Way to have Command-Tab passed to SS?

jim_witte · Post by **jim_witte** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 6:21 pm

Does OS9 natively use Command-tab to switch between applications, and is there some way to prevent OSX from stealing that particular keystroke? I notice that other keystrokes are passed directly to the emulator, such as command-Q, and command-comma (although that generally doesn't do anything). Only command-tab isn't, perhaps because it's handled by the (OSX) system and not the application level?

Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:10 pm

As far as I know, there was no command-tab application switching in OS9.

See also: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA43845?viewlocale=en_US

macdro · Post by **macdro** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 11:31 am

Not relevant to Sheepshaver use, however, it's worth mentioning that a system booted into OS 9.2.2 does support command+tab for app switching.

Another example of a host conflict is the command for disabling the menu bar in Hypercard, which is the same as the command for opening a spotlight search in OS X (command+space bar)

emendelson · Post by **emendelson** » Wed Aug 03, 2011 3:51 pm

LiteSwitch 1.0, freely and legally available, adds Alt-Tab switching to System 7 through OS 9. I use it in Basilisk II and SheepShaver, and the result is that I have Cmd-Tab switching in OS X and Alt-Tab switching in the emulator. One of many download sites is here:

http://download.system7today.com/liteswitch.hqx

Thomas J. Rostafinski · Wed Aug 03, 2011 9:42 pm

Command-tab is not (AFAIK) configurable in OSX, but is configurable within OS 8-9 (at least from OS 8.6 on), though it requires going to the Help Viewer (by accessing Help Center from the Finder's Help menu). In the Help Viewer enter "Switching between open programs." Over halfway down the help page with this title you will find this link: "Help me modify the keyboard shortcuts." Clicking on this link gives you a dialog box allowing you to select another key combination to switch open applications. Similarly to Ed's solution, above, I use control-tilde (ctrl-`) to switch between apps open in SS, and command-tab to switch between OSX programs including of course the SS emulator itself. HTH. Tom

macdro · Post by **macdro** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:45 am

Ah. I did not know that this shortcut was present on earlier systems, nor did I know about that configurable dialogue. Thanks for the tip

emendelson · Post by **emendelson** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 1:35 pm

Thomas J. Rostafinski wrote:Command-tab is not (AFAIK) configurable in OSX, but is configurable within OS 8-9 (at least from OS 8.6 on), though it requires going to the Help Viewer (by accessing Help Center from the Finder's Help menu). In the Help Viewer enter "Switching between open programs." Over halfway down the help page with this title you will find this link: "Help me modify the keyboard shortcuts."

Thanks for this. Unfortunately, whenever I open the Help Center under 8.6, SheepShaver locks up (running under OS X Lion). I've tried various ROMs and reinstalled 8.6 in a clean installation - but the lockup occurs every time. Can anyone else make this work under OS X with 8.6?

24bit · Post by **24bit** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:01 pm

Help Center is working for me. MacOS 10.6.8 64bit, SS build 2.3.20101106, Mac OS D1-8.6, 4 MB ROM, 1GB RAM.

emendelson · Post by **emendelson** » Thu Aug 04, 2011 2:41 pm

24bit wrote:Help Center is working for me. MacOS 10.6.8 64bit, SS build 2.3.20101106, Mac OS D1-8.6, 4 MB ROM, 1GB RAM.

Thanks for confirming this. I'll keep struggling with it. I have 7.5.5, 8.1, and 9.0.4 working nicely, but 8.6 has always given me trouble for reasons I don't understand.