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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference
Mnemonic
Reference
Description
A mnemonic is a single character represented by a key on the keyboard that
is associated with a textual label and used to navigate to the group, control,
or choice associated with it, and possibly to activate or toggle it.
Figure 43. Mnemonic.
When to Use
The following guidelines apply to languages that read from left to
right. For information on bidirectional and vertical language support, see
Chapter 11.
- Required
- Provide a predefined mnemonic for each predefined textual choice in a
menu.
- Required
- Provide a mnemonic for each textual choice in a menu, unless you cannot
find a meaningful unique mnemonic.
- Recommended
- Provide a mnemonic for the group heading associated with a tab group.
- Recommended
- Provide a mnemonic for the label associated with a text field.
- Recommended
- Provide a mnemonic for each push button with a textual label.
- Recommended
- Provide a mnemonic for each radio button and check box with a textual
label in a tab group.
Guidelines
- Required
- Make mnemonics unique among all choices in a menu.
- Required
- Make mnemonics unique among all radio buttons and check boxes in a tab
group.
- Required
- Make mnemonics unique among all push buttons, group headings, and menu-bar
items.
- Required
- If a mnemonic is an alphabetic character, allow the user to press either
the uppercase or lowercase character.
- Required
- The character used as a label's mnemonic must appear in the label and
be highlighted within it, generally by underlining it.
- Recommended
- If choices are duplicated within an application, assign the same mnemonic
to the choices.
- Recommended
- For textual labels that do not have a mnemonic defined, assign mnemonic
characters by applying the first applicable guideline that follows:
- Use the first character of the label, or the first character of
one of the words in a multiple-word label, unless those characters have
been assigned as mnemonics for other choices.
- Use a consonant in the label.
- If all the consonants in a label have been used as mnemonics for
other labels, use any other character in the choice name.
- If all the characters in a label have been used as mnemonics for
other labels, add a unique character to the label text and make it the
mnemonic. Display the character in parentheses after the label.
- Optional
- A group of labels that require unique mnemonics may have their mnemonics
generated by sequentially assigned numbers or letters to the labels,
prepending the uniquely assigned character to its corresponding label (along
with any bracketing or separator characters) and underlining it.
- Required
- When the active cursor is in a menu and the user types the mnemonic of a
choice within that menu, move the cursor to the choice and activate or toggle
it.
- Recommended
- When the active cursor is in a tab group and the user types the mnemonic
of a choice within that tab group, activate or toggle the choice. If an
explicit focus policy is in use, move focus to the choice.
- Recommended
- When the cursor is in a window or a spring-loaded system popped up or
cascaded from that window, and the user presses Alt plus a mnemonic associated
with a control in the window, activate or navigate to that control after first
deactivating any spring-loaded system that contains the cursor. For more
information, see Alt Mnemonic Behavior.
- Required
- When the user presses Alt plus a mnemonic associated with a menu-bar item,
activate that menu-bar item and move focus to the menu pulled down from it.
- Required
- When the user presses Alt plus a mnemonic associated with an option menu
or menu cascade button, pull down the corresponding menu and move focus to it.
- Recommended
- When the user presses Alt plus a mnemonic associated with a push button,
activate the push button. If using an explicit focus policy, and the focus is
not in the data area affected by the push button's action, move focus to
the push button.
- Recommended
- When the user presses Alt plus a mnemonic associated with a text field or
tab group (other than for a control described previously) and an explicit
focus is in use, move focus to that tab group or text field.
Essential Related Topics
For more information, see the Edit (Menu), File Menu, Help (Menu/Action
Choice), Selected Menu, View Menu, and Window Menu reference pages.
Supplemental Related Topics
For more information, see the First-Letter Cursor Navigation, Keyboard
(Device), and Shortcut Key reference pages.
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