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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide

Appendix D. Glossary

About <appname>
An action choice that displays a secondary window that contains information about an application, such as its copyright notice, logo, and version number.

acceleration
The ratio of the rate of movement of the pointer to the rate of mouse movement when in motion.

accelerator
A key or sequence of keys (typically a modifier key and some other key) that provides a shortcut, immediately accessing a program function. See also shortcut key.

action
  1. In awk, lex, and yacc, a C language program fragment that defines what the program does when it recognizes input.
  2. A procedure associated with a widget and invoked by the Xt event dispatcher when the widget receives an event of a given type. The widget's translation table associates event descriptions with actions.
  3. A desktop construct that provides a method for running applications, executing commands, and performing other activities such as printing, removing files, and changing directories.

action choice
A type of choice used to invoke an action where further specification of parameters for invocation of the action are not required. There are two types of action choices: command choices and dialog choices.

action message
A message that indicates that a condition requiring a response from the user has occurred.

activatable element
An element that invokes or initiates an action when the SELECT button is used. Activatable elements represent action choices, dialog choices, and cascading choices.

activate
To initiate the activity associated with a choice.

activation
  1. Invocation of a component's primary action. For example, the user activates a push button by using the SELECT button while positioned on the activatable push button.
  2. The process of initiating the activity associated with a choice.

activation preview
A special user assist action that applications can use. In an application that supports activation preview, when a user presses and holds the SELECT button over a push button or toggle button, information is presented that describes the effect of activating the control. Also referred to as previewing.

active cursor
The cursor displayed in or on the control that has focus, sometimes referred to as a highlight cursor or selection cursor.

active text region
A region of text that acts like an activatable element.

active window
  1. The window that is currently selected to receive the input focus. Only one window can be active at a time.
  2. A window that receives keyboard input.
  3. A window that is differentiated from other windows in the workspace by a distinctive title-bar color or shade.
  4. See also focus.

add mode
A keyboard-based selection mode in which navigation in a scope of selection does not affect the current selection and in which selection techniques toggle the selection state of identified elements.

ADJUST button
The assigned button on a pointing device that the user presses to adjust the current selection region in a selection scope. It is always bound to MB1 augmented by the Shift modifier, but may also be bound to MB2.

adjust click technique
An adjustment technique that allows the user to enlarge or reduce a selected range or area, depending on the location of the point relative to the selection.

adjust swipe technique
An adjustment technique that allows the user to enlarge or reduce a selected range or area by moving the mouse or cursor.

adjusted toggling
Use of an adjustment technique following a selection technique that toggles the selection state of the identified elements.

adjustment policy
A selection policy that determines how the current selection region is to be adjusted by an adjustment technique. The three possibilities are a reselect policy, an enlarge-only policy, or a balance-beam policy.

adjustment technique
A selection technique used to adjust the current selection region.

anchor
A position in a collection of selectable objects that marks one end point of an extended selection range.

anchor element
An element identified by a selection technique for later use with an adjustment technique.

anchor inclusion policy
A selection policy that determines whether to enlarge an adjusted selection region to include an anchor element or region.

anchor point
A point identified by a selection technique for later use with an adjustment technique.

anchor toggle
A discontiguous, mouse-based selection toggling technique in which the selection state of the elements in a range is toggled to the inverse of the initial state of the anchor element. See also full toggle.

anomaly
A kind of contrast: the irregular introduced into a regular pattern. A deviation from a normal expected task.

anti-alias
A technique employed to smooth the stair-stepped appearance of pixel graphics that include curved or diagonal lines.

application
  1. The use to which program code is put, such as payroll or inventory.
  2. A computer program that provides tools to do work.

The terms application and product are sometimes used interchangeably. See also program.

application developer
A person who develops code for a set of programs that are collectively used as an application.

application group
A container in the Application Manager where related accessible applications in the desktop are placed.

Application Manager
The software application that manages the tools and other software applications available to the user.

application modal
A state of a window that limits user interactions within windows owned by the same application. See also system modal.

applications menu
A list of options within an application.

Apply
An action choice that appears in a window and makes the changes indicated in the window without closing it. This choice often appears on a push button.

area click technique
An area technique in which two separate mouse or keyboard operations are used to indicate the corners of the area.

area inclusion policy
A selection policy that determines whether or not elements only partially within an area are included in the current selection region.

area swipe technique
An area technique in which the corners of the rectangular area are indicated by moving the mouse or cursor from one corner of the rectangle to the other.

area technique
A group selection technique in which the user selects elements within a rectangular area by indicating the opposite corners of the rectangle.

armed emphasis
See ready emphasis.

arrow button
  1. An activatable element that contains an arrow graphic.
  2. An element of a scroll bar used to scroll a window by small increments.
  3. A control on the CDE Front Panel that is used to slide up or down a subpanel.

arrow keys
The four directional keys on a keyboard. See also navigation keys.

attachment
  1. An encapsulated data object inside a document.
  2. Mailer: A data object within an electronic mail message that is displayed as an icon in the Attachments list. An attachment can be an image, data, or executable file. Multiple messages can be added (attached) to a single email message. An attached message is displayed or activated by selecting it.

attachment list
The area where you can display attachments. An attachment list should be scrollable and include room for displaying icon labels.

audible cue
An audible warning signal. See also audible signal

audible signal
A sound generated by the operating environment for use as an audible warning signal. An audible signal is generally used in a quiet environment where it can be effective. See also audible cue.

augmented toggling
In select mode, the use of augmenting mouse-based selection techniques with the Ctrl or Alt modifier to toggle the identified elements.

automatic stacking order
A model in which a window or element is raised to the top of the stacking order of windows when it gains focus. See also manual stacking order.

autoscroll
Scrolling that automatically occurs during a related user interaction, such as selection or drag-and-drop transfer.

available
  1. Used to describe a choice that can be activated or toggled by a user.
  2. Used to describe a control that can be manipulated by the user.

backdrop
The pattern that covers the workspace background.

background
A location within a selection scope not covered by any element that can be selected.

balance-beam policy
An adjustment policy in which the current selection region is adjusted relative to the endpoint furthest from the point at which an adjustment is initiated.

bidirectional language support
Supporting languages that read both left to right (such as English) and right to left (such as Arabic, Hebrew, or Urdu).

binding
A mapping of functions to variables, buttons, or controls. On a 3-button mouse, the virtual buttons SELECT, TRANSFER, and MENU are considered to be bound to MB1, MB2, and MB3, respectively.

browse selection model
A selection model in which only a single element can be selected, using the browse technique.

browse technique
An individual selection technique in which moving the mouse or cursor to an element selects it.

button
A generic term for a window control. See also push button.

Cancel
An action choice that removes a secondary window without applying any changes made in that window.

cancel action
An action that terminates the current task or user interaction or exits from a special mode and restores the application state, if possible, to that preceding the start of the task, user interaction, or interface mode.

cannot pointer
A predefined pointer. It indicates that the operation the user is trying is not currently possible. For example, a cannot pointer is used when the user tries to drag an object that cannot be deleted to a trash can.

cascaded control
A control that is temporarily displayed via a cascading choice.

cascaded list
A list that is a spring-loaded, cascaded control.

cascaded menu
A menu that is a spring-loaded, cascaded control.

cascading button
A control that causes a menu to drop down from a menu choice.

cascading choice
A type of choice that, when activated, displays a cascaded control.

Change View
A cascading choice that displays a menu from which the user can choose the view to be presented within the window.

check box
A control used to set values that are not mutually exclusive, such as on, off, or indeterminate.

check mark
A graphic that indicates that a value choice, such as a check box, is set.

choice
  1. An option in a pop-up menu or a menu used to influence the operation of the system.
  2. An alternative displayed as a label (text or graphics) on the screen that a user can choose. Choices are available via controls through which a user chooses values or invokes actions, represented on push buttons, in menu items, with check boxes, and so on. There are four types of choices:
    1. action choices
    2. dialog choices
    3. cascading choices
    4. value choices

chord
  1. To press more than one button on an input device while the motion of the pointer is within the limits specified by the operating environment.
  2. In graphics, a short line segment whose end points lie on a circle. Chords are a means for producing a circular image from straight lines. The higher the number of chords per circle, the smoother the circular image.

