Window Components

Window Operations

Secondary Windows

Controls

Menus

Toolbars & Status Bars

Property Sheets

Dialog Boxes

Message Boxes

Palette Windows

Popup Windows

Menus list commands available to the user. By making commands visible, menus leverage user recognition rather than depending on user recollection of command names and syntax.

There are several types of menus, including drop-down menus, pop-up menus, and cascading menus. The following sections cover these menus in more detail.

The Menu Bar and Drop-down Menus:

A menu bar, one of the most common forms of a menu interface, is a special area displayed across the top of a window directly below the title bar (as shown in Figure 7.1). A menu bar includes a set of entries called menu titles. Each menu title provides access to a drop-down menu composed of a collection of menu items or choices.

The content of the menu bar and its drop-down menus are determined by the functionality of your application and the context of a user's interaction. You can also optionally provide user configuration of the menu structure, including hiding the menu bar. If you provide this kind of option, supplement the interface with other components such as pop-up menus, handles, and toolbars, so that a user can access the functionality typically provided by the menu bar.

When displayed, a drop-down menu appears as a panel with its menu items arranged in a column. While the system supports multiple columns for a drop-down menu, avoid this form of presentation because it adds complexity to browsing and interaction of the menu.

Drop-down Menu Interaction:

When the user chooses a menu title, it displays its associated drop-down menu. To display a drop-down menu with the mouse, the user points to the menu title and presses or clicks mouse button 1. This action highlights the menu title and opens the menu. Tapping the menu title with a pen has the same effect as clicking the mouse.

If the user opens a menu by pressing the mouse button while the pointer is over the menu title, the user can drag the pointer over menu items in the drop-down menu. As the user drags, each menu item is highlighted, tracking the pointer as it moves through the menu. Releasing the mouse button with the pointer over a menu item chooses the command associated with that menu item and the system removes the drop-down menu. If the user moves the pointer off the menu and then releases the mouse button, the menu is "canceled" and the drop-down menu is removed. However, if the user moves the pointer back onto the menu before releasing the mouse button, the tracking resumes and the user can still select a menu item.

If the user opens a menu by clicking on the menu title, the menu title is highlighted and the drop-down menu remains displayed until the user clicks the mouse again. Clicking a menu item in the drop-down menu or dragging over and releasing the mouse button on a menu item chooses the command associated with the menu item and removes the drop-down menu. When the system displays a drop-down menu, clicking its associated menu title again cancels the menu and removes the drop-down. Clicking another menu title also results in canceling any displayed drop-down menu, and displays the menu associated with that menu title.

The keyboard interface for drop-down menus uses the ALT key to activate the menu bar. When the user presses an alphanumeric key while holding the ALT key, or after the ALT key is released, the system displays the drop-down menu whose access key for the menu title matches the alphanumeric key (matching is not case sensitive). Pressing a subsequent alphanumeric key chooses the menu item in the drop-down menu with the matching access character.

The user can also use arrow keys to access drop-down menus from the keyboard. When the user presses the ALT key, but has not yet selected a drop-down menu, LEFT ARROW and RIGHT ARROW keys highlight the previous or next menu title, respectively. At the end of the menu bar, pressing another arrow key in the corresponding direction wraps the highlight around to the other end of the menu bar. Pressing the ENTER key displays the drop-down menu associated with the selected menu title. If a drop-down menu is already displayed on that menu bar, then pressing LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW navigates the highlight to the next drop-down menu in that direction, unless the drop-down menu displays its content in multiple columns, in which case the arrow keys move the highlight to the next column in that direction, and then to the next drop-down menu.

Pressing UP ARROW or DOWN ARROW in the menu bar also displays a drop-down menu if none is currently open. In an open drop-down menu, pressing these keys moves to the next menu item in that direction, wrapping the highlight around at the top or bottom. If the drop-down menu has multiple columns, then pressing the arrow keys first wraps the highlight around to the next column.

