Services Menu

Biff

Biff

Thinking Different
What exactly is the use for the services menu? When I am using Word, the Finder!!, and almost all other apps the services menu is disabled. For example I wanted to mount a disk image in the finder. I click finder -> services -> disk copy and mount image is not available. It seems like it is a dead menu. What's with the useless services menu??

From what I understand it will only work with cocoa applications. Is there a way to make it work with carbon apps?
 
This menu is always disabled for me, even in cocoa apps. I've been wondering this too, but have just passed it off as something we have to live with. Anyone know how to make this menu work? It'd be pretty useful if it did work, expecially with Grab!
 
The service seems enabled only in Cocoa apps although I think that the Carbon apps can support them with some rewrite (to be aware of services).

Try this in TextEdit, for example:
type "Hello guys"
select what you just typed and go to the services menu -> Make sticky
or without selecting anything, go to services -> grab -> screen

if you have omniweb installed, select an url in any text field in any Cocoa app and go to services -> Omniweb -> Open URL.

just a kind of magic :)
 
I have a feeling that the Services menu is one of those things that will become better supported as more people adopt the OS and start to realise its potential. I think this is the first thread I've seen on this topic here, but I'm sure plenty of people have wondered about it. It just takes a few other people to remember it's there, use it and tell everyone else how useful it is before others start including it in their apps.
 
If you know how to use them, Services are VERY useful. Unfortunately, only Cocoa apps can use them, as of yet, but I think Apple is implementing a way to get Carbon applications to use them too (funny, because the Finder is a carbon application :D ).

The other thing about services: you have to have something selected before they activate. I was always doing the same thing you guys are -- going to the Services menu from some app and seeing they're always disabled, but I hadn't selected something and I wasn't in a Cocoa app. :p

Once you use them and learn how to, you'll see how useful they are.
 
There is a cool feature I'm waiting for! I installed Quake 3 Arena and then in the service menu there was something like "Quake 3 -> Servers" Wouldnt it be cool if yourre in an Intranet (LAN Party) you use the finder and you can see if theres a game starting/running and just by selecting the server Q3 starts and connects you! That qould be wheeeeeeeeeeeeeing! LOL:D :p :D
 
Services is one of those great features that came over from NeXT. And as timsey says, will become more powerful as developers get used to their functionality.

There was a good article about them at www.macedition.com that expalins their power. It's also like simx says, it is one of those features that requires a selection (from text, to a file, etc) otherwise they're greyed out.

They're especially useful if you can remember all the key combos. Suddenly, typing a word in a paper, wondering if there is a better synonym, highlighting it (shift + <- , I think?), then key combo alt + shift + = and OmniDictionary quickly returns definition and synonym. Quick, fast, painless, and every freaking app doesn't have to have it's own space hogging dictionary, every app can use it.

There's a lot of that 'object model' being overlooked right now as we move from OS 9< to OS X, but one of the coolest things of NeXT was it's idea of an object being a self-contained app or service that any other program could access. Almost like the Photoshop plugin model, but it was system wide.

Every app could use the same spelling dictionary, find and replace tools, font panels, color panels, ...etc. The cool thing about it was, not only was there consistency across the OS, but if you loaded a new app that added advanced features to the font panel, it could provide that to all other programs.

In the days that I was running a NeXTstation, developers were actually starting to write and offer 'engines' instead of apps. I don;t know what became of it (I lost track after I moved on from NeXT), but you might have a word processor 'engine' developed by ACME, Inc that is used as a basic word processor. Then, Extra, Inc might develop some writting tools that just plug right in increasign the functionality, and The TableMaker Co might add specialized table tools to it,...etc. Then, you could pick and choose what features you wanted, or not wanted. And The TableMaker Co's tools might also work with the spreadsheet engine, the drawing rpogram...

nice
 
Services were originally limited to use in Cocoa applications, but Apple's Mach-O Carbon spec, which is what Microsoft used for Office v. X, allows their use as well. Office makes use of them from what I understand.
 
I haven't been able to use Services in my Office v.X beta. Hoping the final release will have 'em.
I use Services a lot in OmniWeb, which is a major reason why OW is one of my fav browsers.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top