Cmd-Shift-U/A shortcut for /Applications and /Utilities

[berj]

In Finder, along with the cmd-shift-a to get the applications folder there is a cmd-shift-u to bring up the utilities folder. This is incredibly useful for me... use it all the time. Is it possible to add this menu item?

[flip]

You can add it yourself:

1. Select the Utilities folder in a browser window;
2. select the menu item "Go>Add to Favorites;
3. select the menu item "Path Finder>Set Menu Keys...";
4. in the Menu Key Editor, expand "Go" (by clicking on its triangle), then, expand "Favorites";
5 select "Utilities", under Favorites, press cmd-shift-u, and close the Menu Key Editor.

That's it. Enjoy! :)

[berj]

Excellent. That works very well. Thanks!

The only thing I'd like (and even Finder doesn't do this) is to have a new window pop up rather than using the existing one. Maybe this could be a preference for folders selected in the Favorites menu?

[bill]

The only thing I'd like (and even Finder doesn't do this) is to have a new window pop up rather than using the existing one. Maybe this could be a preference for folders selected in the Favorites menu?
Go to Finder --> Preferences --> General & check "Always open folders in a new window."

Path Finder? A bit more roundabout. You'll need a keyboard macro program of some sort - I use Keyboard Maestro. I'm sure it can be done via AppleScript as well, but I only know marginally more about that than I do mid-13th century Western Mongolian nose-yodelling.

Go ahead & follow flip's advice for adding Utilities to Favorites, etc. Set a key macro to open a new tab in Path Finder, then to enter cmd-shift-u. It'll open a new tab, then open Utilities in that tab.

For fun/ease of use, set the key-combo for "go to Utilities" to something other than cmd-shift-u; ctr-shift-u, say, then set the trigger for your macro to cmd-shift-u. That way, it'll still work the way you expect it to.

Just realized, all of the above is if you want to use tabs, and open all your tabs in the same window. If you're using separate windows, ignore the above and go to Path Finder --> Preferences --> Browser Preferences & check "Always open folders in a new window."

[berj]

Thanks for the tips. I'll fiddle around with these ideas. The main thing is that I don't want *all* folders to come up in a new window.. just when I hit cmd-shift-U/A. The analogue is that when I double click on a new drive or mounted disk I get a new window. But when I double click on a folder in an existing window I get the same window. I see the 'open the applications folder' action much like the first case. Make sense?

For now I think your macro idea will work for me -- assuming I figure out how to do it.

Thanks,
Berj

[bill]

Here's how I'd set up a macro in Keyboard Maestro.

First of all, like flip suggested, add Utilities to your Favorites. Then go into Path Finder's Set Menu Keys and map a key combo to it - what, exactly, doesn't matter.

Then, in Keyboard Maestro, create a new macro. I've got a macro group titled "Path/Finder" that's only active in Finder & Path Finder.

I'd click once on Path/Finder so the new macro is made in that group, then click "New Macro." In the window that pops up, I'd go to New Action --> Interface Control --> Simulate Keypress.

In the next window, I'd select User Keystroke, and then click once in the entry line where it currently says "Please Define a Keystroke" and enter the key command for New Tab (I believe it's cmd-t, but I've changed it to cmd-n). Click Save.

If you want to open Utilities in a new window instead of a new tab, enter the command for that instead, of course.

Then repeat New Action --> Interface Control --> Simulate Keypress --> User Keystroke, this time entering the key combo you created earlier to go to Utilities. Click Save.

Next click the Triggers tab in the Macro Editor window & go to New Trigger --> Hot Key. You can either hit the trigger combo you want (say, cmd-shift-u) or just the letter (u) and click the modifiers (cmd, shift) seperately. Click Save.

Save the macro, giving it a relevant name, if you feel like it.

From now on, as long as you're in Path Finder and Keyboard Maestro is running, cmd-shift-u will open a new tab (or window, depending on your preference) and then go to Utilities in that tab (or window).

I'm pretty sure you can do the same thing in iKey, but I don't remember right off hand how.

[flip]

And if you want that macro to open a new window, you can do it from AppleScript and call that script from KeyboardMaestro (and other methods).

See the AppleScript Tips thread. You should find there everything you need.

[bill]

As I mentioned, I don't know much about AppleScript. However, I did come up with this method that's simpler than what I did above.

I wrote a simple little shell script named ute to open Utilities in Path Finder. I keep all my shell scripts in ~/bin, so that's where I saved it. Here's the text of the script:
#!/bin/bash
open -a Path\ Finder /Applications/Utilities
Make ute executable:
chmod +x ute

I then went back to Keyboard Maestro and created a new macro in the Path/Finder group. I went to New Macro -- New Action --> Execute --> Execute Unix Script, then clicked on the Set File button & navigated my way to ~/bin/ute. Then I set a trigger key combo & tested it. (I chose command-option-control-F6, since I didn't want to have to worry about hitting it by accident.)

If in Path Finder, hitting the assigned key combo opens Utilities in a new window.

There's also the option to execute an AppleScript in Keyboard Maestro, in which case you've got to create an AppleScript. this one works:

Open Script editor and enter this text:
do shell script "~/bin/ute"
Save it anywhere you want, with any name you want. I saved it in /Library/Scripts/myscripts/system/, with the name "ut."
Then, in Keyboard Maestro, link to this script instead of the shell script. It works the same way.

If you want to be able to open Utilities from any application, instead of just while in Path Finder, create the macro in the Global Macro Group instead of Path/Finder and make this the first step of your macro:

New Action --> Process Control --> Activate Specific Application and then select Path Finder. This step will bring Path Finder to the front.