I just actually found out that the Apple+Shift+B shortcut to send selected files via bluetooth to any device is a Service function. I actually thought it was a Finder function. Hm.
Methinks Services should be contextual item as well. Its really useless the way it is today
Select something, then go to the Services menu to do something with it. Some services don't need anything selected, they just need to have the foregorund app able to handle the resulting data, e.g., the grab service just needs an image editor in the foreground and it will drop a screengrab into the current document.
ICeCoffEE puts services in the context menus of some apps.
IMO, the whole architecture of services, both the UI and how they interact with AppleScript and Automator actions needs to be rethought.
1) They are not contextual to what you are doing at the moment. If some new app adds some useful functionality, you have no way of knowing about it without manually going to the services menu and scanning the list of services
2) It gets filled with crap. I've been meaning to go look up how to remove all the old junk from mine. More than half the stuff in my menu is stuff I would never use and I don't know why the developer even bothered to implement it.
I wish the relevant, and only relevant, services could be brought closer to what I'm working on instead of stuck away in a menu item. Perhaps a dock icon next to the Finder icon that would hi-light itself when what you are working on in the current app has content handled by one or more services. You could click on it for a filtered list of relevant services or drag content to it and get a pop-up list of services.
About the only thing in the Services menu I might use from time to time is Grab...but you have to launch Grab yourself to make it active. It's always grayed-out in the Services menu.
For some reason, Call of Duty appears in my Services menu, too. I have no idea why.
I dont know if CoD is Quake3 based, but if it is, many Q3 based games seem to find their ways in the Services menu. The idea was nice (in Q3 at least). Select an IP address in the finder for example (in a text file or whatever, or maybe even in Safari), and then go to Services, launch Q3, and wham, you're in the server of that IP.
Unfortunately, I dont know a single person that has used it
Grab's service is exceptional, and it only works in an app whose document format can contain graphics. It works with Create, TIFFany, TextEdit, etc. without needing anything selected. They just need an open document to paste the results. Of course, these apps work with services properly. It doesn't work in PS Elements 2, and it probably doesn't work in any Adobe app, nor any Microsoft, Macromedia or Quark app. That's the apps' fault.
But as a rule, services work on selections. They need some _thing_ to work on.
Remember, services are essentially advanced copy-paste actions. They copy the selection to the clipboard, paste it into another app (actually, a daemon I think) in the background, manipulate the copied data with that app's tools, copy the results back to the clipboard and paste them back in place of the selected item.
I think services would be much handier if they were in the contextual menus within the app. Also, it would be nice if services were registered with types of objects they can handle, so they would dynamically appear/disapper depending on selection. Finally maybe apps could have a preference setting which let you select which services you can have inside an app.
Services is a really great idea. Instead of having to re-write functionality into a bunch of apps, you can write one good implementation and then let all the other apps use that implementation. A thesaurus is a great example. I like having Nisus Thesaurus avilable in every app, just select a word and use services to call up the thesaurus. Slick.
nonetheless, to make it useful, it should be in contextual menu by default as well.
I can hardly imagine anyone taking the time to select, go to menu, scroll to servces, wade through dozens of installed options, selecting...
waaaaaay to complicated and innefficient
Maybe better than going to Finder | Apps | and then doing the service from there. If most Mac users are like me, they are stingy about what goes in the dock, on the desktop, etc.
Comments
Methinks Services should be contextual item as well. Its really useless the way it is today
ICeCoffEE puts services in the context menus of some apps.
IMO, the whole architecture of services, both the UI and how they interact with AppleScript and Automator actions needs to be rethought.
1) They are not contextual to what you are doing at the moment. If some new app adds some useful functionality, you have no way of knowing about it without manually going to the services menu and scanning the list of services
2) It gets filled with crap. I've been meaning to go look up how to remove all the old junk from mine. More than half the stuff in my menu is stuff I would never use and I don't know why the developer even bothered to implement it.
I wish the relevant, and only relevant, services could be brought closer to what I'm working on instead of stuck away in a menu item. Perhaps a dock icon next to the Finder icon that would hi-light itself when what you are working on in the current app has content handled by one or more services. You could click on it for a filtered list of relevant services or drag content to it and get a pop-up list of services.
For some reason, Call of Duty appears in my Services menu, too. I have no idea why.
Unfortunately, I dont know a single person that has used it
Originally posted by BuonRotto
You have to pick something to use services on.
In theory, then, Grab should always be available. But it seems to always be unavailable.
But as a rule, services work on selections. They need some _thing_ to work on.
Remember, services are essentially advanced copy-paste actions. They copy the selection to the clipboard, paste it into another app (actually, a daemon I think) in the background, manipulate the copied data with that app's tools, copy the results back to the clipboard and paste them back in place of the selected item.
Services is a really great idea. Instead of having to re-write functionality into a bunch of apps, you can write one good implementation and then let all the other apps use that implementation. A thesaurus is a great example. I like having Nisus Thesaurus avilable in every app, just select a word and use services to call up the thesaurus. Slick.
I can hardly imagine anyone taking the time to select, go to menu, scroll to servces, wade through dozens of installed options, selecting...
waaaaaay to complicated and innefficient
Originally posted by ZO
nonetheless, to make it useful, it should be in contextual menu by default as well.
I can hardly imagine anyone taking the time to select, go to menu, scroll to servces, wade through dozens of installed options, selecting...
waaaaaay to complicated and innefficient
Maybe better than going to Finder | Apps | and then doing the service from there. If most Mac users are like me, they are stingy about what goes in the dock, on the desktop, etc.