DECwindows Companion to the OSF/Motif Style Guide

Document revision date: 10 November 2000

DECwindows Companion to the OSF/Motif Style Guide

Contents (summary)
Preface	Preface
Chapter 1	Designing Dialog Boxes
Chapter 2	Designing Menus and Menu Items
Chapter 3	Customizing the Interface
Chapter 4	Using Color
Chapter 5	Designing Help
Chapter 6	Using Digital-Specific Widgets
Chapter 7	Working with LinkWorks
Appendix A	Keyboard and Mouse Bindings for DECwindows Motif
Appendix B	Common Motif Terms Translated into European Languages
Appendix C	Sources of Further Information
	Index
	Figures
	Tables

Contents

Preface

Preface Preface

Chapter 1

1 Designing Dialog Boxes

     1.1     Determining the Type and Placement of a Dialog Box

         1.1.1         Types of Dialog Boxes

         1.1.2         Placing Dialog Boxes

             1.1.2.1             Placing a Single Dialog Box

             1.1.2.2             Nesting Multiple Dialog Boxes

     1.2     Using Window Decorations

         1.2.1         Titles in Dialog Boxes

         1.2.2         Resizing Dialog Boxes

     1.3     Creating Push Buttons

         1.3.1         Default Push Button

         1.3.2         Cancel Button

         1.3.3         Labels in Push Buttons

         1.3.4         Push-Button Arrangement

             1.3.4.1             Horizontal Push-Button Arrangement

             1.3.4.2             Vertical Push-Button Arrangement

         1.3.5         Push-Button Dimensions

         1.3.6         Help Push Button

     1.4     Using Standard Message Dialog Boxes

         1.4.1         Question Dialog Box

         1.4.2         Error Dialog Box

         1.4.3         Information Dialog Box

         1.4.4         Warning Dialog Box

         1.4.5         Working Dialog Boxes

     1.5     Creating a Logical and Appealing Layout of Controls

         1.5.1         Group Related Choices Graphically

         1.5.2         When to Avoid Using Punctuation in Dialog Boxes

         1.5.3         Keep Dialog Boxes Simple

         1.5.4         Use Uniform Spacing Within the Dialog Box

         1.5.5         Align Labels and Text Fields

         1.5.6         Promote Scanning from Left to Right, Top to Bottom

             1.5.6.1             Use the Top Left Corner

             1.5.6.2             Present Related Controls in a Clearly Visible Series

             1.5.6.3             Clarify Structure

             1.5.6.4             Provide Appropriate Defaults

             1.5.6.5             Use Option Buttons to Conserve Space

             1.5.6.6             Initializing Values in Dialog Boxes

             1.5.6.7             Provide a Variety of Selection Controls

         1.5.7         Creating Tab Groups

             1.5.7.1             Navigating Between Tab Groups

             1.5.7.2             Navigating Within Tab Groups

     1.6     Presenting Text in Dialog Boxes and Other Screen Objects

     1.7     Creating Title Bars

     1.8     Using the Working Dialog Box and the Wait Cursor

Chapter 2

2 Designing Menus and Menu Items

     2.1     Naming Menus and Menu Items

     2.2     Organizing Menus and Menu Items

     2.3     Using Ellipses in Menu Items

     2.4     Disabling Menu Items

     2.5     Designing Pop-up Menus

         2.5.1         Characteristics to Give to Pop-up Menus

         2.5.2         Determining the Actions of Pop-up Menus

         2.5.3         Choosing Between a Pop-up Menu or a Control Panel

         2.5.4         Designing Pop-up Menus with Submenus

     2.6     Designing Tear-off Menus

     2.7     Items in the File Menu

     2.8     Items in the Selected Menu

     2.9     Items in the Edit Menu

     2.10     Items in the View Menu

     2.11     Items in the Options Menu

     2.12     Items in the Help Menu

     2.13     Items in the Windows Menu

Chapter 3

3 Customizing the Interface

     3.1     General Guidelines for Providing Customization Features

     3.2     Designing Options Menu Items and Dialog Boxes

         3.2.1         Adding Command Menu Items

         3.2.2         Adding Dialog Boxes

     3.3     Guidelines for Customizing Windows, Color, and Text

         3.3.1         Window Positions and Sizes

         3.3.2         Colors

         3.3.3         Size and Rendition of Text

Chapter 4

4 Using Color

     4.1     Why Use Color?

     4.2     General Guidelines and Specific Recommendations

         4.2.1         Before You Select Colors

         4.2.2         After You Select the Colors

     4.3     Using Digital's Color Mixing Widget

Chapter 5

5 Designing Help

     5.1     Methods of Accessing Help

         5.1.1         Help Pull-Down Menu

         5.1.2         Help Command

         5.1.3         Help Push Button

         5.1.4         Help Key

     5.2     Guidelines for Designing and Writing Online Help

         5.2.1         Planning Help Topics

             5.2.1.1             Organizing Help Topics

             5.2.1.2             Writing Help Topics

         5.2.2         Remember Translation

     5.3     Digital Tools for Creating Online Help

         5.3.1         Using Digital's Help Widget

             5.3.1.1             Title Bar

             5.3.1.2             Menu Bar

             5.3.1.3             Help Topic

             5.3.1.4             Additional Topics

             5.3.1.5             Push Buttons

         5.3.2         Using the DECwindows Motif Help System

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