The user can cancel a drop-down menu by pressing the ALT key whenever the menu bar is active. This not only closes the drop-down menu, it also deactivates the menu bar. Pressing the ESC key also cancels a drop-down menu. However, the ESC key cancels only the current menu level. For example, if a drop-down menu is open, pressing ESC closes the drop-down menu, but leaves its menu title highlighted. Pressing ESC a second time unhighlights the menu title and deactivates the menu bar, returning input focus to the content information in the window.

You can assign shortcut keys to commands in drop-down menus. When the user presses a shortcut key associated with a command in the menu, the command is carried out immediately. Optionally, you can also highlight its menu title, but do not display the drop-down.

Common Drop-down Menus:

This section describes the conventions for drop-down menus commonly used in applications. While these menus are not required for all applications, apply these guidelines when including these menus in your software's interface.

The File Menu:

The File menu provides an interface for the primary operations that apply to a file. Your application should include commands such as Open, Save, Send To, and Print. These commands are often also included on the pop-up menu of the icon displayed in the title bar of the window.

If your application supports an Exit command, place this command at the bottom of the File menu preceded by a menu separator. When the user chooses the Exit command, close any open windows and files, and stop any further processing. If the object remains active even when its window is closed - for example, like a folder or printer - then include the Close command instead of Exit.

The Edit Menu:

Include general purpose editing commands on the Edit menu. These commands include the Cut, Copy, and Paste transfer commands, OLE object commands, and the following commands (if they are supported).

Command	Function
Undo	Reverses last action.
Repeat	Repeats last action.
Find and Replace	Searches for and substitutes text.
Delete	Removes the current selection.
Duplicate	Creates a copy of the current selection.

Include these commands on this menu and on the pop-up menu of the selected object.

The View Menu:

Put commands on the View menu that change the user's view of data in the window. Include commands on this menu that affect the view and not the data itself - for example, Zoom or Outline. Also include commands for controlling the display of particular interface elements in the view - for example, Show Ruler. Also place these commands on the pop-up menu of the window or pane.

The Window Menu:

Use the Window menu in multiple document interface-style (MDI) applications for commands associated with managing the windows within an MDI workspace. Also include these commands on the pop-up menu of the parent MDI window.

The Help Menu:

Use the Help menu for commands that provide access to Help information. Include a Help Topics command; this command provides access to the Help Topics browser, which displays topics included in your application's Help file. Alternatively, you can provide individual commands that access specific pages of the Help Topics browser, such as Contents, Index, and Find Topic. You can also include other user assistance commands on this drop-down menu.

If you provide access to copyright and version information for your application, include an About application name command on this menu. When the user chooses this command, display a window containing the application's name, version number, copyright information, and any other informational properties related to the application. Display this information in a dialog box or alternatively as a copyright page of the property sheet of the application's main executable file. Do not use an ellipsis at the end of this command, because the resulting window does not require the user to provide any further parameters.

Pop-up Menus:

Even if you include a menu bar in your software's interface, you should also support pop-up menus. Pop-up menus provide an efficient way for the user to access the operations of objects, as shown in Figure 7.2. Because pop-up menus are displayed at the pointer's current location, they eliminate the need for the user to move the pointer to the menu bar or a toolbar. In addition, because you populate pop-up menus with commands specific to the object or its immediate context, they reduce the number of commands the user must browse through. Pop-up menus also minimize screen clutter because they are displayed only upon demand and do not require dedicated screen space.

While a pop-up menu looks similar to a drop-down menu, a pop-up menu should only contain commands that apply to the selected object or objects and its context, rather than commands grouped by function. For example, a pop-up menu for a text selection can include commands for moving and copying the text and access to the font properties of the text and the paragraph properties of which the selection is a part. However, keep the size of the pop-up menu as small as possible by limiting the items on the menu to common, frequent actions. It is better to include a single Properties command and allow the user to navigate among properties in the resulting property sheet than to list individual properties in the pop-up menu.

The container or the composition of which a selection is a part typically supplies the pop-up menu for the selection. Similarly, the commands included on a pop-up menu may not always be supplied by the object itself, but rather be a combination of those commands provided by the object and by its current container. For example, the pop-up menu for a file in a folder includes transfer commands. In this case, the folder (container) supplies the commands, not the files. Pop-up menus for OLE objects follow these same conventions.