Clear
An action choice that removes selected elements without compressing the visible space they occupied.

Clear to Trash
An action choice that removes selected elements (generally objects) without compressing the visible space they occupied and puts them into the trash.

click
  1. A mouse technique that involves pressing and releasing a mouse button without moving the pointer. (Pressing and releasing most mouse buttons makes a clicking sound.)
  2. To press and release a button on a pointing device without significantly moving the pointer and within a time specified by the operating environment.

client area
  1. The area within the borders of a primary window's frame that an application controls.
  2. The area of a window inside the window frame. The client area can contain one or more viewing areas, a menu bar, one or more palettes, a command area, a status area, and an information area.

clipboard
  1. Any device used to store text or graphics during cut-and-paste operations.
  2. An area of storage provided by the operating system to hold data temporarily.

clipboard transfer
A transfer technique in which the user is able to transfer data to and from an intermediate storage area called a clipboard.

Close
An action choice that removes a window and all of the windows associated with it from a screen.

collection
A group of objects (for example, a list), the contents of a File Manager view area, and so on.

column heading
  1. Text appearing near the top of a column of data for the purpose of identifying or titling the data in the column.
  2. A label placed above a table column that identifies the contents of the column.

combination box
A combination text-list control in which both the text field and the list box are visible at all times.

combination text-list control
A control that combines the functions of a text-entry field and a list box.

command area
An area in a window that provides a place for the user to enter commands.

command box
A combination text-list control that allows the user to review previous commands in the list box and to reissue a previous command or to issue a new command entered into the text-entry field.

command choice
An action choice used to immediately invoke an action.

command dialog
A dialog that contains a command box, possibly with other controls added to it.

container
A control whose specific purpose is to display objects as icons and to allow them to be selected and operated upon.

context-sensitive help
Help information about the specific choice or object that the cursor or pointer is on. The help is context sensitive because it provides information about the element in its current context.

contiguity policy
A selection policy (used primarily in text) that specifies whether a selection scope allows discontiguous selections.

Continue
An action choice that resumes a task that has been interrupted by the operating environment when the user can proceed as originally requested.

control
A visually recognizable element or group of elements that the user interacts with in a well-defined way. Avoid using this term in documentation; instead, describe the specific type of control.

control bar
A name for the palette at the top of the window and below the menu bar.

control navigation
Navigation among controls within a tab group.

Copy
  1. An action choice that copies selected elements to the clipboard.
  2. An action choice used in the context of a specific transfer mechanism to indicate that the transfer should result in a copy.

Copy Link
An action choice that places a link to selected elements on the clipboard.

Copy Special
A dialog choice that displays a dialog through which a user can choose the formats in which to copy selected elements to the clipboard.

Copy To
A dialog choice that displays a file selection dialog in which the user can specify where copies of files or objects should be placed.

count policy
A selection policy that specifies whether more than one element at a time can be selected.

cue
Information provided to inform users and orient them as they interact with the interface. A cue can be transient (in which case it is termed a warning signal) or persistent. Persistent cues can be used to direct the user's attention to a part of the screen or user interface, to indicate a particular state of an object, or to alert the user about potentially serious situations. See also audible cue, graphical cue, persistent cue, visual cue.

current selection
The elements selected within a specified selection scope.

current selection region
The elements in a selection scope identified by the most recently used selection technique in that scope.

cursor
  1. A movable symbol (such as an underline) on a display that indicates to the user where the next typed character will be placed or where the next action will be directed.
  2. A marker that indicates the current data access location within a file.
  3. A graphical image, usually a pipe (|) or block, that shows the location where text will appear on the screen when keyboard keys are pressed or where a selection can be made.
  4. A visual cue that indicates where the user's interaction with the keyboard will be performed.

cursored element
The element that the cursor is on. See also element cursor.

Cut
An action choice that removes selected elements and places them onto the clipboard. The space they occupied is usually filled by the remaining elements in the scope of selection.

data element
An element whose appearance represents its contents, for example, a character or a number.

data transfer
The interaction of the user with elements, such as objects, data, and menu items, to perform tasks.

deactivate
Applied to spring-loaded controls, removes all spring-loaded controls in the system.

default action
The action associated with a window that the user would most likely want to invoke in a given situation when focus is in that window. The default action may change as the focus and state of the window changes. The default action is generally activated when a user double-clicks the SELECT button, presses Enter (except when either operation is used for other purposes), or presses Ctrl Enter or keypadEnter.

default choice
When navigating to a menu, this is the choice on that menu that gets focus.

default emphasis
The emphasis on a choice used to indicate that it would be activated if the user requested the default action.

Delete
An action choice that removes selected elements. The space they occupied is usually filled by the remaining elements in the scope of selection.

Delete to Trash
An action choice that removes selected elements (generally objects) and puts them into the trash. The space they occupied is usually filled by the remaining elements in the scope of selection.

Deselect All
An action choice that removes selected elements (generally objects) and puts them into the trash. The space they occupied is usually filled by the remaining elements in the scope of selection.

deselection
The process of removing selection emphasis from a previously selected element.

deselection policy
A selection policy that determines whether the user is allowed to deselect all elements or not.

desktop
See workspace.

desktop environment
  1. A set of conditions and tools that a user can depend on when interacting with a system.
  2. A graphical user interface for all flavors of UNIX. The Common Desktop Environment (CDE) is being adopted as a standard operating environment by many companies in the UNIX workstation market.

details view
A kind of view of a container in which details associated with each object displayed are presented in columns.

device
  1. A mechanical, electrical, or electronic machine that is designed for a specific purpose and that attaches to your computer, such as a printer, plotter, or disk drive.
  2. A physical or logical device, such as a printer, scanner, mouse, or joystick, that is accessible from the operating environment.

dialog
  1. A widget that provides a means of communicating between the user and the application. A dialog is a pop-up control that usually asks a question or presents some information to the user. A dialog can be modal (suspending the application until the user provides a response) or modeless (allowing the user to interact with the application during the dialog).
  2. In an interactive system, a series of related inquiries and responses similar to a conversation between two people.
  3. A specialized interaction with the user that occurs in a secondary window.

dialog box
A window that an application displays and that requires user input. See also dialog window, and secondary window.

dialog_choice
A type of choice used to display a dialog to gather parameters for invocation of an action.

dialog window
A secondary window used for specialized interaction with the user.

dimmed
Reduced contrast to show unavailable emphasis.

dimmed emphasis
See unavailable emphasis.

direct editing
A mode of interaction in which the contents of a normally noneditable textual label is made available for editing.

direct manipulation
A transfer technique that allows the user to perform actions on elements by interacting directly with the elements. An example is dragging an element with a mouse and dropping it onto another element. See also indirect manipulation.

directional keys
See arrow keys and navigation keys.

directory
In a graphical desktop environment, a directory may also be referred to as a folder.
  1. A logical unit for storing entries under one name (the directory name) in a given namespace. In addition to object entries, a directory can contain soft links and child pointers. You can copy, delete, and control access to a directory. Each physical instance of a directory is called a replica.
  2. A collection of open systems that cooperate to hold a logical database of information about a set of objects in the real world.
  3. A type of file that contains the names and controlling information for other files or other directories.
  4. A table of identifiers and references to the corresponding items of data.
  5. An index that a control program uses to locate blocks of data that are stored in separate areas of a data set in direct access storage.
  6. Information containers, like files. However, instead of text or other data, directories contain files and other directories. In addition, directories are hierarchically organized; that is, a directory may have a parent directory "above" it and may also have subdirectories "below" it. Similarly, each subdirectory can contain other files and also can have more subdirectories. Because they are hierarchically organized, directories provide a logical way to organize files.

directory mask
A screening of directory names by using matching strings or wildcards.

discontiguous selection
A selection technique that enables the user to select multiple elements that are not necessarily adjacent in a collection.

display control button
A button, which cannot take focus, that indicates whether the object's subobjects are displayed or not.

double-click
  1. A mouse technique that involves pressing and releasing a mouse button twice in rapid succession.
  2. To press and release a button on a pointing device twice without significantly moving the pointer and within a time specified by the operating environment.
  3. An alternative method for selecting a menu item. Use of the SELECT button is assumed.

double-press
See double-click.

