Window shortcut keys

[JesperL]

Hi all,

I'd love to have shortcut keys for two actions that I find myself needing again and again:

1. A shortcut key for maximizing (zooming) windows. We have command-m for minimize, which is nice, but maximize?
2. A shortcut key for bringing all windows of a given (active) application to front. I often find myself searching for the right window amongst intermingled windows of different running applications.

I've been looking for Applescripts that do the same, but to no avail so far.

Just my 2 cents. ;)

JL

[Phil St. Romain]

JesperL, I don't know about a maximize shortcut, as you have to select the window you want to maximize.

But you can bring all windows of an application to the front by Option/Alt-clicking on its icon in the Dock. I'm not sure how you'd set that up as a shortcut key, however, as again you'd have to select the application you want to bring to the front.

Most likely an Applescript guru could spell this out, but it would seem you'd need a different script for each application and each window

[JesperL]

Phil,

Thanks for the advice. What I mean is quite simply that the active window would be zoomed if the key combination is pressed. The same with the 'all windows to front'. I would already be in the application of interest and would like to see all the windows of it.

What I'm aiming at is to use the mouse less. I am too often clicking here and there, especially often aiming my pointer at the three 'traffic light' buttons we all know. ;)
(Naturally I know the key commands for the red and yellow buttons)

Yes, Applescript has also crossed my mind, but I don't know so much about the limitations/possibilities of it. Can you make a 'generic' script aimed at the active window, no matter what application it is?

Cheers

JL

[mervTormel]

ASM has a classic window mode switch (which thwarts the default OSX interleaved app windows)

http://homepage.mac.com/vercruesse/cocoa/asm/

DragThing has the ability to enable classic window mode, also.

as for the maximize shortcut, i, too, would like that ability, but an applescript is just not the ticket.

there needs to be a way to send a 'click the (+) button of the window' event to the app, but launching an applescript to accomplish this seems onerous.

[GlowingApple]

Guess this is a really old hint, but since I'm here I thought I'd leave a post. I set up a keyboard shortcut via the Keyboard PrefPane for the "Zoom" menu option. It shows up for most applications. Just assign a shortcut key to that and log out and back in again.

[blubbernaut]

As far as the 'all windows of current application to front' is concerned. Why not use that function in Expose. I find it brilliant if you have say five documents open in an app. Either use a function key or a hot corner, and zoom, there they all are, and with handy titles when you hover your mouse over them!

[osxpounder]

Jesper: check out the macosxhints main site and do a search for "witch". This pref pane includes the features you describe [except, for some reason, its Zoom shortcut isn't working for my Finder windows]. Well, except that Maximize isn't the same as it is in MS Windows, if that's what you meant by maximize. We Windows switchers find that frustrating, at first, but most of us get over it. I still would like to have it, but it's not a show-stopper.

[osxpounder]

merv, that link to ASM is dead, I think. Sure is dead at the mo.

[RAMd®d]

I too would like a keyboard command that would maximize the active window alá Windows fashion.

While I dislike the way so many Windows users always have each window maximized (middle checkbox on upper right side) to full screen, there are times when I'd like to do that for the current window I'm using.

X's Green Dot just isn't all that helpful to me, in most situations.

Also: I'd like a keyboard command that would center the active window, regardless of size, in the display. There are some windows of different apps that I'd like to have in the very middle of the display, for convenience, and for less of an annoyance factor-- sort of like a crooked picture frame.

[osxpounder]

... to your heart's content.

This hint (http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20040121130829756&query=javascript+bookmark) will at least give you that kind of control over web browser windows. Since I work with a Cinema display, I created two that each size a Safari window to take up half the screen's width. One sets the browser window far left, the other, far right. I also have one called "nice" which almost fills the screen [I leave some room for icons on the far right edge].

In Safari, CMD + [numbers 1 thru 9] selects any of the first 9 bookmarks of your bookmarks bar. I put these javascript 'bookmarklets' on mine so that CMD 1 send the Safari window to left edge, CMD 2 send it right, CMD 3 makes it almost-maximized. [CMD 5 goes to macosxhints.com]. :)