Betalogue

I have already reported on two problems that affect Finder windows in “View as List” view mode exclusively, when a file name is editable.

Back in 2003, I reported that, when a file in a Finder window in “View as List” view mode was selected and its name was editable, you couldn’t use command-Delete to move this file to the trash. You first had to press the Return or Enter key once to exit the editable file name mode.

And in June 2005, I reported that, in the same situation (i.e. in a Finder window in “View as List” view mode with a file selected and its name editable), you couldn’t click and drag on another file in the window to move it. Here again, you had to first exit the editable file name mode before you could do this.

I am happy to report that the first problem was fixed at some point by Apple. Command-Delete now works even when the file name is editable.

Unfortunately, Apple still hasn’t fixed the second problem. And there is actually a third problem, which is clearly connected to this one.

In the same situation (i.e. in a Finder window in “View as List” view mode with a file selected and its name editable), if you double-click on another file to open it, the Finder fails to open it. It exits the editable file name mode and selects the other file, but it fails to open it.

Here again, the proof that this is not the expected behaviour is that, in the same situation in Finder windows in the other two view modes (“View as Icons” or “View as Columns“), even if a file name is editable, you can still do these other things—click and drag or double-click—with another file and it works. But not in Finder windows in “View as List” view mode.

Clearly, this “View as List” view mode has been particularly buggy in Mac OS X for a very long time. And it is really quite astonishing that Apple cannot find the little bit of time that it would take to fix these problems once and for all. What exactly are they waiting for?

It is certainly immensely frustrating, because it means that things are not consistent across all view modes. Depending on which view mode you are in, things behave differently, for no justifiable reason whatsoever.

This entry was posted by Pierre Igot on Friday, September 16th, 2005 at 3:09 pm and is filed under Macintosh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.