I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit 
something I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as 
seen from the Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop 
to somewhere else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original 
desktop position. The only options I have available are:

Clean Up Selection
Keep Arranged By
Show View Options

Everything else is grayed out.

I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what.

HELP!

Bill

-- 
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!

On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:37:37 -0500, Salmon Egg wrote (in article 
<SalmonEgg-D221B0.20373726082009@news60.forteinc.com>): 

> I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit something 
> I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as seen from the 
> Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop to somewhere 
> else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original desktop 
> position. The only options I have available are: 
> 
> Clean Up Selection
>
> Keep Arranged By
>
> Show View Options 
> 
> Everything else is grayed out. 
> 
> I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what. 
> 
> HELP! 

a) Right click on the desktop

b) Select  Show View Options

c) In the resulting panel select None as the Arrange By option.



-- 
James Leo Ryan ..... Austin, Texas ..... taliesinsoft@me.com

In article <0001HW.C6BB6BF2004F5AD8B01AD9AF@News.Individual.NET>,
 TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft@me.com> wrote:

> On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:37:37 -0500, Salmon Egg wrote (in article 
> <SalmonEgg-D221B0.20373726082009@news60.forteinc.com>): 
> 
> > I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit something 
> > I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as seen from the 
> > Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop to somewhere 
> > else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original desktop 
> > position. The only options I have available are: 
> > 
> > Clean Up Selection
> >
> > Keep Arranged By
> >
> > Show View Options 
> > 
> > Everything else is grayed out. 
> > 
> > I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what. 
> > 
> > HELP! 
> 
> a) Right click on the desktop
> 
> b) Select  Show View Options
> 
> c) In the resulting panel select None as the Arrange By option.

WOW! Thanks. I went through parts a) and b) above countless times and 
never saw "None." Even after your clue I did not see it. At that point, 
I decided that I just had to carry out a better inspection. There it 
was. Hiding in plain sight. I think the problem is that None was not 
lumped with the other choices.

Now that you got me this far, I have become more greedy. For me, there 
is some merit to the arrange by Name. I would like to arrange by Name 
and use that as a starting point. Then, I would like to move a few 
selected icons out of that arrangement and place them in preferred 
locations while leaving the others in place. Is that possible?

Bill

-- 
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!

In article <SalmonEgg-4524F7.07010427082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> In article <0001HW.C6BB6BF2004F5AD8B01AD9AF@News.Individual.NET>,
>  TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft@me.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:37:37 -0500, Salmon Egg wrote (in article 
> > <SalmonEgg-D221B0.20373726082009@news60.forteinc.com>): 
> > 
> > > I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit something 
> > > I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as seen from 
> > > the 
> > > Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop to somewhere 
> > > else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original desktop 
> > > position. The only options I have available are: 
> > > 
> > > Clean Up Selection
> > >
> > > Keep Arranged By
> > >
> > > Show View Options 
> > > 
> > > Everything else is grayed out. 
> > > 
> > > I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what. 
> > > 
> > > HELP! 
> > 
> > a) Right click on the desktop
> > 
> > b) Select  Show View Options
> > 
> > c) In the resulting panel select None as the Arrange By option.
> 
> WOW! Thanks. I went through parts a) and b) above countless times and 
> never saw "None." Even after your clue I did not see it. At that point, 
> I decided that I just had to carry out a better inspection. There it 
> was. Hiding in plain sight. I think the problem is that None was not 
> lumped with the other choices.
> 
> Now that you got me this far, I have become more greedy. For me, there 
> is some merit to the arrange by Name. I would like to arrange by Name 
> and use that as a starting point. Then, I would like to move a few 
> selected icons out of that arrangement and place them in preferred 
> locations while leaving the others in place. Is that possible?

Not really. However, you could put spaces in front of the names of 
folders you'd prefer to be at the front. You couldn't do that with 
applications not in folders, however.
-- 
Remove blown from email address to reply.

