Finder clippings are a great idea, but they have several serious limitations: while you can drag data to the Finder without interrupting what you're doing, you must then deal with a stack of Text Clipping 1, Text Clipping 2, etc. There is no way to know what is in a clipping except to open it and look. If you have several, this is a pain.
ClippingNamer is intended to make Finder clippings easier to use and more useful. It has 3 basic operations, selectable by holding down keys while dragging a selection to the Finder:
• Nothing: This creates a clipping exactly the way the Finder does now.
• Invent Name/Icon: This attempts to create a meaningful name from the clipping contents (for text) or
assign a thumbnail icon (for pictures) instead of the generic clipping icon. You can choose either or both of these.
• Display the Name Clipping dialog. This allows you to examine both the Finder's and Name Clipping's proposed
names (or type your own), and set all of Name Clipping's options. You can choose to always display this dialog for
sounds or pictures (when Name Clipping can't invent a name.)
Version 1.0.2 fixes a small bug that could cause the dialog to appear when dragging data within the same program (not to the Finder). Also, invented file names that contain return characters are now handled correctly, dragging stuff to the Trash works, and various cosmetic improvements to the dialogs are in place.
Version 1.0.3 fixes a big bug that happened in v1.0.2: renaming could randomly fail! The dialog now prevents you from using a new name that is too long for the Finder.
Using ClippingNamer
~ClippingNamer is a System extension: drop it onto your closed System Folder, click OK to place it in the Extensions folder, and restart. It should work on any computer capable of creating a clipping; if it can't run on your computer, you should see its icon with a large red "X" on it while starting up.
To try it out, make a text or picture clipping just as you usually do. ClippingNamer is set by default to open its dialog if no keys are used when dragging, so you can immediately customize it. If you drag something to the Trash, nothing will happen unless at least one modifier key is down (including Caps Lock) - I assumed you won't need to rename trashed clippings very often, so the default (no keys) is to let them alone.
The dialog has an OK and a Cancel button:
Cancel makes NO changes to the clipping name or icon: it leaves it exactly as the Finder made it. It does NOT delete the clipping!
OK changes the clipping name to whatever is shown in the Clipping Name Box, and if the Make Thumbnail box is checked, creates a thumbnail icon (for picture clippings) from the clipping contents.
The Invent Name box, if checked, causes a new name to be created from the clipping contents (obviously, only text clippings) and displayed. By clicking this box, you can see both the Finder's and NameClipping's choices for a name. You can also type your own. Beware of clicking the checkbox if you have changed the name: changes aren't saved.
Clicking the Set Preferences button expands the dialog to show the Preferences section. This lets you select the keys that cause various things to happen. By default, the dialog appears if NO keys are held down; holding Option causes the clipping to be automatically renamed or (if Make Thumbnail is checked) a thumbnail icon created; and holding Option-Shift causes Nothing to happen: the Finder creates the clipping as usual. You can set any key combinations you like. IMPORTANT: The dialog always appears if Caps Lock is down, regardless of any other settings.
Checking Always show dialog if Picture / Sound causes the dialog to appear if a clipping contains no text (and can't be automatically renamed).
Notes:
One slight problem that I've been uable to work around: clippings tend to move around when renamed. This especially affects OS8 (you may have noticed that it "rearranges" almost everything on your desktop). I generally make a new folder and drag clippings to that, just to keep them contained.
When checking for keys, ClippingNamer starts with Nothing and works down, so duplicate key combinations result in the first action on the list being taken.
All checkboxes are saved if you OK the dialog. You must register ClippingNamer for changes to be saved between restarts.
If you change the name of a clipping to a name that already exists, you will get a chance to try again or cancel (cancel uses the Finder's name.)
The Make Thumbnail checkbox applies except when doing Nothing; Invent Name applies only when using the dialog (it is assumed ON when automatically renaming wihtout the dialog).
When you make a clipping, it initially appears on the Desktop as usual: the Finder normally takes a few seconds to display ClippingNamer's changes.
About Shareware
ClippingNamer took a fair amount of time and effort to produce. Take a fair amount of time to try it out, and if you like it and use it, you should pay for it. This will get you notification of updates, a warm feeling at having done the right thing, and also get rid of the annoying shareware reminder at startup, all for a lousy $10. You can pay me by mail at the address below (check/money order/cash only) or via the Web at <http://order.kagi.com/?PA>, or by email: download the Register program from <http://www.patchdance.com/shareware.html>.
Drop by <http://www.patchdance.com/shareware.html> for the latest on ClippingNamer and other shareware, including the 3-D modeler PatchDance.