Avoid using a pop-up menu as the exclusive means to a particular operation. At the same time, the items in a pop-up menu need not be limited only to commands that are provided in drop-down menus.

When ordering the commands in a pop-up menu, use the following guidelines:


	Place the object's primary commands first (for example, commands such as Open, Play, and Print), transfer commands, other commands supported by the object (whether provided by the object or by its context), and the What's This? command (when supported).

	Order the transfer commands as Cut, Copy, Paste, and other specialized Paste commands.

	Place the Properties command, when present, as the last command on the menu.

Pop-up Menu Interaction:

With a mouse, the user displays a pop-up menu by clicking an object with button 2. The down transition of the mouse button selects the object. Upon the up transition, display the menu to the right and below the hot spot of the pointer adjusted to avoid the menu being clipped by the edge of the screen.

If the pointer is over an existing selection when the user invokes a pop-up menu, display the menu that applies to that selection. If the menu is outside a selection but within the same selection scope, then establish a new selection (usually resetting the current selection in that scope) at the button down point and display the menu for the new selection. Dismiss the pop-up menu when the user clicks outside the menu with button 1 or if the user presses the ESC key.

You can support pop-up menus for objects that are implicitly selected or cannot be directly selected, such as scroll bars or items in a status bar. When providing pop-up menus for objects such as controls, include commands for the object that the control represents, rather than for the control itself. For example, a scroll bar represents a navigational view of a document, so commands might include Beginning of Document, End of Document, Next Page, and Previous Page. But when a control represents itself as an object, as in a forms layout or window design environment, you can include commands that apply to the control-for example, commands to move or copy the control.

The pen interface uses an action handle in pen-enabled controls to access the pop-up menu for the selection. Tapping the action handle displays the pop-up menu.

In addition, you can use techniques like barrel-tapping or the pop-up menu gesture to display a pop-up menu. This interaction is equivalent to a mouse button 2 click.

Use SHIFT+F10 and the Application key (for keyboards that support the Windows keys specification) to provide keyboard access for pop-up menus. In addition, menu access keys, arrow keys, ENTER, and ESC keys all operate in the same fashion in the menu as they do in drop-down menus. To enhance space and visual efficiency, avoid including shortcut keys in pop-up menus.

Common Pop-up Menus:

The pop-up menus included in any application depend on the objects and context supplied by that application. The following sections describe common pop-up menus for Windows-based applications.

The Window Pop-up Menu:

The window pop-up menu is the pop-up menu associated with a window - do not confuse it with the Window drop-down menu found in MDI applications. The window pop-up menu replaces the Windows 3.1 Control menu, also referred to as the System menu. For example, a typical primary window includes Close, Restore, Move, Size, Minimize, and Maximize.

You can also include other commands on the window's menu that apply to the window or the view within the window. For example, an application can append a Split command to the menu to facilitate splitting the window into panes. Similarly, you can add commands that affect the view, such as Outline, commands that add, remove, or filter elements from the view, such as Show Ruler, or commands that open certain subordinate or special views in secondary windows, such as Show Color Palette.

A secondary window also includes a pop-up menu. Usually, because the range of operations are more limited than in a primary window, a secondary window's pop-up menu includes only Move and Close commands, or just Move. Palette windows can also include an Always on Top command that sets the window to always be on top of its parent window and secondary windows of its parent window.

The user displays a window's pop-up menu by clicking mouse button 2 anywhere in the title bar area, excluding the title bar icon. Clicking on the title bar icon with button 2 displays the pop-up menu for the object represented by the icon. To avoid confusing users, if you do not provide a pop-up menu for the title bar icon, do not display the pop-up for the window when the user clicks with button 2 on the title bar icon.

For the pen, performing barrel-tapping or the equivalent pop-up menu gesture on these areas displays the menu. Pressing ALT+SPACEBAR also displays the menu. The pop-up for the window can also be accessed from the keyboard by the user pressing the ALT key and then using the arrow keys to navigate beyond the first or last entry in the menu bar. In MDI applications, the pop-up menu for a child window can also be accessed this way or directly using ALT+HYPHEN.