In article SalmonEgg-4524F7.07010427082009@news60.forteinc.com, Salmon Egg
at SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net wrote on 8/27/09 10:01 AM:

> In article <0001HW.C6BB6BF2004F5AD8B01AD9AF@News.Individual.NET>,
>  TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft@me.com> wrote:
> 
>> On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:37:37 -0500, Salmon Egg wrote (in article
>> <SalmonEgg-D221B0.20373726082009@news60.forteinc.com>):
>> 
>>> I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit something
>>> I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as seen from the
>>> Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop to somewhere
>>> else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original desktop
>>> position. The only options I have available are:
>>> 
>>> Clean Up Selection
>>> 
>>> Keep Arranged By
>>> 
>>> Show View Options
>>> 
>>> Everything else is grayed out.
>>> 
>>> I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what.
>>> 
>>> HELP! 
>> 
>> a) Right click on the desktop
>> 
>> b) Select  Show View Options
>> 
>> c) In the resulting panel select None as the Arrange By option.
> 
> WOW! Thanks. I went through parts a) and b) above countless times and
> never saw "None." Even after your clue I did not see it. At that point,
> I decided that I just had to carry out a better inspection. There it
> was. Hiding in plain sight. I think the problem is that None was not
> lumped with the other choices.
> 
> Now that you got me this far, I have become more greedy. For me, there
> is some merit to the arrange by Name. I would like to arrange by Name
> and use that as a starting point. Then, I would like to move a few
> selected icons out of that arrangement and place them in preferred
> locations while leaving the others in place. Is that possible?
> 
> Bill


??? "Arrange by Name" is another option in the "Arrange by:" drop-down
panel:


None
------------
Snap to Grid
------------
Name
Date Modified
Date Created
Size
Kind
Label


-- 
iMac (24", 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 320 GB HDD) � OS X (10.5.7)

In article <SalmonEgg-4524F7.07010427082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> In article <0001HW.C6BB6BF2004F5AD8B01AD9AF@News.Individual.NET>,
>  TaliesinSoft <taliesinsoft@me.com> wrote:
> 
> > On Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:37:37 -0500, Salmon Egg wrote (in article 
> > <SalmonEgg-D221B0.20373726082009@news60.forteinc.com>): 
> > 
> > > I have some difficulty seeing. As a consequence I must have hit something 
> > > I should not have. I now have my desktop arranged by name as seen from 
> > > the 
> > > Finder's View menu. I cannot move any icon on the desktop to somewhere 
> > > else by dragging. If I try, it just returns to the original desktop 
> > > position. The only options I have available are: 
> > > 
> > > Clean Up Selection
> > >
> > > Keep Arranged By
> > >
> > > Show View Options 
> > > 
> > > Everything else is grayed out. 
> > > 
> > > I am sure it is something silly,but I do not know what. 
> > > 
> > > HELP! 
> > 
> > a) Right click on the desktop
> > 
> > b) Select  Show View Options
> > 
> > c) In the resulting panel select None as the Arrange By option.
> 
> WOW! Thanks. I went through parts a) and b) above countless times and 
> never saw "None." Even after your clue I did not see it. At that point, 
> I decided that I just had to carry out a better inspection. There it 
> was. Hiding in plain sight. I think the problem is that None was not 
> lumped with the other choices.
> 
> Now that you got me this far, I have become more greedy. For me, there 
> is some merit to the arrange by Name. I would like to arrange by Name 
> and use that as a starting point. Then, I would like to move a few 
> selected icons out of that arrangement and place them in preferred 
> locations while leaving the others in place. Is that possible?
> 
> Bill

I can now answer my own question. After going through the procedure 
suggested above, I ended up with a desktop holding icons in an 
apparently disorganized arrangement. Then, from the View menu, (not the 
View Options window) I arranged by Name. The icons were ordered by name. 
This time however, I could drag icons I selected to other spots and the 
icons would stay put. I have no idea what makes it possible to drag an 
icon or not. I suspect it might have something to do with whether snap 
to grid is invoked or not. Is a puzzlement.

Bill

-- 
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!

In article <SalmonEgg-0A0AC8.07580327082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> I can now answer my own question. After going through the procedure 
> suggested above, I ended up with a desktop holding icons in an 
> apparently disorganized arrangement. Then, from the View menu, (not the 
> View Options window) I arranged by Name. The icons were ordered by name. 
> This time however, I could drag icons I selected to other spots and the 
> icons would stay put. I have no idea what makes it possible to drag an 
> icon or not. I suspect it might have something to do with whether snap 
> to grid is invoked or not. Is a puzzlement.

It has nothing to do with "Snap to Grid".

The View -> Arrange By menu just tells Finder to sort the icons *now*.  You can 
move them around after it's done, because you didn't tell it to keep them sorted.

The Keep Arranged By setting in View Options tells Finder to *keep* them sorted.  
It disables the Arrange By menu command, and if you try to move an icon to a 
different position, it snaps back because you told Finder to keep them sorted.  
If you want to rearrange them yourself (by dragging or View -> Arrange By), you 
first have to tell Finder NOT to keep them arranged.