Drag
An action choice that initiates drag and drop of the file or object being viewed or of specified elements within the window.

drag
  1. To press and hold down a mouse button while moving the mouse and thus the pointer on the screen. Dragging is typically used when selecting menus, moving and resizing windows, and transferring data.
  2. A user interaction in which elements or their representations change their position or appearance in conjunction with movement of the pointer.

drag and drop
  1. A transfer mechanism whereby data is dragged from a source to a drop site by using mouse motion.
  2. A user interaction in which a user drags source elements to a target element on which they are dropped.

drag auto scroll
Scrolling that occurs during a drag.

drag icon
An icon selected to start a drag. A drag icon is composed of three parts: the state indicator, the operation indicator, and the source indicator. See also drag pointer.

drag pointer
A pointer displayed during dragging. It is made up of a source indicator, a state indicator, and an operation indicator.

drop
A user action that terminates a drag, identifying the destination of the drag-and-drop interaction as the element under the pointer.

drop site
See drop zone.

drop target
A rectangular graphic that represents the drop zone in a given application.

drop zone
An area of the workspace (including the Trash Can, Printer, and Mailer controls) that accepts a dropped icon. Icons can be dropped on the workspace for quick access.

drop-down combination box
A combination text-list control in which the text-entry field is always visible, but the list box is hidden until the user performs an action to display it.

drop-down list
A combination text-list control that contains a text-display field that is always visible and in which the list box is hidden until the user performs an action to display it.

drop-down list box
A variation of a list box. Only one item in the list is displayed until the user takes an action to display the rest of the list.

Duplicate
An action choice that duplicates selected objects and displays the duplicates in the same selection scope.

Edit
A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. It provides access to other menu items that allow a user to modify the contents of a selection scope.

element
  1. A distinguishable part of a user interface. For example, an element can be an object, choice, control, or part of a control.
  2. The smallest unit of data in a table or array.
  3. In a set, an object, entity, or concept having the properties that define a set. Synonymous with member.
  4. The component of an array, subrange, enumeration, or set.
  5. Any of the bits of a bit string, the octets of an octet string, or the octets by means of which the characters of a character string are represented.

element cursor
A visual cue that highlights an entire element (or its border) to indicate that the user's keyboard operations will interact with that element.

emphasis
Highlighting, color change, or other visual indication of the condition of an element or choice, and the effect of that condition on the user's ability to interact with it. Emphasis can also give the user additional information about the state of an element or choice. In documentation, refer to the specific type of emphasis, such as "selected emphasis."

end-point inclusion policy
A selection policy that specifies whether an area will be enlarged to include the elements at the corners of an identified area.

enlarge-only policy
An adjustment policy in which the current selection region is enlarged, but never shrunk, to include the final point identified by an adjustment technique.

error message
  1. An indication that an error has been detected.
  2. A type of action message that requires the user's immediate attention. Error messages are used to convey a message about a user error.

etch
A CDE icon design style that uses shadow effects to create the illusion that the icon is embossed into its background. It is typically used on the Front Panel.

exception
  1. An event or situation that prevents, or could prevent, an action requested by a user from being completed in a manner that the user would expect. Exceptions frequently occur when an application is unable to interpret a user's input.
  2. In programming languages, an abnormal situation that may arise during execution, perhaps causing a deviation from the normal execution sequence, and for which handling facilities exist.
  3. An abnormal condition, such as an I/O error, encountered in processing a data set or a file.
  4. One of five types of errors that can occur during a floating-point exception. The errors are invalid operation, overflow, underflow, division by zero, and inexact results.
  5. An event that is unexpectedly caused by a process while an instruction is executing.

Exit
An action choice that ends the current application and all windows associated with it. This action is equivalent to closing all primary windows of the application and ending the application.

expand button
The control in an expandable window that is used to display and remove a secondary pane. The control can have a set of labels that toggle, such as More/Less or Expand/Contract.

expandable window
A window that allows the user to selectively display advanced or application-specific functionality in a separate portion of the window that is normally not visible when the window is initially displayed.

expert action
An action invoked by double-clicking a tool to perform a function that is a special case of the actions that might be performed with the tool. For example, if the user double-clicks on an eraser tool, the whole viewing area may be erased. Expert actions provide shortcuts for functions available by other methods.

explicit focus
  1. A keyboard focus model that sends keyboard events to the window or component that was specified explicitly with a mouse button press or a keyboard event.
  2. A focus policy in which the user must explicitly indicate which window or control receives input focus. Also referred to as "click-to-type" focus. See also implicit focus.

extended selection model
A selection model in which any number of elements can be selected, and in which select mode and normal mode are the default modes.

extension model
A Motif 1.2 term for a method for extending the scope of a multiple selection. See also adjustment technique.

feedback
A visible or audible indication that a user action has been accepted by the computer.

File
A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. It provides access to other menu items that allow a user to invoke actions that affect storage, data transfer, and display of the object, file, or data as a whole being viewed in the window.

File Manager
The software application used to manage the files and folders on a system.

file selection dialog
A dialog that allows the user to specify a file name.

Find
  1. A dialog choice that initiates a search for objects or data associated with the contents of the current window.
  2. A choice within the Find dialog.

find dialog
A dialog that allows the user to specify the criteria to be used for a search.

first-letter cursor navigation
An internal navigation technique in which typing a character navigates and selects the next element in a control whose textual label begins with that character.

focus
  1. A state of the system that indicates which component receives keyboard events. A component is said to have the focus if keyboard events are sent to that component.
  2. The place to which keyboard input is directed.
  3. See also keyboard focus.

focus emphasis
A type of emphasis that indicates the current location for keyboard input.

focus policy
  1. The model by which keyboard focus is moved among components.
  2. A means of determining which element or window receives input focus.
  3. See also explicit focus, implicit focus.

focus-only navigation
Navigation in which the user can move focus to a control without interacting with that control, for example, without activating the push button.

folder
An icon used in a graphical desktop environment to represent a directory.

framing rectangle
A highlighted rectangle used to indicate the current scope of a range selection. (The Motif 1.2 term is marquee.)

Front Panel
A centrally located window that contains controls for accessing applications and utilities, including the workspace switch. The Front Panel is present on all workspaces.

full toggle
A discontiguous, mouse-based selection toggling technique in which the selection state of each element in the range is toggled. See also anchor toggle.

gain
The ratio of distance the pointer moves to the distance the mouse moves.

gauge
A control that displays a value that the user generally cannot change directly. For example, a gauge can be used to display the percent complete in an in-progress message.

grab handle
A small square displayed at each of the corners and midpoints of a selected graphic element.

graphic
A pictorial presentation or image.

graphic element
An element that is displayed as an image. Graphic elements contain a unique format (such as GIF or JPEG) that is recognizable by an application that can display or edit it.

graphical cue
A persistent cue that consists of an augmentation of the graphical image of an existing element or elements of the interface. There are three kinds of graphical cues; emphasis cues, cursors, and pointers. See also cue.

graphics cursor
A cursor that identifies an x,y location within a selection scope.

graphics normal mode
The normal mode used in conjunction with selection scopes that use a graphics cursor and in which navigation does not affect the current selection.

group box
A rectangular box drawn around a group of controls to indicate that the controls are related and to provide a heading for the group.

group heading
A textual label that identifies a group of related fields.

group selection technique
A selection technique that identifies a group of elements in a selection scope whose selection state is to be affected.

handle
  1. Provided when size, position, or shape can be manipulated. See also grab handle.
  2. An opaque reference to information, such as a pointer to a data block.