Icon Pop-up Menus:

Pop-up menus displayed for icons include operations of the objects represented by those icons. Accessing the pop-up menu of an application or document icon follows the standard conventions for pop-up menus, such as displaying the menus with a mouse button 2 click.

An icon's container application supplies the pop-up menu for the icon. For example, pop-up menus for icons placed in standard folders or on the desktop are automatically provided by the system. However, your application supplies the pop-up menus for OLE embedded or linked objects placed in it - that is, placed in the document or data files your application supports.

The container populates the pop-up menu for an icon with commands the container supplies for its content, such as transfer commands and those registered by the object's type. For example, an application can register a New command that automatically generates a new data file of the type supported by the application.

The pop-up menu of an application's icon, for example, the Microsoft WordPad executable file, should include the commands listed in the following table

Application File Icon Pop-up Menu Commands:

Command	Meaning
Open	Opens the application file.
Send To	Displays a submenu of destinations to which the file can be transferred. The content of the submenu is based on the content of the system's Send To folder.
Cut	Marks the file for moving. (Registers the file on the Clipboard.)
Copy	Marks the file for duplication. (Registers the file on the Clipboard.)
Paste	Attempts to open the file registered on the Clipboard with the application.
Create Shortcut	Creates a shortcut icon of the file.
Delete	Deletes the file.
Rename	Allows the user to edit the filename.
Properties	Displays the properties for the file.

Document or Data File Icon Pop-up Menu Commands

Command	Meaning
Open	Opens the file's primary window.
Print	Prints the file on the current default printer.
Quick View	Displays the file using a special viewing tool window.
Send To	Displays a submenu of destinations to which the file can be transferred. The content of the submenu is based on the content of the system's Send To folder.
Cut	Marks the file for moving. (Registers the file on the Clipboard.)
Copy	Marks the file for duplication. (Registers the file on the Clipboard.)
Delete	Deletes the file.
Rename	Allows the user to edit the filename.
Properties	Displays the properties for the file.

With the exception of the Open and Print commands, the system automatically provides these commands for icons when they appear in system containers, such as the desktop or folders. If your application supplies its own containers for files, you need to supply these commands.

For the Open and Print commands to appear on the menu, your application must register these commands in the system registry. You can also register additional or replacement commands. For example, you can optionally register a Quick View command that displays the content of the file without running the application and a What's This? command that displays descriptive information for your data file types.

The icon in the title bar of a window represents the same object as the icon the user opens. As a result, the application associated with the icon also includes a pop-up menu with appropriate commands for the title bar's icon. When the icon of an application appears in the title bar, include the same commands on its pop-up menu as are included for the icon that the user opens, unless a particular command cannot be applied when the application's window is open. In addition, replace the Open command with Close.

Similarly, when the icon of the data or document file appears in the title bar, you also use the same commands as found on its file icon, with the following exceptions: replace the Open command with a Close command and add Save if the edits in the document require explicit saving to file.

For an MDI application, supply a pop-up menu for the application icon in the parent window, following the conventions for application title bar icons. Also consider including the following commands where they apply.

Optional MDI Parent Window Title Bar Icon Pop-up Menu Commands:

Command	Meaning
New	Creates a new data file or displays a list of data file types supported by the application from which the user can choose.
Save All	Saves all data files open in the MDI workspace, and the state of the MDI window.
Find	Displays a window that allows the user to specify criteria to locate a data file.

In addition, supply an appropriate pop-up menu for the title bar icon that appears in the child window's title bar. You can follow the same conventions for non-MDI data files.

Cascading Menus:

A cascading menu (also referred to as a hierarchical menu or child menu) is a submenu of a menu item. The visual cue for a cascading menu is the inclusion of a triangular arrow display adjacent to the label of its parent menu item.

You can use cascading menus to provide user access to additional choices rather than taking up additional space in the parent menu. They may also be useful for displaying hierarchically related objects.

Be aware that cascading menus can add complexity to the menu interface by requiring the user to navigate further through the menu structure to get to a particular choice. Cascading menus also require more coordination to handle the changes in direction necessary to navigate through them.

