Jaharmi’s Irreality renewable hyperlinks with 0% transfat since 1999

I’ve long had a problem with the search fields that are omnipresent in the toolbars of so many Mac OS X applications. My problem? I wanted to quickly jump up to them so I could enter text directly, but I wanted to do so with a keyboard shortcut.

This is particularly true in Safari and Keychain Access, two applications where I frequently want to use the toolbar search field.

It turns out that I was too lazy to look for it, and the option is labeled in a misleading way. I’ll admit, I just plain missed the keyboard shortcut.

The command can be labeled as “Find” where I’ve seen it. It may vary and carry some additional text, as in Safari where it is “Google Search” and MarsEdit where the label is “Search Weblogs,” both of which make sense when the resulting action is to jump to the search field. In both of these applications, the command is in a submenu under Edit > Find.

In Keychain Access, it’s just “Find” — so it doesn’t even match the label on the “Search” field it sends cursor focus to.

The keyboard shortcut is Option-Command-F, and appears as ⌥⌘F.

It’s sad when you can’t find the “Find” command, isn’t it? Grin.

I was reviewing the pre-release CIS guide for securing Leopard today, and was struck by the many ways people refer to the action of logging in to a computer. This is really a situation calling out for consistent usage based on a style sheet.

So, here are my personal observations on the matter:

• Login is the noun of the bunch. The New Oxford American Dictionary (handy to use, since it’s built into the Dictionary application on Mac OS X) agrees with me here, calling it “an act of logging in to a computer system.” They also list “logon” as an alternative, and I agree. “He used his login credentials to access the system,” would be a usage example.
• Log in is the verb form. The NOAD backs me up, listing it and “log on” as “phrasal verbs” whose meanings are, “go through the procedures to begin use of a computer system, which includes establishing the identity of the user.” For an example phrase, “Security procedures require that you log in to the computer.”
• Log into should not be used, as far as I’m concerned. “Log onto” would be its close brethren, also to be avoided. The NOAD has no listing for either. My proposed alternatives would simply be to add a space: “log in to” or “log on to.” Then, you’re using the phrasal verb.

As I was examining the document, I decide to see what Apple does. I was using the dictionary data they bundle with the operating system, and reviewing a document about their software. They are usually hip with consistency and thus a good example, I thought.

In this case, they aren’t entirely consistent. I found one case — in Accounts System Preferences while editing the Guest account — where they use both “log into” and “log in to,” all on the same screen.