C H A P T E R 4
Menus
Using Special Characters and Text Styles in Menus
You can use several standard characters (described below) to indicate additional information in menus. Don’t use other, arbitrary symbols in menus because they add visual clutter and may confuse people.
Figure 4-12 Don’t use arbitrary symbols in menus
Using Symbols in Menus
In the Window menu, a checkmark should appear next to the active document’s name. Checkmarks can also be used in other menus to indicate that the setting applies to the entire selection. You can use checkmarks for mutually exclusive attribute groups (the user can select only one item in the group, such as font size) or accumulating attribute groups (more than one item can be selected at once, such as Bold and Italic).
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Apple Computer, Inc. June 2002
C H A P T E R 4
Menus
Use dashes to indicate that an attribute applies to only part of the selection. For example, if selected text has two styles applied to it, put a dash next to each style name. When it’s appropriate, you can combine checkmarks and dashes in the same menu.
Note: Include a menu command, such as Plain, for removing all formatting from mixed-state text.
Use a bullet next to a document with unsaved changes, and a diamond for a document the user has minimized into the Dock. A minimized document with unsaved changes should have a diamond only. If the active window has unsaved changes, the checkmark should override the bullet in the Window menu.
Figure 4-13 Symbols in menus
A bullet indicates
the document has unsaved changes.
A checkmark indicates the active window.
A diamond indicates the window has been minimized into the Dock.
Dashes are used to indicate that the selection represents a mixed state (both bold and italic are used).
For Cocoa applications, these symbols are managed by the Cocoa framework. In Carbon, if you use the standard Window menu, these symbols are managed automatically. Otherwise, use the SetItemMark function with a char parameter of kCheckCharCode for the active document, kBulletCharCode for a document with unsaved changes, and kDiamondCharCode for a minimized document.
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Apple Computer, Inc. June 2002
C H A P T E R 4
Menus
Using Text Styles and Fonts in Menus
In a Style or Font menu, you can display menu items in the actual style or font so users can see what effect the text attribute will have.
Don’t use text styles in menus other than a Style or Font menu.
Figure 4-14 A Font menu displayed with different fonts
Using Ellipses in Menus and Buttons
An ellipsis character (…) after a menu item or button label indicates to the user that additional information is required to complete a command. You should use an ellipsis in the following cases:
■An action that requires further user input to complete or presents an alert allowing the user to cancel the action. Examples include Find, Go To, Open, Page Setup, and Print.
■An action that opens a settings window. The main function of settings windows is to allow the user to change some aspect of the application, not the document content. Examples include Set Title, Preferences, and Options.
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Apple Computer, Inc. June 2002
C H A P T E R 4
Menus
Don’t use an ellipsis in the following cases:
■An action that requires no further user input to complete and does not present an alert. Often the item to be acted upon is already selected. Examples include New, Cut, Bold, and Quit.
■An action that opens an informational, accessory, or tool window. These windows can be implemented as either utility windows (as in the case of a color palette) or modeless windows. These windows provide tools that help create or manage the content in the main window and are frequently left open to assist in accomplishing the task of the main window. Examples include Get Info and Show Tools.
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Apple Computer, Inc. June 2002