Annoying behavior when deleting files from server

[desertman]

Hi there,

I'm trying to switch from 10.4 to 10.5 - my god, the Finder has become even weirder here. Ok, here's the problem:

Whenever I want to delete a file from a file server (that sits on a Linux machine and is mounted with smb) I get the message "The item XXX will be deleted immediately. Are you sure you want to continue?". This happens even with my own files. This as such is not the problem, has been like that all the time.

The annoying problem is that now (with 10.5) the default is "Cancel" while it was before (with 10.4) "Delete". This mean that I have to use the mouse to delete instead of just hitting Enter another time. I hate that!

Is there a way (or utility perhaps) to change the default to "Delete"? I would not mind to dig into the System for that, I just don't know how to do it.

Greetings,
desertman

 

[snowmoon]

Hit space for the secondary default button ( halo as opposed to highlighted ).

 

[desertman]

Hit space for the secondary default button ( halo as opposed to highlighted ).

... nothing happens when I hit Space. I get "Delete" with an glowing ring around it when I hit Tab but when I then hit Enter it still means "Cancel".

 

[plinden]

Press tab to select the button then space. Enter always selects the default, space selects the one with the blue ring.

Making Cancel the default is the correct user-interface behaviour - it's easier to recover from a mistaken cancel than from a mistake delete.

 

[snowmoon]

... nothing happens when I hit Space. I get "Delete" with an glowing ring around it when I hit Tab but when I then hit Enter it still means "Cancel".

I just tried a few times and it works every time. I highlight a file, command-delete, and at the dialog hit the spacebar.

Tab only works between non-text controls if you set the option in system preferences -> keyboard and mouse -> keyboard shortcuts ( at the bottom ).

 

[desertman]

Press tab to select the button then space. Enter always selects the default, space selects the one with the blue ring.

Cool! Thanks for the help.

Making Cancel the default is the correct user-interface behaviour - it's easier to recover from a mistaken cancel than from a mistake delete.

IMHO: That might be true in kindergarten or for housewives who hardly know the difference between a computer and an application. In the professional world that's a rather bad approach but tygpical for Steve Jobs' "Only I know what's good for you and I have the power to force you to do it my way" attitude. It is enough that I get a warning, from then on I should know what I'm doing.

The best would be to let me decide what I want to have as default - I'm still hoping someone can help me with that.

 

[desertman]

I just tried a few times and it works every time. I highlight a file, command-delete, and at the dialog hit the spacebar.

Tab only works between non-text controls if you set the option in system preferences -> keyboard and mouse -> keyboard shortcuts ( at the bottom ).

Got it now! I had to set the keyboard access preferences at the bottom to "All controls" and now I have "Cancel" highlighted and "Deleted" with a halo and can delete right away with Space.

Thanks a lot. Makes my life with 10.5 easier! (I have to admit that this could even be better than it was in 10.4.)

 

[plinden]

IMHO: That might be true in kindergarten or for housewives who hardly know the difference between a computer and an application. In the professional world that's a rather bad approach but tygpical for Steve Jobs' "Only I know what's good for you and I have the power to force you to do it my way" attitude. It is enough that I get a warning, from then on I should know what I'm doing.

Er, no. It's a generally accepted user-interface guideline that's nothing to do with Steve Jobs or Apple. It's not always followed (even in the majority of cases), but it's how UIs should be coded. The safety of user data is (should be) paramount.

I'm currently working on a content management system to be used inhouse at work, and I must add warnings and dialogs everywhere where items can be modified, with the default behaviour being "do nothing".

The first time you change your mind after pressing Enter, you'll be thankful it's this way.

 

[angelwatt]

Er, no. It's a generally accepted user-interface guideline that's nothing to do with Steve Jobs or Apple. It's not always followed (even in the majority of cases), but it's how UIs should be coded. The safety of user data is (should be) paramount.

I'm currently working on a content management system to be used inhouse at work, and I must add warnings and dialogs everywhere where items can be modified, with the default behaviour being "do nothing".

The first time you change your mind after pressing Enter, you'll be thankful it's this way.

Precisely. This is the type of stuff I do for a living and is definitely the right behavior of the system. Though, having a way to override the defaults wouldn't be a horrible idea since it would likely only be done by people who want to get down into the system. Then they can take responsibility for their own actions.

I don't believe there's a way to override Finder's behavior here though. All of that is taken care of on the code side, and unless there's a hidden preference that you can set through the plist then there won't be anything you can do. I just use tab and space to hit the buttons I want when I don't want to reach for the mouse.

 

[snowmoon]

Er, no. It's a generally accepted user-interface guideline that's nothing to do with Steve Jobs or Apple. It's not always followed (even in the majority of cases), but it's how UIs should be coded. The safety of user data is (should be) paramount.

I'm currently working on a content management system to be used inhouse at work, and I must add warnings and dialogs everywhere where items can be modified, with the default behaviour being "do nothing".

The first time you change your mind after pressing Enter, you'll be thankful it's this way.

Not to get into a full UI debate here but there is more than one way to secure data. While not possible in this case undo is a much more user friendly operation than a dialog. Lightroom works this way. Nearly 100% of the operations you can perform can be undone. There are just a handful of operations that require a dialog box for confirmation.

 

[desertman]

I'd like to repeat that I am completely satisfied with the "Space" solution.

There is nothing wrong and everything right with one warning as long as I'm able to then delete without being forced to use a mouse.

I did not know how to do that and I'm happy that someone here explained it to me.