Help
  1. An action choice used on push buttons in secondary windows to provide help specific to that window.
  2. A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. It provides access to other menu items that contain information related to the use of the application.
  3. In a graphical desktop environment, usually a button or menu item that is available to the user to access help information.
  4. On a keyboard, the F1 key, which is a common access method to help information.

help
Information provided to the user about the application and how to recover from exceptions.

help window
A secondary window that displays help information.

hidden
A state in which a control is not displayed on the screen until explicitly requested by the user.

hierarchical linear view
A type of linear view of a container in which the contents are displayed in a column, with hierarchical relations between elements identified by indenting.

highlight
To make a graphical element stand out by selecting or choosing it. This action relies on some visual indicator to distinguish that something is selected. See also emphasis.

highlight cursor
See active cursor.

horizontal navigation
Keyboard navigation that moves the cursor in a horizontal direction.

hot spot
  1. The actual position on the pointer where input device actions occur.
  2. In Motif, the actual position on the pointer that identifies the element to which input associated with the pointer is directed.

icon
  1. A picture or graphical representation of an object on a display screen to which a user can point with a device (such as a mouse) to select a particular operation or to perform a certain action.
  2. A pictorial representation of an object or a selection choice. Icons can represent objects that the user wants to work on or actions that the user wants to perform. A unique icon also represents the application when it is minimized.
  3. A small graphical image used to represent a window. Windows can be turned into icons or minimized to save room or to neaten the workspace.
  4. An element that represents an object or a window as a graphic, often with an associated text label.

icon color palette
A collection of colors available for use in designing icons. The CDE Icon Editor, for example, has a palette of 22 default colors.

implicit focus
  1. A keyboard focus model that sends keyboard events to the window or component that the mouse pointer is on.
  2. A focus policy based on pointer movement in which keyboard events are automatically sent to the window and control where the pointer is located. Also referred to as pointer-driven focus.
  3. See also explicit focus, pointer focus.

inactive window
A window that is not receiving keyboard input.

Include
A dialog choice used to determine which elements are displayed within a window.

include dialog
A pop-up control that displays or identifies elements or subsets of elements to be displayed, added, or removed from a view.

Index
An action choice that presents an alphabetic listing of help topics for an application.

indirect manipulation
A transfer technique that allows the user to interact with an element through controls and menus.

individual selection technique
A selection technique that identifies an individual element whose selection state is to be affected.

information area
A specific part of a window in which information about the current application task context is displayed. The information area can also contain other task-related messages.

information message
A message that indicates to a user that a condition or an event has occurred, such as Document has been deleted.

information snippet
A short informational message, of two lines or less, displayed in the information area of a window. The message describes some immediate aspect of the current interaction, is displayed briefly, and is usually overwritten as the interaction continues.

in-progress message
A message that informs the user about the status of a task, such as copying a set of files.

input device
A mechanism that allows the user to interact with the operating system. Some examples of input devices include the keyboard, mouse, track ball, and joystick.

input focus
See focus, keyboard focus.

insensitive
An unavailable control or choice that cannot receive input or be navigated to.

Insert
  1. A dialog choice that leads to a file selection dialog in which the user can select a file or object to be inserted into a specified location or into an object or objects displayed within the window.
  2. A cascading choice that may appear as a menu-bar item. It provides access to other choices that enable a user to insert elements into a specified location or into an object or objects displayed within the window.

insertion cursor
See cursor.

insertion point
The position within an editable selection scope at which inserted or pasted data is placed.

instant help
Information displayed for the element under the pointer.

interacted emphasis
Emphasis used to identify the last control that contains an editable selection scope on the user's display with which the user interacted. In explicit mode, it is the last such control that had focus; in implicit mode, it is the last such control to which a key or mouse-button press or release was directed.

interface designer
A person who designs the interface of an application.

interface image
The visual composition of all the elements on the screen.

internal navigation
  1. Moving the keyboard focus within a single control.
  2. Use of the keyboard to move the active cursor from one element or point to another within a control.

in-use emphasis
A visual cue that indicates that an object is in use, for example, if a view of the object is being displayed in a window.

Keyboard
An action choice that presents information about the application's use of keys, including function keys, shortcut keys, and mnemonics.

keyboard
A device that consists of systematically arranged keys that allow the user to type information, move the cursor, or activate functions assigned to the keys.

keyboard focus
A state in which a window or an element within a window receives keyboard input. See also cursor and insertion point.

keyboard navigation
Use of the keyboard to move the active cursor.

keyboard selection mode
A model or technique for navigation and selection that are employed when the keyboard is the input device. The two keyboard selection modes are add mode and normal mode. Each of the various selection techniques may support only one or both of these modes.

keyboard-based selection techniques
Individual and group selection techniques for keyboard users.

label
  1. A noneditable text string that is used to describe or name a control. It displays only text information and can appear next to an icon to identify the name of the action or application that the icon represents.
  2. A descriptive piece of text used before a text or data entry field to indicate the type of information needed by that field. Some examples are: static text field, read-only message, and read-only text field.

lazy drag
A transfer operation that allows the user to transfer data from a source to a destination without dragging it and without using a storage mechanism (such as a clipboard).

linear view
A view in which the icons are laid linearly from top to bottom, one row per icon.

Link
An action choice used in the context of a specific transfer mechanism to indicate that the transfer should result in a link.

link
  1. In the file system, a connection between an inode and one or more file names associated with it.
  2. In data communications, a transmission medium and data link control component that together transmit data between adjacent nodes.
  3. In programming, the part of a program that passes control and parameters between separate portions of the computer program.
  4. To interconnect items of data or portions of one or more computer programs, such as using a linkage editor to link object programs or using pointers to link data items.
  5. A representation of a relation between elements or groups of elements.

Link To
A dialog choice that leads to a window in which the user can specify where links to files or objects should be placed.

list box
  1. A component that provides the user with a scrollable list of options from which to choose.
  2. A control that contains a list of items that a user can select.

list cascade button
A button that represents a cascading choice used to display a cascaded list.

list item
An element in a list that can be selected.

locale
A language-specific or country-specific environment.

Lower
An action choice that lowers a window in the stacking order.

main control
The single control, if any, in a window in which the bulk of the interaction with the user occurs.

manual stacking order
A model in which windows or elements do not change their stacking order simply as a result of gaining focus. See also automatic stacking order.

margin selection technique
A group selection technique in which a user interaction in the margin of a selection region selects a group of related elements in the selection scope.

marquee
See framing rectangle.

Maximize
An action choice that enlarges a window to its largest possible size.

maximize button
  1. A control button placed on a window manager window frame and used to initiate the maximize function.
  2. A button on the title bar that represents the Maximize choice. The user activates this button to enlarge the window to its largest size.

MBCS
See multibyte character set.

medium scrolling increment
The scrolling increment that is larger than the unit scrolling increment and smaller than a paging increment. See also page scrolling increment, unit scrolling increment.

melt effect
A kind of transition effect that occurs when the user drops a drag icon on a valid drop zone. The effect looks like the drag icon melts into the drop zone.

menu
  1. A displayed list of items from which a user can make a selection.
  2. A pop-up widget that usually allows the user to make a single selection from a constrained set of choices. A menu is usually modal, suspending the application until the user makes a selection or dismisses the menu. When torn off, a menu becomes modeless, allowing the user to interact with the application while the menu remains visible.
  3. A control that generally contains a list of choices of any type.

menu bar
  1. A menu displayed below the title bar that contains only cascading choices.
  2. The part of an application window between the title bar and the work area where menu names are listed.

MENU button
The button on a pointing device that the user presses to view a pop-up menu. For example, mouse button 3 is the default MENU button on a 3-button mouse.

menu cascade button
A button that represents a cascading choice used to display a pull-down menu.

menu item
An element in a menu that represents a choice.

menu pane
A rectangular box that contains menu choices.

menu system
A spring-loaded system whose cascaded controls are all menus.

menu topic
A menu-bar choice.

menu-bar item
A cascading choice that appears on a menu bar. Menu-bar items provide access to menus, which contain additional choices.

menu-bar system
A spring-loaded system that consists of a menu bar and any menus cascaded from it.

message
  1. Information from the system that informs the user of a condition that may affect further processing of a current program.
  2. Information not requested by the user but displayed in a secondary window by an application in response to an event or exception. There are three types of messages: information, in-progress, and action messages.
  3. An error indication or any brief information that a program writes to a standard error or queue.
  4. Information sent from one user in a multiuser operating system to another.
  5. A general method of communication between two processes.
  6. A group of characters and control bit sequences transferred as an entity.

message area
A specific part of a window in which the user can get detailed information or directions about performing a task in the current context.

message window
A message displayed in a secondary window.

metaphor
A user interface representation of an object that suggests a likeness or an analogy with some other object or idea. User interface metaphors may be words, phrases, environments, graphics, or icons that suggest some real-world object or domain.

midpoint technique
See balance-beam policy.

