Please note that all blog posts before 8 April 2007 were automatically imported from LiveJournal. To see the comments and any LiveJournal-specific extras such as polls and user icons, please find the source posting at http://brianenigma.livejournal.com/2003/09/Mystery of the “Grab” service revealed!
Ever since I got a Mac a year ago, this has perplexed me. There is a “Services” menu that is pretty much global in OS X. It allows you to do all sorts of useful (and questionably useful) stuff like turn the current selection into a Post-It note, open the selected document in a variety of editors, open a highlighted URL, speak text, etc. There is also a section labeled “Grab” with a submenu listing Screen, Selection, and Timed Screen. There are always disabled. I discovered that if I want to take a screenshot, I either use a keyboard combo (Command-Shift-3 or 4) which saves a pretty useless PDF or open up the Grab application and use it as a real image file. If the Grab service menu is always disabled and I always have to open the Grab app, why is the service menu even there?
Today, I discovered the answer. Services, it would seem, are not allowed to create files. The Grab service can capture the screen, but will not be able to save it. Therefore, this menu is only ever active if you can paste a picture into whatever application is currently open. It seems this list of applications includes: TextEdit (while editing a RichText document). I think that is the end of the list. The Grab service menu will then capture the screen and paste it into the open document. Big whoop. Or something. I guess I am stuck opening the Grab application every time.
Speaking of screen grabs, can anyone explain why I get such crazy mail?
The Precious (the “The” is part of her name) is home now and getting used to the bathroom she has all to herself (with a view of the outside and the squirrels). She is also quite content with listening to the Harry Potter audiobook. Kate is going to read with her in a little while. Maybe tomorrow The Precious will get to expand her range to another room (my office, which happens to have a warm lap).
She is actually quite well behaved (…or perhaps overwhelmed or feeling sickly) and behaving quite nicely–not freaking out. Unfortunately she has a little bit of a kitty-cold that had been going around the shelter. Tomorrow we get to take a vet trip during lunch. I should have better photos of her soon.