In article 
wayne.morris-78B162.12145527082009@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com, Wayne
C. Morris at wayne.morris@this.is.invalid wrote on 8/27/09 1:14 PM:

> In article <SalmonEgg-0A0AC8.07580327082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
>  Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> 
>> I can now answer my own question. After going through the procedure
>> suggested above, I ended up with a desktop holding icons in an
>> apparently disorganized arrangement. Then, from the View menu, (not the
>> View Options window) I arranged by Name. The icons were ordered by name.
>> This time however, I could drag icons I selected to other spots and the
>> icons would stay put. I have no idea what makes it possible to drag an
>> icon or not. I suspect it might have something to do with whether snap
>> to grid is invoked or not. Is a puzzlement.
> 
> It has nothing to do with "Snap to Grid".
> 
> The View -> Arrange By menu just tells Finder to sort the icons *now*.  You
> can 
> move them around after it's done, because you didn't tell it to keep them
> sorted.
> 
> The Keep Arranged By setting in View Options tells Finder to *keep* them
> sorted.  
> It disables the Arrange By menu command, and if you try to move an icon to a
> different position, it snaps back because you told Finder to keep them sorted.
> If you want to rearrange them yourself (by dragging or View -> Arrange By),
> you 
> first have to tell Finder NOT to keep them arranged.


Good to know. (I wasn't aware of the difference: I *assumed* the View
Options settings were just another way of accomplishing View -> Arrange By.)


-- 
iMac (24", 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 320 GB HDD) � OS X (10.5.7)

In article 
<wayne.morris-78B162.12145527082009@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
 "Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris@this.is.invalid> wrote:

> The Keep Arranged By setting in View Options tells Finder to *keep* them 
> sorted.  
> It disables the Arrange By menu command, and if you try to move an icon to a 
> different position, it snaps back because you told Finder to keep them 
> sorted.  
> If you want to rearrange them yourself (by dragging or View -> Arrange By), 
> you 
> first have to tell Finder NOT to keep them arranged.

If that is the case, why is the menu version not grayed out? It cannot 
accomplish anything. That kind of consistency may be a higher standard 
than one can expect.

Bill

-- 
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!

In article <SalmonEgg-3D34FA.19050127082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> In article 
> <wayne.morris-78B162.12145527082009@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
>  "Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris@this.is.invalid> wrote:
> 
> > The Keep Arranged By setting in View Options tells Finder to *keep* them 
> > sorted.  
> > It disables the Arrange By menu command, and if you try to move an icon to 
> > a 
> > different position, it snaps back because you told Finder to keep them 
> > sorted.  
> > If you want to rearrange them yourself (by dragging or View -> Arrange By), 
> > you 
> > first have to tell Finder NOT to keep them arranged.
> 
> If that is the case, why is the menu version not grayed out? It cannot 
> accomplish anything. That kind of consistency may be a higher standard 
> than one can expect.

Simple. It you open Show View Options (Command-J) from the View Menu, 
and choose Arrange by (Name, Kind, Label, Size, etc.), then it shall be 
grayed out as the Finder will maintain that order as long as you have it 
chosen. If you then discontinue that position, then they'll no longer be 
grayed out as you haven't set the Finder to maintain that ordering.

Make a folder and set Arrange by Name or Kind in the View Options and 
copy or move documents, folders, etc. into it and you'll understand how 
that works.
-- 
Remove blown from email address to reply.

In article <SalmonEgg-3D34FA.19050127082009@news60.forteinc.com>,
 Salmon Egg <SalmonEgg@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

> In article 
> <wayne.morris-78B162.12145527082009@newsfarm.iad.highwinds-media.com>,
>  "Wayne C. Morris" <wayne.morris@this.is.invalid> wrote:
> 
> > The Keep Arranged By setting in View Options tells Finder to *keep* them 
> > sorted.  
> > It disables the Arrange By menu command, and if you try to move an icon to 
> > a 
> > different position, it snaps back because you told Finder to keep them 
> > sorted.  
> > If you want to rearrange them yourself (by dragging or View -> Arrange By), 
> > you 
> > first have to tell Finder NOT to keep them arranged.
> 
> If that is the case, why is the menu version not grayed out? It cannot 
> accomplish anything. That kind of consistency may be a higher standard 
> than one can expect.
> 
> Bill

Again, I am now able to explain a bit more.

Using the View Options window, actually changes what is in the View 
menu. The menu item can change from "Arrange By" to "Keep Arranged By" 
depending upon what is done in the View Options window. My personal 
opinion is that it is too great a psychological load to put upon a poor 
user who is trying to do something with a compute late at night instead 
of going to bed.

Bill

-- 
Private Profit; Public Poop! Avoid collateral windfall!