Station Components



To show item names under the icons, select the "Show item names" option in the preferernces. Item names that are too long will be truncated and "…" will be added to the name.
Adding Items to Station
Items From the Finder:
• Drag the items to an open launch panel.
• Drag and drop the items on the Station icon and this will append the items to the root panel.
• Drag and drop the items on a launch folder item and this will add the items to that launch panel.
Duplicate items will be filtered out on individual launch panels, but you may have duplicate items residing in different launch folders.
Another method for adding items to Station is to hold down the command-key as you drop in items from the Finder. The following dialog will appear.
• Drag the items to an open launch panel.
• Drag and drop the items on the Station icon and this will append the items to the root panel.
• Drag and drop the items on a launch folder item and this will add the items to that launch panel.
Duplicate items will be filtered out on individual launch panels, but you may have duplicate items residing in different launch folders.
Another method for adding items to Station is to hold down the command-key as you drop in items from the Finder. The following dialog will appear.

When the option "Create new Station folder at the insertion point" is selected, it will create a new Station folder and then go into that Station folder and add the items from the Finder. If this option is not selected, it will add the items to the drop point in the original panel.
When the option "Recursively add subfolders from the finder" is selected, it will convert Finder folders into Station folders until the maximum Station limit is reached. If this option is not selected, it will add the original Finder folder itself.
A backup snapshot will be made before the items are added.
Separators:
Select the menu item "Add Separator" to add a separator line to the left of the current item. You can manipulate separators as you would any other item in Station such as moving and copying the separator.
When the option "Recursively add subfolders from the finder" is selected, it will convert Finder folders into Station folders until the maximum Station limit is reached. If this option is not selected, it will add the original Finder folder itself.
A backup snapshot will be made before the items are added.
Separators:
Select the menu item "Add Separator" to add a separator line to the left of the current item. You can manipulate separators as you would any other item in Station such as moving and copying the separator.
Moving Things Around
Move:
After you have added items to Station, you will want to move items around and between folders. This is as simple as drag and drop, but you must hold down the Command-Key to initiate the internal drag on the panel. This is to prevent accidental moves.
Copy:
If you want to copy an item to another launch folder, hold down the Command-Option-Key combination and drag the item to the new launch folder. The original item will remain in place and a new copy will be placed in the launch folder. If you drag the item to the same folder it resides in, it will perform a move operation.
Restrictions:
When moving or copying folders there are two conditions where Station will prevent you from dropping a folder in certain locations.
After you have added items to Station, you will want to move items around and between folders. This is as simple as drag and drop, but you must hold down the Command-Key to initiate the internal drag on the panel. This is to prevent accidental moves.
Copy:
If you want to copy an item to another launch folder, hold down the Command-Option-Key combination and drag the item to the new launch folder. The original item will remain in place and a new copy will be placed in the launch folder. If you drag the item to the same folder it resides in, it will perform a move operation.
Restrictions:
When moving or copying folders there are two conditions where Station will prevent you from dropping a folder in certain locations.

1) If you attempt to drop a folder in a place where the total levels created by the drop would exceed the maximum folder levels. You will see the too many levels cursor.

2) If you attempt to drop a folder on one of its own child folders, this would create an orphan set of folders which you could not access any more. You will see the not allowed cursor.
Additionally, the Station icon must remain on the root level panel. You may drag it anywhere on the root panel, but if you try to drag it to another folder panel you will see the not allowed cursor.
Deleting:
To delete an item from Station, do a contextual click on the item and select the menu item "Remove."
Deleting:
To delete an item from Station, do a contextual click on the item and select the menu item "Remove."
Mousing Around
Launching and Menus:
To launch an item from Station, left click with the mouse. You may also drag documents and applications onto application icons in a launch window and Station will launch that application and send those dropped items to the target application.
To launch an item from Station, left click with the mouse. You may also drag documents and applications onto application icons in a launch window and Station will launch that application and send those dropped items to the target application.

To display a popup menu, right click on an item. Note, if you are using the track pad please check the gesture for secondary clicks for invoking contextual menus.
Moving Station:
Station will detect when you move the mouse to the edge of a screen and will move Station to that screen edge if it is the designated position on the screen (left, bottom, right from the preferences). If you have Station set to auto hide, you need to move the mouse to the designated screen edge to make it appear.
If you have a multiple display set up where the mouse can be moved directly between the shared borders of the two monitors, you can invoke Station to show up on that shared border between the two monitors. Normally, you just have to move the mouse to the edge of the screen and wait a short period of time for Station to show up. In this case, you must be more accurate in the use of the mouse pointer to assure it is on the edge of the desired screen without moving on to the adjacent display. After a short period of time, Station will popup and you can lock it to that position.
If you have two or more launch panels open, Station will not hide or move until only the root level panel is showing by itself, otherwise you would have a difficult time working with launch panels. You will need to collapse all the open panels and then you can use the mouse to move Station to another screen.
Locking Station to a Specific Screen:
If you are working with multiple displays, you can lock Station to a specific screen. This may be useful when you want Station out of the way so you can use the full height of the display you are working on. To lock Station to a screen, move Station to the target screen and then select the menu item "Lock to Screen" from the main Station icon menu. Select this menu item again to toggle off the lock. The "Lock to Screen" feature is persistent across Station restarts. The algorithm is robust to handle changes in screen configurations. For example, if you unplug a display that is set up as the Station home screen, when the display is plugged back in, Station will move its panels to the new display.
Gesture Scrolling:
When a scrollbar appears on a panel, you can operate it with gesture scrolling. Move the mouse over the panel and use the appropriate gesture for scrolling. For example, a track pad uses a two-finger swipe to scroll.
Access Points
When you create an alias in the Finder, you are creating a "bookmark" file. When you drag-and-drop the bookmark file into Station, you are giving permission to Station to access the bookmark file. Unfortunately in a secure sandboxed environment, having access to the bookmark file does not grant access to open the item pointed to by the bookmark file. In order to open the file, Station needs access to the directory that contains the target file.
To solve this problem you must give Station access to the directory that contains the target item directly or encompasses it in one of its subfolders. To set up the parent directories for the bookmark files, you add them to Station by selecting the menu item "Station > Utilities > Access Points." The following dialog will be displayed.
To solve this problem you must give Station access to the directory that contains the target item directly or encompasses it in one of its subfolders. To set up the parent directories for the bookmark files, you add them to Station by selecting the menu item "Station > Utilities > Access Points." The following dialog will be displayed.