Minimize
An action choice that removes a window and all of the secondary windows associated with that window from the workspace and displays the window icon that represents that window.

minimize button
  1. A control button placed on a window manager window frame and used to initiate the minimize function.
  2. A button on the title bar that represents the Minimize choice. The user activates this button to remove the window and all secondary windows dependent on the window being minimized and to display the corresponding window icon.

minimized window box
See window icon box.

mnemonic
  1. A symbol chosen to help the user remember the significance of the symbol.
  2. A single character (frequently the initial character) of a menu selection. When the user presses a character that can be associated with a menu selection, that selection is chosen.
  3. A character that the user can type (possibly augmented with Ctrl or Alt) to move the focus elsewhere in a window or menu and/or to activate or toggle a choice whose label contains and emphasizes that character.
  4. The field of an assembler instruction that contains the acronym or abbreviation for a machine instruction. Using mnemonics frees the programmer from having to remember the machine's numeric operator codes.

modal
  1. A dialog box that requires a response before the user can interact with other components in an application.
  2. A state of a dialog that requires the user to interact with the dialog before interacting with other parts of the application or with other applications. Three modal styles exist: primary application modal, full application modal, and system modal.
  3. A state in which the user must complete the operation of the mode before continuing.
  4. See also modeless.

modal secondary window
A window that prevents the user from continuing to work in the existing window from which the secondary window was opened.

mode
  1. A method of operation in which the actions that are available to a user are determined by the state of the system.
  2. A method of operation (frequently used in software systems based on UNIX) to refer to read, write, execute, or search permissions of a file or directory.

model keyboard
An idealized keyboard that contains the keys and key labels described in this style guide. A model keyboard is used in descriptions because not all keyboards contain the same keys.

modeless
  1. A dialog box that does not limit the user's interaction with the rest of an application.
  2. A state of a dialog that does not require the user to interact with the dialog before interacting with other parts of the application or with other applications.
  3. A state that does not interfere with the user performing any other action.
  4. See also modal.

modeless secondary window
A window that lets the user continue to work in the existing window from which the secondary window was opened.

modifier key
A key used with other keys or with mouse buttons (or other buttons on input devices) to modify the behavior associated with that key or button. The standard modifier keys are Shift, Ctrl, and Alt.

More
  1. An action choice that displays additional controls in a separate window.
  2. An action choice that, when chosen, causes the associated window to expand and to present the user with more information. If the user has already expanded the window, pressing the More choice again will shrink the window. The More choice, in this case, is labeled <> when the user can expand the window; it is labeled >< when the user can shrink the window.

Mouse
An action choice that presents information about the application's use of the mouse.

mouse
  1. A hand-held locator that a user operates by moving it on a flat surface. The user presses mouse buttons to select objects and scroll the display screen.
  2. A pointing device commonly used in conjunction with a keyboard in point-and-click, object-oriented user interfaces.

  3. A pointing device that has one or more buttons that a user presses to interact with the operating environment.

mouse button
  1. A button on a mouse-pointing device. Mouse buttons can be pressed, released, moved, clicked, and double-clicked. On a 3-button mouse, certain default actions are associated with each button, as follows:
    1. MB1 - selection
    2. MB2 - transfer and adjust
    3. MB3 - pop-up activation
  2. A mechanism on a mouse-pointing device that the user presses to make choices or directly manipulate elements.

mouse-based selection technique
Individual and group selection techniques for mouse users.

Move
  1. An action choice that allows the user to move a window.
  2. An action choice that initiates drag and drop, allowing a user to move specified elements within the window.
  3. An action choice used in the context of a specific transfer mechanism to indicate that the transfer should result in a move.

move
A mouse technique that involves moving the mouse, which moves the pointer in the interface.

Move To
A dialog choice that leads to a file selection dialog in which the user can specify where files or objects should be moved.

multibyte character set (MBCS)
A set of unique characters that constitute more than what a single byte can represent. Examples of MBCSs are the Chinese and Japanese languages.

multi-click
A mouse technique that involves pressing and releasing a button on a pointing device two or more times without significantly moving the pointer and within a time specified by the operating environment.

multilevel selection technique
A group selection technique used within selection scopes whose elements can be organized hierarchically.

multipage control
A type of control used to show one or more pages at a time from among a larger set of pages, each page containing one or more controls.

multiple selection technique
A selection model in which any number of elements can be selected at a time and in which all selection techniques toggle the identified elements.

multi-press
See multi-click.

navigation (traversal)
  1. An action that causes the focus to move to another component.
  2. The act of moving the active cursor in response to input.

navigation keys
The keys whose use is specialized for navigation, for example a directional key, paging key, or a Home or End key possibly augmented with the Ctrl or Shift key.

New
An action or dialog choice that creates a new file or object of the type used by an application. When chosen from the File menu, the newly created file or object is displayed as well.

New Window
An action or cascading choice that allows a user to display a view of the currently viewed data in a new window.

No
An action choice that indicates a negative response to a question presented in a message.

normal mode
A keyboard-based selection mode in which selection techniques select the element or elements identified by the technique and deselect all other elements in the selection scope.

notebook
A multipage control that shows one page at a time and that supports the use of notebook tabs to switch pages.

notebook tab
A control that switches the page displayed in a notebook.

object
  1. A data structure that implements some feature and has an associated set of operations.
  2. Any of the complex information constructs created, examined, modified, or destroyed by means of the interface.
  3. For threads, an object refers to either a thread, a mutex, or a condition variable.
  4. In object-oriented programming, an instantiation of a class. It contains the name, structure, and components defined for the class and contains data.
  5. An element that visually represents something that has behavior and contents not revealed solely by the visual representation. Objects are often represented as icons, but could be represented in other ways as well, for example, as list items.

object type
A desktop mechanism used to associate particular data files with the appropriate applications and actions. Object typing defines the criteria for typing the file (such as name or contents), the appearance (for example, an icon used to represent the object), and the behavior of the object (what happens when you double-click on it or drag and drop an item onto it).

OK
An action choice that accepts the information in a window and closes it. If the window contains changed information, those changes are applied before the window is closed.

on (a selectable element)
Describes whether a cursor or pointer identifies a selectable element.

on (a selection)
Describes whether a cursor or pointer identifies a selection.

On Item
An action choice that allows the user to indicate the element for which help is desired.

Open
On the File menu, a dialog choice that leads to a file selection dialog in which a user can select the file or object to open. On the Selected menu, an action choice that opens the selected objects.

operation indicator
The part of the drag pointer displayed during a drag-and-drop operation that indicates whether a drop will result in a move, copy, or link.

option menu
A menu that contains only value and cascading choices and that is displayed from an option menu button or from a cascading choice within an option menu.

option menu button
See option menu cascade button.

option menu cascade button
A button used to display an option menu.

Options
A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. It provides access to other menu items that enable a user to customize an application.

outline view
A view of a container in which the contents are displayed in a column, with hierarchical relations between elements identified by indenting.

Overview
An action choice that provides a brief overview of each action and task that a user can perform within a window.

Pack Icons
An action choice that packs the window icons as close as possible to each other within the visible area of a window icon box.

page scrolling increment
The amount by which an area is scrolled (using a paging operation) equal to the width or height of the scrolled area minus the unit scrolling increment.

page scrolling unit
See page scrolling increment.

paging key
Keys on a keyboard used for paging, for example, page up, page down, page left, page right, and possibly augmented with the Ctrl key.

palette
A range of graphically displayed choices, such as colors or a collection of tools, that a user can select from the application's palette area.

palette area
An area within a window that provides a place to store commonly used groups of controls or tools.

pane
  1. On a display screen, the inner portion of a window used to present information to the user. A window can consist of one or more panes.
  2. A widget that is a child of a paned window. The user adjusts the size of a pane by means of a sash.
  3. One of the separate areas in a split window or a paned box.

paned box
A control that can be divided into panes by using split bars.

Paste
An action choice that places the contents of the clipboard into a specified location or into an object or objects displayed within the window.

Paste Link
An action choice that pastes a link to elements previously placed on the clipboard into a specified location or into an object or objects displayed within the window.

