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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference

Option Menu (Menu Type)

Reference

Description

An option menu is a menu that contains only value choices and cascading choices. It allows the user to choose a value from a group of values that may be hierarchically organized.

An option menu button is a button that contains a cascading choice for displaying an option menu and static text that displays the last value chosen from the corresponding option menu or its descendants.

Figure 45 illustrates an option menu and option menu button.

Figure 45. Option Menu and Button.




View figure.

When to Use

Required
Use an option menu to let the user choose a value from a fixed group of possible values.

Guidelines

Required
Place only cascading and value choices in an option menu.

Required
A cascading choice in an option menu leads to another option menu.

Required
All of the value choices in an option menu and its cascaded descendants are mutually exclusive; the user can choose only one at a time.

Required
When focus is on an option menu button and the user presses Select, Space, or Ctrl Space, display the associated option menu and move focus to it.

Optional
When focus is on an option menu button, and the user presses V or Alt V, display the associated option menu and move focus to it.

Recommended
If the user makes a value choice in an option menu that invokes an action as a side effect, limit the effect to changing views rather than changing the underlying data being viewed.

Required
If a value choice in an option menu corresponds to the value shown in its base option menu button, make it the default choice for that menu.

Recommended
If a cascading choice in an option menu leads to a menu or a descendant menu that contains the value shown in its base option menu button, make the cascading choice the default choice for the option menu it is in.

Required
Make the width of the static text area of an option menu button the same as the width of the option menu displayed from it.

Recommended
When the user chooses an option menu button to display an option menu, place the option menu so that the default choice covers the last chosen value shown in the option menu button.

Required
When the user chooses an option menu button to display an option menu, the option menu must not cover the graphic that indicates a cascading choice in the option menu button.

Required
Display the cascading choice in an option menu button as a horizontal bar graphic.

Required
Display the last value chosen in the option menu or its cascaded descendants in the option menu button as static text to the left of the bar graphic. For information on bidirectional and vertical language support, see Chapter 11.

Required
Do not place a graphic next to a value choice in an option menu (for example, to indicate that it is the value that was last chosen).

Essential Related Topics

For more information, see the Cascading (Choice Type), Choice, Menu (Control), and Value (Choice) reference pages.

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