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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference

Cut, Copy, Paste (Action Choice)

Reference

Description

Cut, Copy, and Paste are action choices that are used in conjunction with the clipboard. The following describes each choice:

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.

Copy
An action choice that copies selected elements and places them onto the clipboard. The selected elements are unaffected.

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.

When to Use

Required
Provide a Cut choice for all elements and data.

Required
Provide a Copy choice for all elements for which the user can create a duplicate, and for data that the user can duplicate.

Required
Provide a Paste choice for all objects or elements that the user can place or insert into other objects or elements.

Guidelines

Required
When the user chooses Cut, remove the objects or data to which the choice applies from their current location and place them on the clipboard.

Required
Display the Cut choice in a pull-down menu with unavailable emphasis when the element to which the Cut choice applies cannot be cut.

Recommended
If you provide the Cut choice, provide the user with a warning message to confirm the requested action. For example, when the user cuts data from a spreadsheet, display a warning message that cutting the data will affect the remaining data.

Required
If you provide the Cut choice on an element, place Cut in the element's pop-up menu when it can be cut.

Required
Assign CtrlX or Shift Delete as the shortcut key combination for a Cut choice.

Required
When the user chooses Copy, copy the objects or data to which the choice applies from their current location to the clipboard.

Required
Display the Copy choice on a pull-down menu with unavailable emphasis when the element to which the Copy choice applies cannot be copied to the clipboard.

Required
If you provide the Copy choice for an element, place Copy in the element's pop-up menu when it can be copied.

Required
When the user copies an element to the clipboard, do not change the state of the source element. For example, do not change the selection state of the element as a result of copying it.

Required
When the user copies an element to the clipboard, do not change the state of the copied object on the clipboard.

Required
Assign CtrlC or Ctrl Insert as the shortcut key combination for a Cut choice.

Required
When the user chooses Paste, insert the objects or data to which the choice applies from the clipboard to the current cursor location.

Required
Display the Paste choice on a pull-down menu with unavailable emphasis when no data is in the clipboard or when the clipboard data cannot be pasted at the cursor's position.

Recommended
If you provide the Paste choice, provide the user with a warning message to confirm the requested action. For example, when the user pastes data into a spreadsheet, display a warning message that pasting the data will affect the remaining data.

Required
If you provide a Paste menu item for an element, place Paste in the element's pop-up menu when the element or data currently in the buffer can be passed into the element at the cursor's location.

Required
Assign CtrlV or Shift Insert as the shortcut key combination for a Paste choice.

Essential Related Topics

For more information, see the Clipboard and Edit (Menu) reference pages.

Supplemental Related Topics

For more information, see the Copy To (Dialog Choice), Delete (Action Choice), and Undo (Choice) reference pages.

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