Re: Right-click in NSTextView selects adjacent word?

FROM : Glen Simmons
DATE : Wed Apr 13 00:38:32 2005

On 12 Apr, 2005, at 4:35 PM, Douglas Davidson wrote:

>
> On Apr 12, 2005, at 1:58 PM, Glen Simmons wrote:
>
>
> Why does right-clicking in an NSTextView select the word at or next to
> the click point and how do I make it stop? How are you supposed to
> copy and paste via the contextual menu if you can't paste without
> replacing a word?? Is this behavior supposed to be helpful in some
> way? Why wouldn't they assume that if I wanted the word selected I
> would just select it? To see this behavior in action, launch TextEdit
> and try to copy a word and paste it into the middle of another via the
> contextual menu. Can't do it.
>
>
> It does so because most of the contextual menu items are designed to
> operate on words or larger selections in the text.  Conceptually, the
> contextual menu is designed to operate on the item clicked on, where
> the notion of item depends on the context; and the default item in the
> context of a text view is a word.  However, if you click on or near an
> existing selection--even an zero-length one--then that selection will
> be what is operated on.  So to paste without replacing, you can click
> once to create an insertion point, then control- or right-click on
> that insertion point. 


And this works for you? It doesn't work for me. I just tried it in Mail
as I was typing this. I double-clicked "doesn't" in the previous
sentence to select it, right-clicked and chose Copy, then clicked
between the o and r in "work" and right-clicked again. The word "work"
was selected and choosing Paste replaced the word. I understand that
things like Cut, Copy and Spelling only operate on words or larger
selections, but why force that selection? Aren't you making choices for
the user, something that a certain other operating system does, and
that I tend to loathe? If there is no selection, disable the items that
require a selection.

> Alternatively, you can drag and drop, use cmd-V, etc., etc.  


I'm well aware of all of the ways to copy and paste. I'm not a new user
who needs to be taught how to copy and paste, I'm a developer who's
been using Macs for almost 2 decades, and I'm looking for a solution to
make pasting with the contextual menu usable. Shall I assume, from your
lack of a solution to my question of how to change this, that there is
no easy solution?

Glen Simmons