Window Components
    Window Frames
    Title Bars
    Title Bar Icons
    Title Text
    Title Bar Buttons

Window Operations

Secondary Windows

Controls

Menus

Toolbars & Statusbars

Property Sheets

Dialog Boxes

Message Boxes

Pallette Windows

Popup Windows

Title Text

The window title text identifies the name of the object being viewed in the window.


Corresponds to the icon of the type displayed in the title bar and should match the label of the icon in the file system that represents the object.

If you include the name of the application in the title bar, display the name of the data file first, followed by a dash and then the application name.

If the application is a tool (doesn't create or edit it's own files):

Display the application's name in the title bar, as displayed for the icon label.


If the application is a Utility for other files created by other applications:

Where the view displayed is not the primary open view of the file and where the "tool" application requires an additional specification to indicate its context, place the name of the application first, then include a dash and the specification text.


Rules for Multiple Window Applications:

Use the application's name in the parent window and the data file's name in the child windows.

If the user maximizes the file's child window, format the title text following the same convention as a tool application, with the application's name first, followed by the data filename.

If the appliacation supports multiple windows for viewing the same file, the title text can be used to distinguish between views.

(A convention that will not be confused as part of the file name should be used. Appending :n, where n represents the instance of the window as in Document:2. )

Do not include this view designation as part of the filename that is the default in the Save As dialog box.

If the name of the displayed object in the window changes update the title text to reflect that change.

The title text and title bar icon should always represent the outmost container (the object that was opened) even if the user selects an embeded object or navigates the internal hierarchy of the object being viewed in the window.

If you need additional specification to clarify what the user is viewing, place this specification after the filename and separate it clearly from the filename, such as enclosing it in parentheses.

When the width of the window does not allow you to display the complete title text, abbreviate the title text, maintaining the essential information that allows the window to be identified.

Avoid drawing directly into the title bar or adding other controls. The system uses this area for displaying special controls. In some international versions of Windows the title area provides information or controls associated with the input of certain languages.


The Windows Interface Guidline for Software Design (p.98)