Paste Special
A dialog choice that displays a dialog through which a user can choose the format in which elements previously placed on the clipboard are pasted into a specified location or into an object or objects displayed within the window.

Pause
An action choice that temporarily suspends a task without ending it.

pending delete
  1. A state of a text component in which some user actions cause the current selection to be deleted.
  2. A mode of a selection scope in which an insertion within a selected region replaces the selected item.

persistent
A mode of a spring-loaded control in which the control is displayed and in which the keyboard can be used to navigate through it.

persistent cue
A cue that directs the user's attention to a part of the screen or user interface, indicates a particular state of an object, or alerts the user about a potentially serious situation.

persistent selection
A selection whose state is unaffected by making a selection in another selection scope.

point technique
An individual selection technique in which a single element or point is identified.

pointer
  1. The graphical image that appears on the workspace and represents the current location of a mouse or other pointing device.
  2. A visual cue, usually in the shape of an arrow, that a user can move with a pointing device. Users place the pointer over elements they want to work with.
  3. In computer graphics, a manually operated functional unit used to specify an addressable point. A pointer may be used to conduct interactive graphic operations (such as selection of one member of a predetermined set of display elements) or to indicate a position on a display space while generating coordinate data.
  4. The device attached to the cursor and tracked on the screen.
  5. A physical or symbolic identifier of a unique target.
  6. A variable that holds the address of a data object.

pointer focus
A keyboard focus model that sends keyboard events to the window or component that the mouse pointer is over. See also implicit focus.

pointing device
A device such as a mouse, trackball, or graphics tablet that allows the user to move a pointer about on the workspace and to point to graphical objects on the screen.

pop-up control
A control temporarily displayed as a result of a context-sensitive user interaction (other than from a cascading choice) that appears at or near the location where it was requested.

pop-up menu
A menu that is a spring-loaded, pop-up control and that contains context-sensitive choices.

posted
The state of a menu, list box, or combination box where it remains visible when a mouse button is not being held down. See also spring-loaded.

preedit area
An area for entering alphabetic text that is translated to language-specific characters.

prefix completion
An internal navigation technique used in a combination text-list control in which entering a printing character immediately moves the cursor in a text-display field to the next item whose textual label begins with the prefix.

prefix navigation
An internal navigation technique used in a combination text-list control in which entering a printing character immediately moves the cursor in the associated list to the next item whose textual label begins with a prefix.

press
A mouse technique that involves pressing and holding down a key or mouse button or other button on an input device.

press and move
A mouse technique that involves pressing the mouse button without releasing it and then moving the position of the pointer, such as moving an element (like an icon) across the screen.

Primary Copy
An action choice that copies the contents of the primary selection to a specified location or to an object or objects displayed within the window.

primary key mapping
The standard assignment of keys and key sequences to functions in Motif and CDE.

Primary Link
An action choice that places a link to the elements contained in the primary selection in a specified location or in an object or objects displayed within the window.

Primary Move
An action choice that moves the contents of the primary selection to a specified location or to an object or objects displayed within the window.

primary pane
The part of an expandable window that reveals the window's core functions and is displayed by default. See also expandable window, secondary pane.

primary selection
  1. The principal selection used to transfer data from one client to another or to another window of the same client.
  2. A selection that is automatically deselected when a new primary selection is made elsewhere.

primary transfer
A transfer mechanism where the primary selection is transferred to the destination target.

primary window
  1. The window in which the main interaction between the user and an object or application takes place.
  2. A top-level window of an application. Primary windows can be minimized.

Print
A dialog choice that prepares and arranges data to be printed on a designated printer.

Print Setup
An action choice that opens a window in which the user can set the parameters for printing.

program
  1. A sequence of instructions that a computer can interpret and execute.
  2. A sequence of instructions suitable for processing by a computer. Processing can include the use of an assembler, compiler, interpreter, or translator to prepare the program for execution and to execute it.
  3. A file that contains a set of instructions that conform to a particular programming language syntax.
  4. In programming languages, a logical assembly of one or more interrelated modules.
  5. To design, write, and test computer programs.
  6. See also application.

Properties
An action choice that displays a window in which the user can display and set properties or characteristics of an object.

property dialog
A dialog in which the user can display and set properties or characteristics of a file object or other element.

pull-down menu
A cascaded menu that is displayed from a menu cascade button or a menu bar.

push button
A control that resembles a button and that represents an action or dialog choice.

question message
A type of action message that does not require the user's immediate attention. Question messages are used to get a response to a question.

quick transfer
  1. A transfer mechanism where selected data is immediately transferred to the destination.
  2. A data transfer technique used to copy, move, or link data to the insertion point of the control that has interacted emphasis.

radio box
A group of mutually exclusive radio buttons that are grouped together.

radio button
A control used to set values that are mutually exclusive.

range click technique
A range technique in which two separate mouse or keyboard operations are used to indicate the endpoints of the range.

range selection model
A selection model in which any number of contiguous elements in a range can be selected and in which select mode and normal mode are the default modes.

range swipe technique
A range technique in which the endpoints of the range are indicated by moving the mouse or cursor from one endpoint to the other.

range technique
A group selection technique in which the user selects elements within an area by indicating the opposite endpoints of a range (such as in a list or in text).

read-only text
Displayed text that a user can read but not directly select or change, such as the calculation of a total. Read-only text is displayed in a read-only text field. See also label.

read-only text field
A control that displays text but does not allow the user to change or select it directly. See also text-display field.

ready emphasis
When the SELECT button is pressed, a visual cue for an element used to indicate that the element will be activated or that its value or selection state will be changed when the SELECT button is released.

Redo
An action choice that reverses the effect of an undo operation, returning the application state to what it was before the undo was performed.

Reference
An action choice that provides access to reference pages for the application.

Refresh
An action choice that updates the window or screen to reflect the current state of the underlying data.

release
A mouse technique that involves releasing a mouse button after pressing it. Releasing the mouse button performs an action initiated by pressing it, such as activating a push button.

Remote Host
An action choice that displays a message that contains information about the host on which the application is running.

Repeat
An action choice that repeats the last action invoked by the user.

Reselect
An action choice that reselects the previously selected elements within a selection scope.

reselect policy
A selection policy that adjusts the previous selection relative to its anchor.

Reset
An action choice that resets the values displayed in a dialog or property window to the values they had when the window was displayed or when the values were last saved as defaults, whichever is most recent.

Reset to Defaults
An action choice that resets the values displayed in a dialog or property window to the values they had when default values were last saved.

Reset to Factory
An action choice that resets the values displayed in a dialog or property window to the values they had at the time the application was installed or delivered.

resize corner
A Motif 1.2 term for a window border control that enables the user to alter the size of windows by dragging the border corner graphic toward or away from the center of the window. See also size border.

resize handle
See resize corner.

Restore
An action choice that returns a window to the size it was and the position it was in before the user minimized or maximized the window.

restore button
A button on the title bar that represents the Restore choice. The user activates this button to restore the window to its normal size.

Resume
An action choice that resumes a task that the user paused.

Retry
An action choice that attempts to complete an interrupted task.

Revert
An action choice that resets a view of an object or file to the state it was in when the object or file was last opened or last changed, whichever is more recent.

sash
  1. A control with which the user changes the sizes of the panes in a paned window.
  2. A box on a split bar through which the user can directly manipulate the split bar to change the sizes of associated panes.

Save
An action choice that stores the application's data into a previously determined file or object.

Save As
A dialog choice that leads to a file selection dialog in which the user can specify the file or object in which application data is to be stored.

Save as Defaults
An action choice that saves the values displayed in a dialog or property window as defaults to be used when the application subsequently displays the same (or similar) window to the same user.

