I just noticed this but at the top of each folder, just to the left of
the "show items" buttons when the folder is open, there is a grayed-out
question mark. It appears on any folder. Clicking on it does nothing so
what is the purpose of the question mark? Doesn't make a differnce if
the folder has items in it or not.

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before.

My address has been anti-spammed.
Please reply to: scasse@invalid.net replacing invalid with sonic.

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:

> I just noticed this but at the top of each folder, just to the left of
> the "show items" buttons when the folder is open, there is a grayed-out
> question mark. It appears on any folder. Clicking on it does nothing so
> what is the purpose of the question mark? Doesn't make a differnce if
> the folder has items in it or not.

Do you mean the toolbar area of the Finder window?

A question mark in that area indicates you dragged an application or
document into the toolbar at some point in the past, but the system
cannot find the original item any more. It is equivalent to a question
mark in the Dock.

You can remove an item from the toolbar by holding down the Command key
while dragging the item down off the toolbar. It will disappear in a
puff of smoke.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

In article <1jaf40m.aldk9i126lmoaN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, David Empson
<dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:

> Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:
> 
> > I just noticed this but at the top of each folder, just to the left of
> > the "show items" buttons when the folder is open, there is a grayed-out
> > question mark. It appears on any folder. Clicking on it does nothing so
> > what is the purpose of the question mark? Doesn't make a differnce if
> > the folder has items in it or not.
> 
> Do you mean the toolbar area of the Finder window?
> 
> A question mark in that area indicates you dragged an application or
> document into the toolbar at some point in the past, but the system
> cannot find the original item any more. It is equivalent to a question
> mark in the Dock.
> 
> You can remove an item from the toolbar by holding down the Command key
> while dragging the item down off the toolbar. It will disappear in a
> puff of smoke.

The question mark was in every single folder. System, Applications,
Users, Library, etc. I took your advice and opened the System folder,
held down the Command key, and dragged the question mark out in  puff
of smoke. That removed it from all of the folders. It's funny, I just
never noticed the question mark before. Thanks for the tip.

-- 
Deja Moo: I've seen this bullshit before.

My address has been anti-spammed.
Please reply to: scasse@invalid.net replacing invalid with sonic.

Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:

> In article <1jaf40m.aldk9i126lmoaN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>, David Empson
> <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote:
> 
> > Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:
> > 
> > > I just noticed this but at the top of each folder, just to the left of
> > > the "show items" buttons when the folder is open, there is a grayed-out
> > > question mark. It appears on any folder. Clicking on it does nothing so
> > > what is the purpose of the question mark? Doesn't make a differnce if
> > > the folder has items in it or not.
> > 
> > Do you mean the toolbar area of the Finder window?
> > 
> > A question mark in that area indicates you dragged an application or
> > document into the toolbar at some point in the past, but the system
> > cannot find the original item any more. It is equivalent to a question
> > mark in the Dock.
> > 
> > You can remove an item from the toolbar by holding down the Command key
> > while dragging the item down off the toolbar. It will disappear in a
> > puff of smoke.
> 
> The question mark was in every single folder. System, Applications,
> Users, Library, etc. I took your advice and opened the System folder,
> held down the Command key, and dragged the question mark out in  puff
> of smoke. That removed it from all of the folders. It's funny, I just
> never noticed the question mark before. Thanks for the tip.

Just for further clarification...

Think of a Finder window like a browser. Its title shows the name and
icon of the folder you are currently viewing, the toolbar lets you
perform various actions, the sidebar gives convenient shortcuts to
common items, and the content area shows the folder you are viewing.

The default toolbar has buttons for going back or forward, changing view
options, manipulating the selected item in the window, and searching.
You can drag documents and applications into the toolbar so they are
handy whenever you are working in a Finder window. Holding down the
command key lets you rearrange the order of items on the toolbar, or
delete them by dragging them off the toolbar.

Via the View menu, you can customise the toolbar to change the order of
the items, add several more standard items, and change the way the
toolbar items are displayed.

Your question mark was a document or application which had been dragged
onto the toolbar but the original file had subsequently gone away,
leaving a dangling reference to an unknown item in the toolbar, which is
shown as a question mark.

The toolbar is independent of the folder you are currently viewing
(apart from showing some state information such as the view method for
the current folder), so the question mark wasn't "in every folder", as
such - it was in the toolbar which forms part of every Finder window.

It therefore didn't matter which folder you were viewing when you
deleted the question mark from the toolbar.

-- 
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

In article <081220091746043569%otto@bogus.address.invalid>,
 Otto Pylot <otto@bogus.address.invalid> wrote:

> The question mark was in every single folder. System, Applications,
> Users, Library, etc. I took your advice and opened the System folder,
> held down the Command key, and dragged the question mark out in  puff
> of smoke. That removed it from all of the folders. It's funny, I just
> never noticed the question mark before. Thanks for the tip.


You probably accidentally dragged a file or a folder to the menubar to 
create an alias of it there then deleted it from your hard drive 
creating the question mark.

-- 
m-m
http://www.mhmyers.com

In article <1jagqfm.1cp8wu07lx2waN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>,
 dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> Via the View menu, you can customise the toolbar to change the order of
> the items, add several more standard items, and change the way the
> toolbar items are displayed.


I find it very handy to place a delete icon in the toolbar so I can 
click on a file in any finder window and delete it without dragging it 
to the trash.

Of course cmd-delete would the same thing but this is often easier.

-- 
m-m
http://www.mhmyers.com

In article <1jagqfm.1cp8wu07lx2waN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>,
 dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:

> The default toolbar has buttons for going back or forward, changing view
> options, manipulating the selected item in the window, and searching.
> You can drag documents and applications into the toolbar so they are
> handy whenever you are working in a Finder window. Holding down the
> command key lets you rearrange the order of items on the toolbar, or
> delete them by dragging them off the toolbar.

I knew you could drag documents and folders to the sidebar, I didn't 
realize until this post that you could also drag them into the toolbar.  
I always thought the sidebar was for "things", and the toolbar was for 
"actions" (i.e. tools).

-- 
Barry Margolin, barmar@alum.mit.edu
Arlington, MA
*** PLEASE post questions in newsgroups, not directly to me ***
*** PLEASE don't copy me on replies, I'll read them in the group ***

In article <1jagqfm.1cp8wu07lx2waN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz>,
 dempson@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
 
> Just for further clarification...
> 
> Think of a Finder window like a browser. Its title shows the name and
> icon of the folder you are currently viewing, the toolbar lets you
> perform various actions, the sidebar gives convenient shortcuts to
> common items, and the content area shows the folder you are viewing.
> 
>    <snip>
> 
> It therefore didn't matter which folder you were viewing when you
> deleted the question mark from the toolbar.

Very clear and helpful post -- thanks.

I'd like to have Grab available very quickly on certain occasions. 

I suppose I could put it in the Folder toolbar?  (I currently have it in 
a hidden DragThing dock, which takes a few seconds to pop out.)

But is there a way to put a "Grab-activator" in the primary menu bar?

(This is all still on 10.4.11.)