Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard): Finder toolbar buttons don’t work in list view when name is editable

Posted by Pierre Igot in: Macintosh
January 3rd, 2008 • 4:20 pm

A month ago, I noted that Apple has failed to fix one long-standing problem in the Finder in list view: if a file name is editable, then double-clicking on that file’s icon fails to work as a shortcut to open the file.

The problem does not occur when a file name is editable in column view or in icon view, so it’s clearly a bug, and it’s been with us for years.

But in reality, this is just one particular manifestation of a much wider problem in list view in the Finder. In list view, when a file’s name is currently editable, there is actually a whole range of features that don’t work as expected. Most notably, none of the toolbar buttons in the Finder window’s tool bar work properly.

For example, if I have a Finder window in list view and a file name is currently editable, if I click on the button to change from list view to column view, all that the Finder does is exit the editable-file-name mode. It fails to change view modes.

Similarly, clicking on the action menu fails to bring down the list of menu items. Clicking on the Back button fails to work as expected. Etc. Etc.

Again, this is not a problem either in column view or in icon view, where, even if a file’s name is currently editable, the toolbar buttons all work as expected.

Sadly, this is just another item in a long list of things that are broken in list view and that Apple has failed to fix for years now.


One Response to “Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard): Finder toolbar buttons don’t work in list view when name is editable”

  1. norman says:

    But smart folders in the taskbar, the list view is OK.
    ;-)

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