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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference

Cursor

Reference

Description

A cursor is a visible cue that indicates where the user's interaction with the keyboard will be performed. There are three types of cursors: element cursors, text cursors, and graphics cursors.

Element Cursors

An element cursor indicates that a control can be activated or manipulated, but the control cannot be edited. An element cursor can be any of the following:

Box
A box drawn around an element. This is the default element cursor. It usually has solid borders, but should have dashed borders when used within a selection scope in add mode.

Shadow
An outline with a shadow effect around a control. Provide the shadow shape on a control whose outline is not normally shown, for example, the menu system.

Handles
Solid or hollow square boxes that surround an object (sometimes called resize borders). You typically use handles in applications when the size, position, or shape of an element can be resized.

Figure 11 shows each type of element cursor.

Figure 11. Element Cursors


%>Box Cursor: View figure. Shadow Cursor: View figure. Handles: View figure.

Text Cursors

A text cursor indicates the location in text at which characters are inserted or pasted. The text cursor is usually a vertical bar or I-beam between characters when in insert mode and a box over a character when in replace mode. A text cursor should blink when the text has the input focus. A text cursor can be any of the following:

Vertical bar or I-beam
A vertical bar or I-beam in text to indicate where text may be inserted (insert mode). The bar should blink when the text has input focus.

Block or underline
A shaded block behind the character (or sometimes a line under a character). Use it to indicate that it will be replaced (replace mode) by the next character typed. The box or underline may blink when the text has the input focus.

Figure 12 shows each type of text cursor.

Figure 12. Text Cursors


%>I-Beam Cursor: View figure. Block Cursor: View figure.

Graphics Cursors

A graphics cursor identifies an (x,y) location within a selection scope that indicates the current edit point within a graphics area. You typically use a cross-hair, circle-dot, or circle-X as a graphics cursor to distinguish it from any sighting pointer in the scope.

Figure 13 shows a graphics cursor.

Figure 13. Graphics Cursor.




View figure.

When to Use

Required
When using an explicit focus policy, use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis, unless a cursor is visible on some element within the control.

Required
Use a text cursor at the appropriate point when a control is in a state where characters typed by the user may be inserted in the control or in which characters displayed within the control may be selected.

Required
Use a graphics cursor in a control when keyboard users need to be able to place elements at specific (x,y) positions or to select elements within an arbitrary rectangle.

Required
Use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis if a cursor is displayed within that control but is not visible because it is clipped or scrolled out of view.

Recommended
Always use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis.

Recommended
When the purpose of a control is to allow a positional indicator to be set to a value (for example an arm in a slider), indicate focus emphasis with an element cursor on the positional indicator.

Recommended
Within a selection scope in which the user can move elements to arbitrary positions, use an element cursor within the scope instead of a graphics cursor if and only if the following are true:

  1. Automatic placement is acceptable for newly added elements to the scope

  2. Elements rarely need to be moved by the user

  3. Support is provided for keyboard-based drag and drop

  4. Area selection of more than a few elements is rare

    5. Guidelines

    Required
    A control that uses a text or graphics cursor must keep track of the cursor position even when the control does not have focus.

    Recommended
    When designing new controls, use one of the existing cursor styles.

    Required
    When the user clicks the SELECT button at a legitimate cursor position within a control that uses keyboard navigation to move the cursor, move the cursor to the location at which SELECT was clicked.

    Required
    When the user presses Ctrl SELECT at a legitimate cursor position within a control that uses keyboard navigation to move the cursor, move the cursor to the location at which SELECT was pressed, but do not perform any other action, unless pressing Ctrl SELECT already has a predefined meaning in that control.

    Required
    Text and graphics cursors should not track the pointer; they should only move via keyboard navigation or when a mouse button is pressed, even when in a window that uses an implicit focus policy.

    Required
    An element cursor used within a control (other than a spring-sensitive control) should not track the pointer when in a window that uses an explicit focus policy.

    Recommended
    An element cursor used within a control should track the pointer when in a window that uses an implicit focus policy.

    Required
    When using keyboard navigation, do not skip over an element solely because it is obscured by another window or by an icon in the workspace.

    Recommended
    If an element is obscured by other elements in the same window, allow keyboard navigation to it only if it can be made visible within the window.

    Required
    If a control keeps track of a cursor position within the control even when the control does not have focus, do one of the following:

    1. Make the cursor more visible when the control has focus.

    2. Place an element cursor on the control as a whole when it has focus.

      3. Required
      If a control hides a cursor but keeps track of its position within the control when the control does not have focus, then when the control gains focus, show the cursor at the position it was in (relative to the underlying data) when the control last had focus, unless the application has changed the data or cursor position in the meantime.

      Required
      Within a selection scope that supports add mode and normal mode, change the appearance of the cursor, depending upon the mode. In particular, when an element cursor is used, draw a solid box around the element in normal mode and a dashed box around the element in add mode.

      Required
      Make sure that a text or graphics cursor used in a control is clearly distinguishable from the shape of the pointer when it is in that control.

      Required
      To make a cursor more visible when the control containing it has focus, use one of the following methods:

      1. Darken the cursor when the control has focus and dim the cursor when the control does not have focus.

      2. Use a blinking cursor when the control has focus and use a static cursor when the control does not have focus.

      3. Show the cursor when the control has focus and hide the cursor when the control does not have focus (except when the cursor is being used to show interacted emphasis).

        4. Recommended
        If a control keeps track of a cursor position within the control even when the control does not have focus, make the cursor more visible when the control does have focus.

        Recommended
        Indicate when a graphics cursor is on an element, for example, by also showing an element cursor on the element.

        Required

        When insert mode is being used, display a text cursor as a vertical bar or I-beam at the cursor position.

        Required
        The size of the I-beam cursor should be proportional to the current font.

        Required

        When replace mode is being used, use a block or underline to make the text cursor appear to be displayed on a character, though it actually is positioned immediately before that character.

        Recommended
        Make a cursor distinct from any other form of emphasis.

        Supplemental Related Topics

        For more information, see the Choice, Pointer, Scrolling, and Text-Entry Field (Control) reference pages.

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