Create an Alias


Task #21

Difficulty Level 2

Mac OS X places files all over your hard drive in a maze of folders. Sometimes it is simply inconvenient to hunt down a commonly used file or folder. To make your life easier, the Mac OS gives you aliases. Aliases are special files that do not do anything except point to another file or folder. They are not copies of the file or folder. They have only one purpose — to show you where a file is. Rather than dig through folders looking for a file that you use all the time, you can create an alias for it and place that alias somewhere convenient, such as your desktop or Favorites folder. Then, when you want to open that file or folder, all you have to do is double-click its alias.

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Aliases can also reveal the location of the file or folder that they represent. This is especially handy for locating the original file very quickly, or even as a navigation tool to go to the folder that contains the aliased file or folder.

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Did You Know?

Aliases are superintelligent. You can safely move the file or folder that an alias points to without breaking the alias. Instead of pointing to a specific location, an alias tracks its master much as you track a stolen car with a GPS device.

Apply It

Besides the usual aliases in the Finder, the dock has it own aliaslike functionality. Click and hold an application icon to reveal a Show in Finder contextual menu item. This can be especially useful if you want to navigate quickly to that application’s parent folder.




Mac OS X v. 10. 3 Panther. Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks
Mac OS X v. 10.3 Panther: Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks
ISBN: 0764543954
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 136

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