Window Components

Window Operations

Secondary Windows

Controls

Menus

Toolbars & Status Bars

Property Sheets

Dialog Boxes

Message Boxes

Palette Windows

Popup Windows
Like menu bars, toolbars and status bar are special interface constructs for managing sets of controls. A toolbar is a panel that contains a set of controls, as shown in Figure 7.34, designed to provide quick access to specific commands or options. Specialized toolbars are sometimes called ribbons, tool boxes, and palettes.

A status bar, is a special area within a window, typically the bottom, that displays information about the current state of what is being viewed in the window or any other contextual information, such as keyboard state. You can also use the status bar to provide descriptive messages about a selected menu or toolbar button. Like a toolbar, a status bar can contain controls; however, typically include read-only or noninteractive information.



Interaction with Controls in Toolbars and Status Bars:


The user can access the controls included in a toolbar or status bar with the mouse or pen through the usual means of interaction for those controls. You can provide keyboard access using either shortcut keys or access keys. If a control in a toolbar or status bar does not have a text label, access keys may not be as effective. Furthermore, if a particular access key is already in use in the primary window, it may not be available for accessing the control in the toolbar. For example, if the menu bar of the primary window is already using a particular access key, then the menu bar receives the key event.

When the user interacts with controls in a toolbar or status bar that reflect properties, any change is directly applied to the current selection. For example, if a button in a toolbar changes the property of text to bold, choosing that button immediately changes the text to bold; no further confirmation or transaction action is required. The only exception is if the control, such as a button, requires additional input from the user; then the effect may not be realized until the user provides the information for those parameters. An example of such an exception would be the selection of an object or a set of input values through a dialog box.

Always provide a tooltip for controls you include in a toolbar or status bar that do not have a text label. The system provides support for tooltips in the standard toolbar control and a tooltip control for use in other contexts.

Support for User Options:


To provide maximum flexibility for users and their tasks, design your toolbars and status bars to be user configurable. Providing the user with the option to display or hide toolbars and status bars is one way to do this. You can also include options that allow the user to change or rearrange the elements included in toolbars and status bars.

Provide toolbar buttons in at least two sizes: 24 by 22 and 32 by 30 pixels. To fit a graphic label in these button sizes, design the images no larger than 16 by 16 and 24 by 24 pixels, respectively. In addition, support the user's the option to change between sizes by providing a property sheet for the toolbar (or status bar).

Consider also making the location of toolbars user adjustable. While toolbars are typically docked by default - aligned to the edge of a window or pane to which they apply - design your toolbars to be moveable so that the user can dock them along another edge or display them as a palette window.

Note:
 For more information about palette windows, "Secondary Windows."

To undock a toolbar from its present location, the user must be able to click anywhere in the "blank" area of the toolbar and drag it to its new location. If the new location is within the hot zone of an edge, your application should dock the toolbar at the new edge when the user releases the mouse button. If the new location is not within the hot zone of an edge, redisplay the toolbar in a palette window. To redock the window with an edge, the user drags the window by its title bar until the pointer enters the hot zone of an edge. Return the toolbar to a docked state when the user releases the mouse button.

As the user drags the toolbar, provide visual feedback, such as a dotted outline of the toolbar. When the user moves the pointer into a hot zone of a dockable location, display the outline in its docked configuration to provide a cue to the user about what will happen when the drag operation is complete. You can also support user options such as resizing the toolbar by dragging its border or docking multiple toolbars side by side, reconfiguring their arrangement and size as necessary.

When supporting toolbar and status bar configuration options, avoid including controls whose functionality is not available elsewhere in the interface. In addition, always preserve the current position and size, and other state information, of toolbar and status bar configuration so that they can be restored to their state when the user reopens the window.

Toolbar and Status Bar Controls:


The system includes toolbar and status bar controls that you can use to implement these interfaces in your applications. The toolbar control supports docking and windowing functionality. It also supports a dialog box for allowing the user to customize the toolbar. You define whether the customization features are available to the user and what features the user can customize. The system also supports creation of desktop toolbars.

The standard status bar control also includes the option of including a size grip control for sizing the window. When the status bar size grip is displayed, if the window displays a size grip at the junction of the horizontal and vertical scroll bars of a window, that grip should be hidden so that it does not appear in both locations at the same time. Similarly, if the user hides the status bar, restore the size grip at the corner of the scroll bars.



The Windows Interface Guidline for Software Design (p.175)