In light of these design tradeoffs, use cascading menus sparingly. Minimize the number of levels for any given menu item, ideally limiting your design to a single submenu. Avoid using cascading menus for frequent, repetitive commands.

As an alternative, make choices available in a secondary window, particularly when the choices are independent settings; this allows the user to set multiple options in one invocation of a command. You can also support many common options as entries on a toolbar.

The user interaction for a cascading menu is similar to that of a drop-down menu from the menu bar, except a cascading menu displays after a short time-out. This avoids the unnecessary display of the menu if the user is browsing or navigating to another item in the parent menu. Once displayed, if the user moves the pointer to another menu item, the cascading menu is removed after a short time-out. This time-out enables the user to directly drag from the parent menu into an entry in its cascading menu.

Menu Titles:

All drop-down and cascading menus have a menu title. For drop-down menus, the menu title is the entry that appears in the menu bar. For cascading menus, the menu title is the name of the parent menu item. Menu titles represent the entire menu and should communicate as clearly as possible the purpose of all items on the menu.

Use single words for menu bar menu titles. Multiple word titles or titles with spaces may be indistinguishable from two one-word titles. In addition, avoid uncommon compound words, such as Fontsize.

Define one character of each menu title as its access key. This character provides keyboard access to the menu. Windows displays the access key for a menu title as an underlined character.

Define unique access keys for each menu title. Using the same access key for more than one menu title may eliminate direct access to a menu.

Menu Items:

Menu items are the individual choices that appear in a menu. Menu items can be text, graphics - such as icons - or graphics and text combinations that represent the actions presented in the menu. The format for a menu item provides the user with visual cues about the nature of the effect it represents.

Whenever a menu contains a set of related menu items, you can separate those sets with a grouping line known as a separator. The standard separator is a single line that spans the width of the menu. Avoid using menu items themselves as group separators.

Always provide the user with a visual indication about which menu items can be applied. If a menu item is not appropriate or applicable in a particular context, then disable or remove it. Leaving the menu item enabled and presenting a message box when the user selects the menu item is a poor method for providing feedback.

In general, it is better to disable a menu item rather than remove it because this provides more stability in the interface. However, if the context is such that the menu item is no longer or never relevant, remove it. For example, if a menu displays a set of open files and one of those files is closed or deleted, it is appropriate to remove the corresponding menu item.

If all items in a menu are disabled, disable its menu title. If you disable a menu item or its title, it does not prevent the user from browsing or choosing it. If you provide status bar messages, you can display a message indicating that the command is unavailable and why.

The system provides a standard appearance for displaying disabled menu items. If you are supplying your own visuals for a disabled menu item, follow the visual design guidelines for how to display it with an unavailable appearance.

Types of Menu Items:

Many menu items take effect as soon as they are chosen. If the menu item is a command that requires additional information to complete its execution, follow the command with an ellipsis (...). The ellipsis informs the user that information is incomplete. When used with a command, it indicates that the user needs to provide more information to complete that command. Such commands usually result in the display of a dialog box. For example, the Save As command includes an ellipsis because the command is not complete until the user supplies or confirms a filename.

Not every command that produces a dialog box or other secondary window should include an ellipsis. For example, do not include an ellipsis with the Properties command because carrying out the Properties command displays a properties window. After completing the command, no further parameters or actions are required to fulfill the intent of the command. Similarly, do not include an ellipsis for a command that may result in the display of a message box.

While you can use menu items to carry out commands, you can also use menu items to switch a mode or set a state or property, rather than initiating a process. For example, choosing an item from a menu that contains a list of tools or views implies changing to that state. If the menu item represents a property value, when the user chooses the menu item, the property setting changes.

Menu items for state settings can be independent or interdependent:


	Independent settings are the menu equivalent of check boxes. For example, if a menu contains text properties, such as Bold and Italic, they form a group of independent settings. The user can change each setting without affecting the others, even though they both apply to a single text selection. Include a check mark to the left of an independent setting when that state applies.

