Why does right-clicking in the Variables or Review window sometimes clear multiple selections?

Stata 10 now uses the Data Browser control for the Variables and Review windows. This is the same control the Finder uses for displaying files in list form in a folder window. The Data Browser control allows multiple items to be selected but behaves differently depending on where you click in a cell that is part of a selected group of items.

You can select multiple items by clicking cells while holding down the shift key or Apple key. If you click the text in a cell, the Data Browser maintains the current selection. If you click in the blank area of a cell that contains text, only the cell that you clicked is selected. Thus, if you have multiple items selected and then right-click in a blank area of a cell that is already selected, the selection is changed to just the cell you right-clicked. Stata cannot prevent this from happening because this behavior is imposed by Mac OS X.

To avoid this behavior, you must click a variable name or command in the Variables or Review window, not a blank area.