If you ’re using OS X 10.4 , here ’s something you may not have realized aboutDashboard : It plunk for drag - and - drop . Many contrivance will accept dropped physical object ; for those who like using drag - and - drop , this is welcome news . drag out text and trope to Dashboard is just about as a simple as dragging them anywhere else — just select the objective or text you wish to drag , click - and - hold up , begin drag on , press F12 to activate Dashboard , and then pilot to the desired widget ’s workplace area and drop the selection . Note that the trust widget must already be open in Dashboard ; you ca n’t spread out a gismo from the Dashboard stripe while dragging something .
So when might you desire to do this ? Suppose you ’re range the web , depend for information on some late issue in Spain . You do n’t speak Spanish , but one of the links leads to a Spanish oral communication vane site . Highlight the text you wish to transform and drag it into the Translation widget ( assuming you have the widget set to translate Spanish to English , of course ) . Or how about looking up words in the dictionary ? OS X has a great build up - in dictionary lookup feature article ( control - tick on a Son and opt Look Up in Dictionary from the bulge - up computer menu ) , but it does n’t work in every diligence . If you ’re in a non - supported coating , spotlight the Word of God you wish to specify , drag the Christian Bible , press F12 , and overlook the Logos on the Dictionary convenience . Presto , insistent definition .
This also process with many third - party widgets , of course . The Picture Frame doodad fromWigetaria , for illustration , only influence via drag - and - fall . Just sweep up and drop your favorite range of a function into the thingamajig ’s area , and you get a neat little framed adaptation of the image . If you ’ve installed the thingmajig that amount with FTP applications such asTransmit , drag and drop files into the convenience to upload them . Have the excellentWikipedia widgetinstalled ? Drag and drop school text onto it to see what Wikipedia has to say about the cast text .
you may make this process even more unlined with a multi - button computer mouse — just assign one of the button to trigger off Dashboard via the Dashboard & Exposé System Preferences venire ( or by using your black eye ’s command software to attribute F12 to a release ) . Now you may drag out , penetrate a mouse button , and dribble onto the desired Dashboard widget . If you lack a multi - button mouse , you’re able to gain similar ease - of - usance by creating an Active Screen Corner for Dashboard in the Dashboard & Exposé System Preferences panel . With a hot street corner assigned , just drag your selection to that corner , and Dashboard will trigger off .
Not everyone uses drag - and - drop routinely , but for those who do , using it with Dashboard can make your fundamental interaction with widgets that much simpler .
