stretching a jpeg in one direction only

I’m trying to stretch a jpeg in one direction only BUT without changing anything in the other direction. A few years ago Xara changed how this happens. .Now if I grab a side, the whole image stretches losing part of the image as it stretches beyond the object’s limits in the other direction. I never understood why this change was made, apparently it works for lots of folks, but when I most often want to change the size on only one direction and I have to play with the image for way too long to figure out how to do it without losing the edges of the object in the other direction and this time I’ve been unable to rediscover the trick. For a long time I did this by changing either the w or h without changing the other, but now the image expands in both directions and I end up losing the sides of the image in the other dimension.

If you mean you want to stretch the image, hold the ALT key when you drag.

Right click the “Aspect Ratio” icon in the Info Bar and deselect “Smart Transform”

That's worked in the past but now it doesn't. When I deselect "Smart Transform" and pull while holding down the ALT key, the image continues to enlarge on both dimensions with my losing the outer edges, the area of the image that's beyond the original boundary.

you don't do both - one or the other...