	Interdependent settings are the menu equivalent of option buttons. For example, if a menu contains alignment properties - such as Left, Center, and Right - they form a group of interdependent settings. Because a particular paragraph can have only one type of alignment, choosing one resets the property to be the chosen menu item setting. When the user chooses an interdependent setting, place an option button mark to the left of that menu item.

When using the menu to represent the two states of a setting, if those states are obvious opposites, such as the presence or absence of a property value, you can use a check mark to indicate when the setting applies. For example, when reflecting the state of a text selection with a menu item labeled Bold, show a check mark next to the menu item when the text selection is bold and no check mark when it is not. If a selection contains mixed values for the same stat reflected in the menu, you also display the menu without the check mark.

However, if the two states of the setting are not obvious opposites, use a pair of alternating menu item names to indicate the two states. For example, a naive user might guess that the opposite of a menu item called Full Duplex is Empty Duplex. Because of this ambiguity, pair the command with the alternative name Half Duplex, rather using a mark to indicate the alternative states, and consider the following guidelines for how to display those alternatives:


	If there is room in a menu, include both alternatives as individual menu items and interdependent choices. This avoids confusion because the user can view both options simultaneously. You can also use menu separators to group the choices.

	If there is not sufficient room in the menu for the alternative choices, you can use a single menu item and change its name to the alternative action when selected. In this case, the menu item's name does not reflect the current state; it indicates the state after choosing the item. Where possible, define names that use the same access key. For example, the letter D could be used for a menu item that toggles between Full Duplex and Half Duplex.

Note:
Avoid defining menu items that change depending on the state of a modifier key. Such techniques hide functionality from a majority of users.

A menu can also have a default item. A default menu item reflects a choice that is also supported through a shortcut technique, such as double-clicking or drag and drop. For example, if the default command for an icon is Open, define this as the default menu item. Similarly, if the default command for a drag and drop operation is Copy, display this command as the default menu item in the pop-up menu that results from a nondefault drag and drop operation (button 2). The system designates a default menu item by displaying its label as bold text.

Menu Item Labels:

Include descriptive text or a graphic label for each menu item. Even if you provide a graphic for the label, consider including text as well. The text allows you to provide more direct keyboard access to the user and provides support for a wider range of users. Use the following guidelines for defining text menu names for menu item labels:


	Define unique item names within a menu. However, item names can be repeated in different menus to represent similar or different actions.

	Use a single word or multiple words, but keep the wording brief and succinct. Verbose menu item names can make it harder for the user to scan the menu.

	Define unique access keys for each menu item within a menu. This provides the user direct keyboard access to the menu item. The guidelines for selecting an access key for menu items are the same as for menu titles, except that the access key for a menu item can also be a number included at the beginning of the menu item name. This is useful for menu items that vary, such as filenames. Where possible, also define consistent access keys for common commands.

	Follow book title capitalization rules for menu item names. For English language versions, capitalize the first letter of every word, except for articles, conjunctions, and prepositions that occur other than at the beginning or end of a multiple-word name. For example, the following menu names are correct: New Folder, Go To, Select All, and Table of Contents.

	Avoid formatting individual menu item names with different text properties. Even though these properties illustrate a particular text style, they also may make the menu cluttered, illegible, or confusing. For example, it may be difficult to indicate an access key if an entire menu entry is underlined.

Shortcut Keys in Menu Items:

If you define a keyboard shortcut associated with a command in a drop-down menu, display the shortcut in the menu. Display the shortcut key next to the item and align shortcuts with other shortcuts in the menu. Left align at the first tab position after the longest item in the menu that has a shortcut. Do not use spaces for alignment because they may not display properly in the proportional font used by the system to display menu text or when the font setting menu text changes.

You can match key names with those commonly inscribed on the keycap. Display CTRL and SHIFT key combinations as Ctrl+key (rather than Control+key or CONTROL+key or ^+key) and Shift+key. When using function keys for menu item shortcuts, display the name of the key as Fn, where n is the function key number.

Avoid including shortcut keys in pop-up menus. Pop-up menus are already a shortcut form of interaction and are typically accessed with the mouse. In addition, excluding shortcut keys makes pop-up menus easier for users to scan.

The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design (p.135)