This is a post containing Mac keyboard shortcuts and tips I find useful.
Being a pc guy for my whole life I haven't found a convenient workflow on my Mac that I have been using for over a year now.
I use spotlight search frequently. It's useful and fast.
press Command + Space
External links to helpful content and well written articles:
Serial Communication
Data can be transferred between devices in serial or parallel. Serial communication stream data one bit a time and can use down to only one wire. Parallel communication send data in bigger lumps and all bits arrive at the same time, this kind of communication uses several wires, usually 8 or more, to send the data.
RS-232 is a standard for serial communication defined by Electronic Industries Association in 1969.
Serial Port
DB-9 or DB-25 connectors are used for serial ports. They might also be called D-sub. DB-9 has 9 pins and DB-25 25 pins.
Baudrate
The baudrate specifies at which rate bits are transmitted. It specifies the number of signal or symbol changes that occur per second.
If two devices uses different baudrates they aren't communicating at the same speed and it will not work.
Below are standard baudrates listed:
DTE and DCE
DTE stands for Data Terminal Equipment. DCE stands for Data Communication Equipment.
External references:
This Guide is for Garmin GTN. This instruction is to create a user.wpt file for importing user waypoints to the aircraft GPS. It is easy to put a user.wpt file on the Garmin GTN SD Card and import it into the system. You can store up to 10000 waypoints.
At first we have to create a csv file, comma separated file, which is a very common format. You can create it on any computer.
 | |
| user.wpt |
1. Open Notepad or a similar program. I prefer Visual Studio Code which is a free application.
2. Write the short waypoint name in upper case letters. The short name is limited to 6 characters.
End with a comma.
3. Write the comment in upper case letter. The comment is limited to 25 characters.
End with a comma.
4. Write the latitude in decimal degrees format. There can be up to two digits on the left side of the decimal and up to nine to the right of the decimal.
End with a comma.
5. Write the longitude in decimal degrees format. There can be up to three digits to the left of the decimal and up to eight to the right of the decimal.
Enter to the next line.
6. Finish by saving the file as user.csv
7.Change the file format to wpt. The file should now be named user.wpt
1. Copy the file user.wpt to the root directory of a SD-card.
2. Place the SD card in the card drive of the Garmin GTN.
3. Start the Garmin GTN and navigate to Waypoint Info.
4. Press Import Waypoints icon.
5. A message is displayed if the import is successful or not.
I had issues when I tried to import the first time. I used Excel for creating the csv file. But Excel insisted on formatting the CSV with a semicolon instead of a comma. Due to the semicolon I got the message from the GTN that the import failed. It did not tell me why though. But the format was wrong so I replaced the semicolons with comma and the import succeeded.
You can get following messages:
"User waypoints were imported successfully."
All user waypoints were imported successfully.
"User waypoint import failed."
User waypoint failed due to improper format. Check the formatting in the file.
"User waypoint import failed. User waypoint database is full."
User waypoint catalog is full and the requested user waypoints could not be imported
"User waypoint imported successfully - existing waypoints reused."
User waypoints imported and existing waypoints were used instead of some of the imported ones. The imported waypoint were closer than 0.001° of an old waypoint.
Read more about the structure of a CSV file here.
Since I've been using my Macbook for a few months now I'm still trying to find the keybord shortcuts I used on other operating systems.
Close the current window = Command + W
Close all open windows = Command + Option + W
Shift between browser tabs = Command + Option + Left or Right arrow
Show all open workareas in Mission Control = Control + Up arrow
I find it problematic when writing and navigating in text or code because I frequently use the "Home" and "End" buttons on the keyboard. But on Mac these keys perform differently from what I am used to. For example, when pushing "End" key the cursor jumps to the end of the document instead of to the end of the line. This is irritating and I need to find a solution to the problem.
Mark text from left to right = Command + Shift + Left arrow
Mark text from right to left = Command + Shift + Right arrow
Go to beginning of the line = Command + Left arrow
Go to end of the line = Command + Right arrow
Command ⌘ key is the Windows key on a Windows keyboard.
Option ⌥ key is the Alt key on a Windows keyboard.
Control ^ key is the Ctrl key on a Windows keyboard.
Umlet is an easy to use uml-editor and you can run it on all operating systems. This guide is for Mac.
You might want to run the Umlet editor as a standalone application on your Mac when planning you software development. You could also run it as a plugin in Eclipse editor or in Visual Studio Code. This guide will show you how to run it as "standalone" on a mac.
Link to article for running Umlet as plugin in Eclipse editor.
1.
Make sure you have the latest Java installed since Umlet runs on Java. You can download Java here.
2.
Download the Umlet standalone zip file from Umlet homepage.
3.
Unzip the file.
4.
Open the terminal and go the recently unzipped folder.
5.
When in the folder for Umlet run this command in the terminal: java -jar umlet.jar
6.
Now the program runs.
Resources:
UMLet FAQ
UMLet versions and downloads
Github for Umlet - Common Problems
I always try to use the whole screen when I work. Therefore I often feel the need to split the screen into two windows. I just love keyboard shortcuts.
Anyway, here's the deal for Mac:
1.Make sure the window you want is in focus then you press Control + Command + F.
The window is now in fullscreen.
2. Press F3 or and use Mission Control to pull up another window to the fullscreen window.
You can also use the mouse and click this green button on top of your window:
I found that this always has been really easy on Windows and Ubuntu but since I switched to Mac I found that it wasn not the way I wanted to do it. I still prefer the Windows and Ubuntu way to to do it. Just pressing Windows key + Left arrow (or Right arrow).
I connect an external screen, keyboard and mouse with the hub. I have also connected some usb-sticks and my phone Motorola G5 to download data. So far everything I attach to the USB-Hub works directly without interruption. And yes I know that my phone is old but I like it anyhow.
Anker 5-in-1 USB-C Hub has the following ports:
2x USB 3.0
1x HDMI
1x SD Card
1x MicroSD Card
It gets warm after a few hours. Not hot. Since this hub only uses one of the Macbook Air two USB-C ports I charge the computer on the free usb-c port. The cable and usb-c connector is good quality.
There is also a pouch for the USB-c hub to protect the it when you put it in the backpack. Both hub and pouch feels like quality items. I'm very pleased with the items. I have never owned anything by Anker before so I can't compare with their other products.
Technical Specifications:
Model: Premium 5-in-1 USB-C Hub 1H2A1S1M
Max Dataspeed: 5 Gbps
Compatible with Mac OS X 10.2 and higher, Windows 7/8/10, Vista, XP and of course Linux.
SD card slot supports SD/SDHC/SDXC and size up to 2TB and speeds up to 104 MB/s.
The current consumption of all connected devices should not exceed 2,2 A
I recommend this USB-C Hub.
Mac OS isn't ready from scratch to recieve data from Android phones. I wanted to transfer some files from my phone Motorola G5 to my Macbook Air M1 using my USB chord. So I plugged everything in but nothing happened.
Where can I find Paint for my Mac?
Answer: There is no application similar to Paint supplied in the software suite for Mac. You have to download an application.
For example the free and open source program Paintbrush