Sorry but I have a USA/Australian keyboard and can't test this.

Ask Yvan I think he can match your keyboard.

Look under your Finder Help menu for keyboard shortcuts.

You can also change the keyboard shortcuts in:

+System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard Shortcuts > Plus sign button > Application: Finder > Menu Title: > Cycle Through Windows > Keyboard Shortcut: > (Make it what you want) > Add+

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Answer 5

samaki Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2009 5:47 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Interesting!

I looked under help for keyboard shortcuts but going through the the long list didn't unearth anything related to this missing functionality.

Also, I don't quite understand how one can add a keyboard shortcut for a non-existing menu item...?

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Answer 6

Feb 3, 2009 6:03 AM in response to samaki

It is not a missing menu item.

It is in:

+Finder > Windows > Cycle through Windows+

Just follow the instructions.

The names and locations maybe slightly different in the German OSX and keyboard. I do not have one to test.

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Answer 7

Feb 3, 2009 6:07 AM in response to samaki

In the Help you will find the shortcut here:

+*About keyboard and other shortcuts* > Shortcuts for system basics > system basics shortcuts > Shortcuts for windows > Make the next or previous window in the current application active+

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Answer 8

samaki Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2009 6:35 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Are you sure we're talking about the same thing here?

I was asking about an issue in Pages '09 and you seem to be suggesting a well documented procedure for Finder or other OS X apps, but which doesn't work for Pages (where this menu item does NOT exist)... where's the relationship?

Message was edited by: samaki

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Answer 9

Feb 3, 2009 7:31 AM in response to samaki

Muß ich das in Deutsch sagen?

Es ist nicht eine Pages Tastenkürzel, es ist eines global Tastenkürzel und es ist in das Finder gefundet.

Welchen Schaden wird mit versuchen?

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Answer 10

Bokonon

Level 1

10 points

Feb 3, 2009 8:15 AM in response to samaki

Indeed Peter is correct.
Even though you don't see the menu item in Pages, if you press Cmd-` combination you will toggle between the open windows.

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Answer 11

Feb 3, 2009 8:25 AM in response to Bokonon

Bokonon,

samaki has a point with the keyboard problem. The keys are rearranged on the European keyboards to allow easier typing of the accented characters. This does cause a problem with some of Apple's keyboard shortcuts.

However I am trying to get him to look in the same place in the Help menu for the German shortcuts, where I found it in the English one, and also to try and substitute a custom keyboard shortcut for the Apple one.

He seems reluctant to try though.

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Answer 12

Bokonon

Level 1

10 points

Feb 3, 2009 8:30 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

I just restarted the Finder in German with the german keyboard and the Window menu displays the same shortcut combo as English, but Pages will not allow that shortcut. I notice that German version of Safari uses a different keyboard combo to cycle through tabs than the English version of Safari. Maybe Pages needs a similar remapping for German. And probably for other languages as well.

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Answer 13

samaki Author

Level 1

31 points

Feb 3, 2009 8:34 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

Thanks again! You're German is excellent but even more liable to misunderstandings than English...

But ...it looks as though we didn't talk at cross purposes... it's just that Pages "Zoom Out" function maps to Command (⌘)-<, which - on German, and maybe other country-specific keyboards - is also used by the system-wide command for cycling through open Windows within a given app (the < key sits just above the control and option keys on German keyboards). When I entered a new keyboard shortcut for the "Zoom Out" function in Pages - voilà, the system-wide shortcut Command (⌘)-< worked like a charm. Very cool.

My original premise that a system-wide shortcut would only work when a given app also displays the corresponding menu item appears to be unfounded. Still odd though.

Best wishes

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Answer 14

Feb 3, 2009 9:05 AM in response to samaki

It is very hard when you can't see what the other person is looking at and I have never seen a German keyboard, I only know that it is different.

I think the reason why the window cycling menu item is in Finder is that windows are really part of Finder and as Apple has made them global shortcuts they thought it was the only place to park the menu item.

Honestly I never knew it was there until now when I went looking for it. I always use the keyboard shortcuts which I stumbled on years ago.

I am glad you found a way around the problem.

Apple lives in their ivory tower in California and is nowhere as international as they used to be under the original Mac OS. Give them feedback, you are not the only one who has encountered this problem.

Alles gut, ende gut. 🙂

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Answer 15

KOENIG Yvan

Level 8

41,807 points

Feb 3, 2009 9:51 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

The problem is a well known one.

Apple failed to check it's shortcuts on localized versions.
On German keyboards the "´" is a deadkey so we can't use it in a shortcut.
They are several oddities of this kind.

The best thing to do is to contact the Apple representatives in Germany asking them to requires changes to match the local usages.

Alas, I'm not sure that it will be efficient.
In France we have the same kind of problem with the "^" and with the "`".
I never got a correction.

This thread push me to make a new attempt 😉

Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE mardi 3 février 2009 18:51:00)

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