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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.




View figure.

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:

  1. 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.

  2. Use a consonant in the label.

  3. If all the consonants in a label have been used as mnemonics for other labels, use any other character in the choice name.

  4. 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.

    5. 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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