Mac Lab FAQs
Macs are confusing right? How do you turn them on anyway? And why the funny single-button mouse?
Where are all the programs? I am used to the “Start” button on Windows!
You can access the various applications installed on the machine by either:
- Clicking on the “A” icon near the recycling bin, in the bottom right hand corner.
- Clicking on the Go => Applications entry in the menu at the top of the screen.
Can I install new applications myself?
No can do I’m afraid. Only IT Services can do that.
Put a request in through me if you require or know of any good (open source!) software.
Can I install Firefox extensions?
Yes, you can do that.
I recommend Firebug, probably the most popular and powerful web development tool. It allows you to:
- Inspect HTML and modify style and layout in real-time
- Use the most advanced JavaScript debugger available for any browser
- Accurately analyze network usage and performance
- Extend Firebug and add features to make Firebug even more powerful
- Get the information you need to get it done with Firebug.
Which application should I use to type my code?
You could use the default Mac text editor, TextEdit, but it is not great.
We have installed the following open source text editors for you:
- jEdit
- TextWrangler
- BlueFish
- Komodo Edit (not working just yet)
I quite like BlueFish myself, but I know that a lot of developers use TextWrangler. You decide!
If you are looking to buy one for yourself, check out:
Coda is the one most professionals use, but it's pricey!
Where do I save my files?
Save your files to your home folder (which should be labelled with your student number). It points to the same place as your Windows “My Documents” folder, so all your files can easily be accessed from both MacOS and Windows.
Note that you have a disk quota, and once it is exceeded, you will not be able to store any more files (see further down).
How do I transfer my PHP and HTML files onto mi-linux?
Just like on Windows: using an FTP client! We have installed:
I recommend CyberDuck, as it is much more “Mac Friendly”.
Start CyberDuck, press the “Open Connection” button and enter your usual FTP credentials (more details here). Once connected you can drag and drop files back and forth between your local “Finder” window and your CyberDuck window. Easy!
Can I save to FTP straight from the text editors, just like PSPad on Windows?
Yes, you can.
TextWrangler
It supports SFTP as standard:
- Select “File / Open from FTP/SFTP Server” from the menu.
- Enter your mi-linux credentials
- Click on a file to open it
That’s it. Now when saving the file, it saves it back to mi-linux.
jEdit
You need to install the FTP Plugin (it only takes a couple of minutes):
- Click on the “Plugins” menu item
- Select “Plugin Manager”
- Click on “Install” (near the top)
- Find and select the “FTP” plugin in the list.
- Click “install” at the bottom.
Done! You can now:
- load your files straight from mi-linux using “Plugins/FTP/Open from Secure FTP server” in the top menu.
- save your files straight to mi-linux using “Plugins/FTP/Save to secure FTP Server”
Note: You will need to enter the connection details the first time you load AND the first time you save, but after that a simple click on “save” will use your FTP connection… just like PSPad!
Komodo
(Note that as far as I know Komodo does not work yet)
Again this is supported as standard.
You need to add a connection to the server first:
- Click on the “Komodo / Preferences” menu item
- Click on the “servers” section (near the bottom)
- Enter your normal mi-linux FTP credentials, and press “add”.
Then to open a file:
- Click on the “File / Open / remote file” menu item
- Select the connection you have created from the dropdown list
- Your remote files should appear! Click on one to open it.
- Now when saving, it saves straight onto mi-linux.
Bluefish
As far as I can tell, Bluefish does NOT have an integrated FTP client, so you will need to use an external one (Filezilla or Cyberduck - see previous section)
Not so good :( Let me know if I am missing something!
Which application should I use if I want to edit image files?
We have installed:
- Gimp: very good, but quite complicated and clunky for simple tasks. People often refer to it as an “open source Photoshop”.
- Seashore: Nice and easy for simple tasks such as resizing images and converting formats. It’s open source too!
Mac mice are rubbish, you can’t right click!
Yes you can!
- Click on “System Preferences” (the grey icon with the gears, at the bottom of the screen)
- Click on the “Mouse” icon.
- Set the right click to “Secondary click”.
There now you can right click. Phew.
Can I increase the size of the text in BlueFish, as my eyes are killing?
Yes you can!
- Click on the “Bluefish / Preferences” menu item
- Select “Editor settings” on the left
- Click on the “Font” button, on the right.
- Set the font size to 16 or more.
- Press “OK”.
There, you won’t go blind now.
Huuu, how do I log off at the end of the workshop?
Not as obvious as you would think right? Try clicking on the little apple in the top left hand corner.
What if my files won’t save to my home folder?
You have probably exceeded your quota. You won’t be able to save files from Windows either. Please clean up, delete old files etc.
Note that the different Mac applications will use your personal space to store settings/preferences files, Firefox extensions, etc. For example when you enable the right button on the mouse (see above), it is saved to your private space. So next time if you use a different Mac, it will still remember your settings. Same goes for the text font size in BlueFish (see above) or even for any Firefox extensions that you might install. This is great, as your profile follows you everywhere, but obviously won’t work if you have exceeded your quota!
What if my files won’t upload to mi-linux?
Again you have probably exceeded your quota. Please clean up, delete old files etc.
