file action menu doesn't open

[vfb]

Hey,

 

when I want to open the file action menu from selected files in finder nothing happens. I have tried several shortcuts but nothing responds. I hear the standart mac sound you hear when you enter a wrong shortcut (tho I have certainly activated the shortcut in Alfred Settings -> File Search -> Actions -> File Selection:)

 

As a side note: When i double tap the command key Chrome and some other apps perform the Reload Command (CMD + R)

 

Regards

[Vero]

Hey,

 

when I want to open the file action menu from selected files in finder nothing happens. I have tried several shortcuts but nothing responds. I hear the standart mac sound you hear when you enter a wrong shortcut (tho I have certainly activated the shortcut in Alfred Settings -> File Search -> Actions -> File Selection:)

 

As a side note: When i double tap the command key Chrome and some other apps perform the Reload Command (CMD + R)

 

Regards

 

When you use File Selection, you need to ensure you've selected your files in Finder before pressing the hotkey combo (Cmd + Alt + \ by default, but check Features > File Search > Actions for the combo you've set if you changed it)

 

In other words:

1. Select files in Finder, e.g. on your Desktop

2. Press your File Selection hotkey combo

 

You should then see the list of file actions appear. 

 

If this list doesn't appear, it's likely that you've set your hotkey to something that clashes with another app or with a workflow on your Mac.

 

[Moving to Discussion & Help as it isn't a bug]

[vfb]

Hey,

 

No. That's certainly not the case.

 

There is no collision possible I tried many, many shortcuts. And of course I know that I have to select a file in order to open the action list.

[vfb]

Alright. I figured out the problem. It's related to my weird custom keyboard layout I have.

 

I have to set my layout to qwerty and restart. Is there anything cache related I can fix or do I have to reboot whenever this behaviour appears again? Probably an apple problem and nothing with alfred.

[Vero]

Alright. I figured out the problem. It's related to my weird custom keyboard layout I have.

 

I have to set my layout to qwerty and restart. Is there anything cache related I can fix or do I have to reboot whenever this behaviour appears again? Probably an apple problem and nothing with alfred.

 

When setting a hotkey, Alfred saves the keycode position provided by OS X (e.g. Cmd + Alt + the 6th key in the top row of the keyboard) rather than Cmd + Alt + Y. As a result, if you change keyboard layout, the same *position* will work, rather than the same letter Y if it has moved on the different keyboard layout.

 

Set your hotkey combination in the keyboard layout you use most frequently and remember the key position of your hotkeys.

[vfb]

Ok. Sorry I have to bother you guys again.

 

It just tried launchbar and there double CMD worked like it should. Also I have problems with pasting stuff from the snippets. Alfred will close the window instead (use CMD + W) instead of simulating CMD + V). There is certainly something with my custom keyboard layout. But when I restart with the normal US or german layout the same will happen.

 

Can it be that my custom layout is so ingrained into Mac OS that this is now the standard?

 

Also, that doesn't explain why the action menu doesn't pop up when I hit double CMD.

 

Thanks for any pointer in the right direction.

 

Regards

[Vero]

It just tried launchbar and there double CMD worked like it should. Also I have problems with pasting stuff from the snippets. Alfred will close the window instead (use CMD + W) instead of simulating CMD + V). There is certainly something with my custom keyboard layout. But when I restart with the normal US or german layout the same will happen.

 

Do the W and V characters change place when switching keyboard layouts? As I explained earlier, if you'd set a hotkey to be Cmd + the 4th character on the bottom row of you keyboard (Cmd + V) and you change keyboard layout so that the 4th character on that bottom row is now W, Alfred will remember the keycode position, not the letter you used.

 

If you have further keyboard remapping (through apps like KeyboardRemap), this can also cause weird behaviour that Alfred can't control.

 

 

Also, that doesn't explain why the action menu doesn't pop up when I hit double CMD.

 

Did you change the hotkey in Features > File Search > Actions for File Selection to double cmd? I've tried this and it works perfectly fine. You do have to make sure that you've selected a file before pressing that hotkey so that Alfred knows what file(s) you want to show the Actions panel for.

[vfb]

sorry, here I am once again.

again for clarity, my problem is that Alfred has trouble with my custom keyboard layout. I can't use the file action menu (when evoked by the finder). Also I can not use snippets because instead of pasting them, Alfred will do another command. Namely CMD + W, nasty, isn't it.

 

But there are some things, which make it seem like voodoo.

1st: When I reboot (*sometimes* restarting Alfred is enough) and had a standard (usually german or US) layout activated, everything will work fine. Once I change to my custom layout, everything remains fine for a while... BUT: for reasons I don't understand, after some running time, it will just stop working and my problem starts.

 

2nd: starting alfred with my custom keyboard layout active, starts the problem immediately (snippets *and* file action menu)

 

3rd: when I change to my custom layout *after* booting and I paste a snippet, the file action menu will not work anymore. When (after rebooting again) I use file action menu first, the snippet pasting will not work.

 

4th: Custom Layout active: In any app I hit the shortcut (I tried several) for file action menu, the programme executes CMD + R.

 

5th: I tried the same with Better Touch Tool. Interestingly enough: My shortcut for File Action Menu will show as CMD + C when I try to make a new keyboard shortcut in BTT.

 

6th: When I start Alfred with a german keyboard layout, the command executed (compare to #4 and #5) will, in some apps, be CMD + C, in others it will try to execute CMD + R, but nothing will happen (only the menu entry "view" as found in most apps, will flash blue). The file action menu will still work, as will snippets.

 

7th: When I quit Alfred the shorcut for file action menu will act just like it should: not at all.

 

My custom keyboard layout it based on Neo (german alternative, like dvorak) but with the addition that as long as I press CMD, the layout will change to US-qwerty. In order to have CMD + C and others close at hand.

 

Something tells me it's my fault... namely the very existence of a custom layout. But since I don't see any erratic behavior once I cloe Alfred, I belief it's something to do with how Alfred either records or executes shortcuts.

[vfb]

bump.

[Vero]

bump.

 

We have a ticket in our bug tracker so that this issue gets investigated further later.

 

It may be due to Alfred caching some of the key locations to allow him to dispatch commands quicker (which is helpful for nearly everyone), but may be causing confusion for your highly customised setup. Andrew will look at how he could improve the behaviour for unusual cases like yours.