SBCS
See single byte character set.

scale
See slider.

scope of selection
An area that contains related elements that the user can select.

screen
  1. The physical surface of a workstation display upon which device information is shown to the user.
  2. An abstraction that represents a single bitmapped output device on a display.

scroll
  1. To move text vertically or horizontally in order to view information that is outside the display or pane boundaries.
  2. To incrementally shift the view of the elements being displayed through the control or window.

scroll bar
  1. A graphical device used to change a user's viewpoint of a list or data file. A scroll bar consists of a slider, scroll area, and scroll arrows. A user changes the view by sliding the slider up or down in the scroll area or by pressing one of the scroll arrows. This causes the view to scroll up or down in the window adjacent to the scroll bar.
  2. A user-interface element associated with an area that can be scrolled. The scroll bar indicates to a user that more information is available or that it can be added in a horizontal or vertical direction and scrolled into view.

scroll box
The part of a scroll bar that indicates the position of the visible information relative to the total amount of information available in a window. A user manipulates the location of a scroll box with a pointing device to see information that is not currently visible.

scroll track
Within a scroll bar, the rectangular region that contains the scroll box. The user moves the scroll box within the scroll track.

secondary key mapping
A key assignment to a function made in addition to the standard Motif/CDE functional key assignment. For example, Ctrl Z is mapped to the Undo function in Motif/CDE. An optional secondary key mapping of Alt Backspace may be assigned to the Undo function to assist users of other systems.

secondary pane
The part of an expandable window that reveals additional function. See also expandable window, primary pane.

secondary window
  1. A child window of a primary window.
  2. A window dependent on another window, either primary or secondary, that is used to supplement the interaction in that window.

select
  1. To choose an object to be acted upon or an action to be performed.
  2. To explicitly identify one or more elements with which to interact.

Select All
An action choice that causes all of the elements in a scope of selection to be selected.

SELECT button
The button on a pointing device that the user presses to make a selection. On a mouse, it is always bound to logical mouse button 1 (MB1).

select mode
A selection mode in which the identified elements are selected.

Select Pasted
An action choice that selects the element last transferred into a selection scope.

Selected
A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. It provides access to choices that apply to the selected objects in the current view.

selected emphasis
A visible cue that indicates that an element is selected.

selection
The process of selecting an element or group of elements.

selection auto scroll
Scrolling that occurs during selection.

selection box
A combination text-list control in which both the text-entry field and the list box are visible at all times.

selection cursor
See active cursor.

selection dialog
A dialog that contains a selection box, possibly with other controls added to it.

selection mode
A mode that determines whether selection techniques select or toggle the selection state of identified elements.

selection model
A description of how selection works in a selection scope, including the selection techniques available in the scope, the available and default selection modes, and the selection policies used in the scope.

selection policy
The characterization or constraint on selections in a scope, for example, whether or not more than one element at a time can be selected.

selection scope
The limit on how a user can select elements. A selection model determines how selection works in a selection scope.

selection technique
The method by which the user identifies elements to be selected or deselected.

separator
  1. A punctuation character that separates parts of a command or file or that delimits character strings.
  2. A boundary, such as blank space, a line, or color change, that provides a visual distinction between two adjacent areas.

Session Manager
A software application that controls saving sessions, restoring sessions, screen locking and unlocking, and the use of screen savers. When a session is saved, the state of the desktop environment (location of icons, placement of open windows, state of applications, current color palette, and so on) is preserved so that it can be restarted at the next login.

shortcut key
A key or combination of keys assigned to a menu item that activates that menu item, even if the associated menu is not currently displayed, such as Alt F4 for Close.

single byte character set
A set of no more than 256 unique characters. The English alphabet is contained in a single byte character set. ASCII is an example.

Size
An action choice that allows a user to change the size of a window or of specified elements.

size border
A window border whose corners and edges can be used to size the window. See also window border.

slider
  1. One of the graphical components of a scroll bar or scale. The slider is the object that is dragged along the scroll area to cause a change.
  2. A control that represents a value. When a slider is used to display a particular value amid a range of possible values, it typically shows a scale marked in equal units.

slider arm
The part of a slider that shows the current value of the slider and allows the user to change the value.

slider track
The part of the slider in which the slider arm sits.

snap-back effect
An effect that occurs when the user drops a drag icon on an area that is not a valid drop zone or because the data transfer failed. When this happens, the drag icon snaps back to the source application.

Sort
A cascading or dialog choice used to arrange the elements presented in a view in a specified order.

sort dialog
A dialog that allows the user to specify the criteria used for sorting.

source
  1. The object that is selected, dragged, and dropped in a drag-and-drop operation.
  2. To initiate a drag-and-drop operation with a particular object or location. Do not use as a verb. Use initiate or start.
  3. The object that is selected, dragged, and dropped in a drag-and-drop operation; or the object that is selected and moved, copied, cut, pasted, or linked in a data transfer or file-manipulation operation.

source element
An element that is the source of a data transfer operation.

source emphasis
A visual cue that indicates the element from which a user made a request or initiated a transfer operation.

source indicator
The part of the drag pointer displayed during a drag-and-drop operation that describes the source.

spatial view
A view of a container in which the user can place an object at an x,y location subject to layout constraints.

spin box
A control used to display a sequenced ring of related but mutually exclusive choices, such as days of the week. The accepted value is displayed in a text element; optionally this is an editable text-entry field into which the user can type a valid choice. A spin box may have multiple text elements. If so, the element of the field affected by the user's action in the spin box is the element or field that displays the active cursor.

spin button
A spin box that consists of a single field.

split bar
An element that separates panes in a window or a paned box. It may provide a sash that allows the user to change the size of the panes. See also separator.

split window
A window that is split into multiple panes by one or more split bars and that allows an application to display views in each pane.

spring-loaded
A state of a Menu where it remains only as long as a mouse button is being held down. See also Posted.

spring-loaded choice
A modal choice used to display a spring-loaded control. Currently there are two types of spring-loading choices: menuing choices and listing choices.

spring-loaded control
A kind of cascaded or pop-up control that is removed when the user makes a choice within the control.

spring-loaded menu
A menu that is a spring-loaded control. It is either a cascaded menu or a pop-up menu.

spring-loaded system
A system that consists of a base control and its spring-loaded descendants.

spring-sensitive menu
A menu that appears as the result of pressing an appropriate mouse button or when an appropriate mouse button is pressed in a menu that is already displayed. In a spring-sensitive menu, an active cursor follows the pointer as the user moves the pointer through the menu.

spring-sensitive mode
A mode of a displayed control in which moving the pointer within the control over a cascading choice displays its associated cascaded control.

stacking order
The order in which windows of an interface or elements within a window or control are stacked one on top of the other. See also automatic stacking order, manual stacking order.

standard normal mode
The mode used in conjunction with selection scopes that use an element cursor in which navigation deselects all elements except the element (if any) to which the cursor moves.

state indicator
  1. The part of the drag pointer displayed during a drag-and-drop operation that indicates whether or not the pointer is at a place where a drop is likely to result in a successful operation.
  2. The change of a cursor to an I-beam to indicate an available data/text-entry region.

static text
A control that displays text but does not allow the user to change or select it directly. See also text-display field.

status area
  1. The part of the window that identifies the input style (phonetic, numeric, stroke and radial, and so on) and the current status of an input method interaction.
  2. A specific part of a window used to display information about the state of the current application task.
  3. See also information area and message area.

Stop
An action choice that ends a task and removes the message window that refers to it.

Style Manager
The software application used to customize some of the visual elements and system device behaviors of the workspace environment, including colors and fonts, as well as keyboard, mouse, window, and session startup behaviors.

submenu
  1. A cascading menu.
  2. A menu displayed from a cascading choice in a cascaded menu, a tear-off menu, or a pop-up menu.

subpanel
An extension of the Front Panel that slides up to provide access to additional elements. Subpanels usually contain groups of related elements.

swipe
The process of selecting an element or elements by moving the mouse over the elements while holding the SELECT button down.

system modal
A state of a window that prevents user interaction with any other control outside of that window. See also application modal.

tab group
  1. A control or group of controls that the user can navigate to. There are two categories: tab groups that contain a group of other controls (for example, a radio box that contains a group of radio buttons) and tab groups that consist of a single control (for example, a text field).
  2. A control or group of controls to which the user can navigate by pressing the Tab key.

tab group navigation
Navigation among tab groups within a window.

Table of Contents
An action choice that displays a table of contents of the help information available.

target element
The element that is the target of a data transfer operation.

target emphasis
A visual cue that indicates the element that will receive the results of a transfer operation.

target well
A control used as the destination of a transfer operation in order to transfer elements into an associated selection scope.