You may drag-and-drop volumes and folders into the main table to add access points for opening bookmark targets. If you add a volume to this list, that will cover the entire volume for opening bookmarks. You may choose a more restricted scope by adding a user directory or another directory instead.
The "-" button allows you to delete the selected access point.
The "-" button allows you to delete the selected access point.
Moving Files in the Finder Through Station
When you set up Finder folder in Station you will see a folder icon show up in your Station panel similar to as shown below.

If you drag-and-drop items from the Finder directly onto a Finder folder in Station, it will be highlighted and then begin moving the files to the new location you selected in Station. If you hold down the option-key when you drop the files, it will copy the files to the folder and leave the originals in place. If there are duplicates in the destination folder, Station will ask you what you want to do.
Note, there is no undo available for this operation in the Finder.
Note, there is no undo available for this operation in the Finder.
Showing Finder Folder Contents
After dropping a Finder folder into Station, you can access the contents of the Finder folder as a popup menu by holding down the shift-key as you click on the item in Station as shown below.

In the preferences you can select the default action for when you click normally on a Finder folder.
Finder Folders - Default Action: Doing a primary click on a Finder folder will do one of the the following, open the Finder folder or show the contents of the folder as a list view.
If you hold down shift-comand-key combination as you click on the Finder folder, it will open the Finder folder ignoring the preference setting.
Finder Folders - Default Action: Doing a primary click on a Finder folder will do one of the the following, open the Finder folder or show the contents of the folder as a list view.
If you hold down shift-comand-key combination as you click on the Finder folder, it will open the Finder folder ignoring the preference setting.
Adding Weblinks
Weblinks from programs like Safari are supported. When you drag-and-drop a weblink from web browser into Station, you will see the following icon.

Note, each web browser has a different way of selecting a weblinks for dragging into Station.
In Station, the name of the icon will be the weblink itself. For example, if you drop in the main Google weblink, you will see "google.com" as the name. When you click on the web icon in Station, it will send the weblink to your default browser.
Renaming a Weblink:
To rename a weblink, select the menu item “Rename Weblink” from the contextual menu for the weblink item. A name popup will appear that will allow you to edit the name. Hit the return key to complete the process of updating the name.
To reset the name of the weblink to the original website derived weblink name, select the menu item "Reset Weblink Name". For example, the Google site would be reset to "google.com" for the name.
In Station, the name of the icon will be the weblink itself. For example, if you drop in the main Google weblink, you will see "google.com" as the name. When you click on the web icon in Station, it will send the weblink to your default browser.
Renaming a Weblink:
To rename a weblink, select the menu item “Rename Weblink” from the contextual menu for the weblink item. A name popup will appear that will allow you to edit the name. Hit the return key to complete the process of updating the name.
To reset the name of the weblink to the original website derived weblink name, select the menu item "Reset Weblink Name". For example, the Google site would be reset to "google.com" for the name.
Favorites Window
The favorites window is a collection items you use frequently that are displayed in a floating window. Shown below is an example favorites window.

To use the favorites window you need to designate a Station folder as the favorites folder source. To do this, open the properties window for the Station folder by selecting the "Properties..." menu item.

Then select the "Use as source for favorites" checkbox. Note, you may only have one folder designated as the source for the favorites window per panel set. If you turn on a folder as the favorites source, Station will turn off any previously selected folder. A star icon will be displayed over the folder icon to indicate this is the favorites folder source as shown below.

There are three preferences that control the favorites window.
• Favorites Icon Size: Change the icon size for items in the favorites window.
• Close Favorites window on launch: After clicking on an icon in the favorites window, the window is closed.
• Show Favorites: Show the favorites window.
• Close Favorites window on launch: After clicking on an icon in the favorites window, the window is closed.
• Show Favorites: Show the favorites window.
There are two menu items associated with the favorites window.
"Station > Favorites > Show Favorites": Open the favorites window.
"Station > Favorites > Open Favorites Folder": Open the Station folder designated as the source for the favorites window.
"Station > Favorites > Open Favorites Folder": Open the Station folder designated as the source for the favorites window.
How to use:
Create a folder and designate the folder as the source for the favorites window. Set up global key in the preferences to make it easy to show the favorites window. Then decide if you want the favorites window to always be visible or transient (goes away after an item launch) and set the preference. You populate the designated favorites folder like any other Station folder. When Station scans the designated folder, it will ignore child folders and aliases.
Create a folder and designate the folder as the source for the favorites window. Set up global key in the preferences to make it easy to show the favorites window. Then decide if you want the favorites window to always be visible or transient (goes away after an item launch) and set the preference. You populate the designated favorites folder like any other Station folder. When Station scans the designated folder, it will ignore child folders and aliases.
Strategies
It is fairly straightforward to see how to organize items in Station. The question that remains is what to do with Apple’s dock? One strategy is to turn Apple’s dock into a visual open application selector by removing all items from Apple’s dock. Apple’s dock will then show you the open applications and windows as you launch them. Another thing to consider is putting applications where you want to see display badges in Apple’s dock.