Hook not giving linkable item with TextEdit

Discussion & Help
1

Hi!

I am really moving hook into my workflow. I purchased the pro version yesterday. I am having some trouble now. When I bring up a TextEdit window, and press the CMD-Shift-Spacebar shortcut, I see the No linkable item message. I went through the document, shut off the accessibility settings, turned them back on - still nothing. I restarted my Mac - still nothing. I get links in Chrome, Omnifocus and other applications. Any thoughts?

I am using an M1 Mac.

2

Welcome to the Hook Productivity Forum , @CraigWoodman.

Sorry you’re encountering an issue with Hook+TextEdit, and thanks for letting us know.

I understand you went through the Accessibility Permissions – Hook file. However, it really sounds like under

Security & Privacy>Privacy>Automation > Hook

textedit is not selected or enabled. I would toggle textedit there. and try Hook again. If it fails, I would toggle it again and reboot the Mac.

Sometimes macOS security settings get confused.

otherwise:

  • you’re sure it’s a saved file?

  • Does it happen with multiple files? Can you PM us the filename and “pathname” (drag and drop it into Terminal.app and copy that)?

  • Do you have this problem with files in different folders? If you have a different text editing app, does it have the same problem with that specific file (app must not turn it into a new document).

thanks.

3

Thanks for responding!

I was verifying in automations. I went through both steps again, clicking on and off in both places under accessibility. It is a saved file (multiple files, all named, and I clicked “Save” again just to make sure). This happens with different text files in different paths and folders. When I open the Text file with BBEdit, I am able to hook to that one OK.

Something else interesting - When I highlight the file in finder (not the open document), I am able to hook to that one OK, and the link copied from that highlighted file in finder will open the document in textedit.

4

Thanks. that’s strange.

That suggests it’s something specific to do with TextEdit ↔ Hook. The TextEdit script has not been touched in a long time,so I don’t know what this .

Could you please try the following

  1. Launch /Applications/Utilities/Console.app
  2. Type Hook in search (top right field).
  3. invoke Hook in the context of TextEdit
  4. copy all the results
  5. Paste it in an email or as a PM. (If as a PM, you might want to mark it as “preformatted text” using the formatting bar), otherwise some of the output might be interpreted as Markdown). Better to use email or PM in case the console captures some information you don’t want to make public.

Also could you please check the version of Hook’s integration scripts, as listed in Hook’s “Updates” > Preferences pane. If it is not 152, please do an update and ensure it goes up to 153.

thank you

5

At the risk of polluting a perfectly good thread :slight_smile: why are you using TextEdit? Is there some “party trick”? Or is it (understandably) because it’s free?

6

PM is sent - Also, I am on 153

7

I use BBEdit for various code based things and other text that requires manipulation, but Textedit is simple, baked in with Mac, and there. What do you use for your preferred text editor, and why? Maybe I will make a gain in terms of productivity?

Thanks! :slight_smile: :smiley:

8

Mostly I use BBEdit. I use Sublime Text for 2 things:

  • Reformatting XML
  • Converting Markdown to HTML

I just thought maybe there was a use case for TextEdit that I wasn’t aware of.