Tasks
An action choice that enables a user to determine how to perform specific tasks.

tear-off choice
A kind of action choice used to tear off a control.

tear-off menu
A copy of a pull-down, pop-up, or cascaded menu that the user has "torn off" and placed in a separate window.

technique initiation policy
In a selection scope that supports both touch and area techniques, specifies which technique is initiated in which circumstances.

text cursor
  1. A cursor that indicates where to type a character. The text cursor is controlled by the keyboard.
  2. A cursor that identifies a point between adjacent characters in text within a selection scope.

text field
A control in which characters can be displayed and selected. All text fields are either text-display fields or text-entry fields. Text fields with keyboard focus have a blinking text insertion cursor.

text normal mode
A mode that can be used in conjunction with selection scopes that use text cursors and in which navigation deselects all elements but that also supports the range click technique.

text-display field
A control in which noneditable alphanumeric text can be displayed and selected.

text-entry field
A control into which a user can type or place alphanumeric text.

textual cue
A cue that consists of a word or words that describe the current situation.

title bar
The area across the top of a window that consists of the window menu button, the title area, and the window's control buttons. See also window title.

toggle
  1. A switching device such as a toggle key on a keyboard.
  2. Pertaining to any device having two stable states.
  3. To switch between two modes on a computer or network.
  4. To interact with the representation of a choice in order to set or unset it.
  5. To switch the selection state of an element or group of elements.

toggle choice
A choice that is selected by pressing the SELECT button (or keyboard) to cycle among a limited set of values. Toggle choices include radio buttons and check boxes.

toggle mode
A selection mode in which the identified elements have their selection state toggled.

toggle removal policy
A selection policy that determines the selection state of elements removed from a selection region that was adjusted using toggling.

toggling policy
A selection policy that determines exactly how the selection states of elements identified by a selection technique are toggled when they are not all either selected or all deselected.

tool
A kind of value choice, usually labeled by a graphic, that establishes a mode when set.

tool bar
See palette area.

tool choice
A choice in a value set that, when set, places the user in a mode that limits or specializes the user's interaction with the application.

tool palette
A palette area that contains a value set made up of tools.

touch swipe technique
A touch technique in which an element is added to the current selection by moving the pointer over it.

touch technique
A selection technique in which "touched" elements are added one at a time to the current selection.

TRANSFER button
The assigned button on a pointing device that is used for data transfer operations. On a 3-button mouse it is bound by default to MB2, but it may also be integrated with selection and bound to MB1.

transfer icon
A pointer icon that is used to represent the object or data transferred in a move, copy, or link operation.

transfer operation
A move, copy, or link operation.

transfer technique
A technique for performing data transfer operations such as moving, copying, or linking. See also clipboard transfer, drag and drop, primary transfer, quick transfer.

transfer well
A control used as the target of a transfer operation to transfer elements into an associated selection scope.

trash can
An object to which the user drags and drops another object to be deleted. The object to be deleted stays in the trash can until the user deletes the object or until the operating system automatically removes it.

Tutorial
An action choice that gives a user access to online educational information.

unavailable choice
A choice that is not available.

unavailable emphasis
A visual cue that indicates that a choice or control is not available. See also insensitive.

Undo
An action choice that reverses the effect of the last action invoked by the user, returning the application state to what it was before the action was performed.

unit scrolling increment
The smallest amount a scrolled area can be scrolled when using an associated scroll bar.

urgent message
A message that is essential for the user to see immediately.

user interface
  1. The area where the user and an application come together to interact.
  2. The ensemble of hardware and software that lets a user and a computer communicate.

user model
A user interface technique.

Using Help
An action choice that gives a user information about how the help system works.

value choice
A type of choice that allows the user to indicate whether a value is set, unset, or indeterminate. Value choices can be presented, for example, in list boxes, radio buttons, check boxes, value sets, and menus.

value set
A control that contains a mutually exclusive set of choices, each of which is usually labeled graphically.

vertical navigation
Keyboard navigation that moves the cursor in a vertical direction.

vertical writing support
Support for languages that use ideographic scripts, such as Japanese or Chinese. These scripts are written vertically, from right to left.

View
A cascading choice that appears as a menu-bar item. The View choice provides access to menu items that allow a user to choose how data is presented, how much information is presented, in what order it is presented, and other choices related to the presentation within a view.

view
A presentation of information by an application in the viewing area of a window; or, the representation of an object within a window.

viewing area
One or more controls that together present a coherent view of data or information in the window.

virtual button
A model used by CDE and Motif that defines mouse-button functions independent of the actual number of buttons on the mouse. The virtual buttons are SELECT, TRANSFER, ADJUST, and MENU.

visible signal
A transient but prominent change in the visual appearance of an element of the interface, usually generated by the operating environment, for use as a visible warning signal.

visual cue
A change in the appearance of an application's elements. There are two types of visual cues: graphical cues and textual cues.

visual priority
The priority of elements, or what elements on the screen appear most important to the user.

warning message
A kind of action message that indicates that although an undesirable condition might occur, the user can allow the process to continue.

warning signal
A transient cue that alerts the user about a minor, nonfatal error or problem with some interaction. For instance, it could draw the user's attention to, or produce feedback about, an event or the state of the user's task or of the environment. A warning signal may be presented using an audible signal (such as a beep), a visible signal (such as a flashing of the screen), or both.

warp the pointer
An action taken by an application in which the pointer is moved independently of pointing-device movements the user makes.

window
  1. A division of a screen in which one of several programs executing concurrently can display information.
  2. A rectangular area on the display screen where application programs typically have one main window available to initiate interaction. A user can open secondary windows and dialog boxes from this main window.
  3. A data structure that represents all or part of the display screen. Visually, a window is represented as a subarea of the display screen.
  4. An area with visible boundaries that can be defined so that the user can view interactions with an application.
  5. In curses, the internal representation of what a portion of the display may look like at some point in time. Windows can be any size, from the entire display screen to a single character.
  6. In data communications, the number of data packets that can be sent across a logical channel before waiting for authorization to send another data packet. The window is the main mechanism of pacing, or flow control, of packets. In X.25 communications, the number of packets that can be outstanding without acknowledgment.

window border
The outer area of the window frame. It is called a size border if it supports sizing the window.

window cluster
See window family.

window family
A group of windows that consists of a primary window and all secondary windows that are directly or indirectly dependent on the primary window.

window frame
  1. The visible part of a window that surrounds a software application.
  2. The outer area of a window that supports window-management functions. The window frame includes the title bar, minimize button, maximize button, window menu button, and sizing borders.

window icon
A graphical element that represents a minimized window.

window icon box
A window that contains window icons.

Window Manager
  1. The program that controls the size, placement, and operation of windows in the workspace. The Window Manager includes the functional window frames that surround each window object and may include a separate menu for the workspace.
  2. The program that provides the user with the capability to manipulate windows in the workspace, for example, opening, resizing, moving, and closing windows.

window menu
A menu displayed from a window menu button that consists of choices that affect the window.

window menu button
A menu cascade button on the title bar from which the window menu is displayed.

window navigation
  1. Moving the keyboard focus among windows.
  2. Navigation among windows and workspace icons.

window title
The area on a title bar that contains a short description of the contents of the window or the name of the object being viewed in the window.

workspace
  1. The area on which the windows of a user's environment appear. The workspace is sometimes called the desk, desktop, or root window.
  2. The current screen display, the icons and windows it contains, and the unoccupied screen area where the user can place icons.
  3. An area that holds elements that make up the user interface.

workspace background
The portion of the display not covered by windows or icons.

Workspace Manager
The software application that controls the size, placement, and operation of windows within multiple workspaces.

workspace menu
A pop-up menu available in the background of the workspace.

workspace object
An object that resides in a workspace rather than inside a window. Workspace objects include windows, icons, and objects that have been dragged in from the File Manager or Application Manager and dropped on the workspace background.

workspace switch
A control that enables the user to select a given workspace from a palette of available workspaces.

workspace switch area
The rectangular area on the center of the Front Panel that contains the palette of available workspace switches, the lock control, the Exit button, and the busy light.

Yes
An action choice that indicates a positive response to a question presented in a message.


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