Macintosh Drag and Drop, an enhanced feature of System 7.5, is the Macintosh popularized "cut and paste" functionality -- selecting data in a particular document, cutting it, and then pasting it elsewhere in the document or in another open file. Macintosh Drag and Drop goes a major step beyond this now-standardized approach to create a more simple and intuitive method of manipulating data.
Using an application that supports Macintosh Drag and Drop, you select a block of data (such as text or graphics) from an open file or the desktop and drag it to another location. This eliminates the steps of opening an application, copying the selected data, switching to an open document, and pasting the data elsewhere -- instead, you drag the data where you want it.
Here is how it works with applications that support Drag and Drop: You use a drawing program to create a graphic that you want to add to a word processing document. You select the graphic and drag it into position in the document. The graphic now appears in both the drawing program and the word-processing document -- without copying and pasting.
Or you could drag the graphic onto you desktop, where it becomes a Clippings file that you can drag into other files later. For example, you could save your mailing address or company logo as a Clippings file and easily drop them into any document when you need it.
To provide data translation between different types of applications, System 7.5 also includes Macintosh Easy Open, which automatically translates data when it is moved between differing types of applications when the correct data translators are present.
Article Change History:
23 Mar 1995 - Made minor technical updates.
15 Feb 1995 - Reviewed for technical accuracy, revised System 7.5 keyword.
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