Alt/opt-key stopped working when combined with cmd

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david - 14 Jun 2006 15:01 GMT

Using the alt-key (opt on US keyboards) when, e.g., sending mail with
cmd-E or reply with cmd-R allows you to perform a slightly different
action than usually (in my first example it allowed you to schedule the
sending of the mail. The second example replied to all recipients).

I used to be able to press cmd-alt-E to schedule the sending of the mail
but since a year or so pressing cmd-alt-E does nothing. However,
pressing alt and clicking the send button shows the scheduling dialog.
Furthermore, when I press alt and opens the File-menu the menu item Send
mail has, as expected, changed to Send mail specially.

The alt-action is broken like this not just for sending mail but for all
commands that has a variation available.

Any ideas why alt works with button clicks and menus but not with
keyboard shortcuts?

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David Morrison - 15 Jun 2006 15:37 GMT

In article
<1hgxekn.z5ap1917bjnmaN%messages.from.usenetREMOVETHIS@gmail.com>,

> Using the alt-key (opt on US keyboards) when, e.g., sending mail with
> cmd-E or reply with cmd-R allows you to perform a slightly different
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
> Any ideas why alt works with button clicks and menus but not with
> keyboard shortcuts?

I have a similar problem. Command/' is supposed to increase the quote
level of the selected text. It did for many many years until recently.

Now it reduces the quote level. Command/Option/' is supposed to do this,
and still does.

Oddly, selecting menu Edit/Text/Quote increases the quote level, so the
function still works. It must be just the connection between the
keystroke and the function.

David

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Kathy Morgan - 17 Jun 2006 16:40 GMT

> In article
> <1hgxekn.z5ap1917bjnmaN%messages.from.usenetREMOVETHIS@gmail.com>,
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> I have a similar problem. Command/' is supposed to increase the quote
> level of the selected text. It did for many many years until recently.

Oh! This is beginning to sound familiar. I think it's a FAQ, but I
don't remember the answer. :(

Oops, no, there was an issue in Mac OS 8.5 involving the shift key, not
the Opt/Alt key.

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Kathy - post reviews of other newsgroups in news:news.groups.reviews
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OE-quotefix can fix OE:
<http://home.in.tum.de/~jain/software/oe-quotefix/>

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Kathy Morgan - 16 Jun 2006 05:00 GMT

> I used to be able to press cmd-alt-E to schedule the sending of the mail
> but since a year or so pressing cmd-alt-E does nothing. However,
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> Any ideas why alt works with button clicks and menus but not with
> keyboard shortcuts?

My guess is that possibly newly-installed software may be conflicting
and causing the behavior, or maybe the Settings are slightly corrupted.
Do you have an older Eudora Settings file that you could use to test
that theory?

If not, you can rebuild the Settings by holding down all the modifier
keys (command-option-shift-control) while you select Settings from the
Special menu. This will retain your server info, but most of your other
customizations will be lost. Before rebuilding the Settings, put a copy
somewhere outside the Eudora Folder so you can easily get it back if it
turns out the problem is not solved by rebuilding the Settings.

You can make it a little easier to restore your customizations if you
have Eudora create a list of them for you before you rebuild the
Settings. Do this by opening a new message composition window and then
choose "Insert system configuration" from the Help menu.

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Kathy - read reviews of other newsgroups in news:news.groups.reviews
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Mac Forum / Applications / Eudora / June 2006

Alt/opt-key stopped working when combined with cmd