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Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference

Pop-Up Menu (Menu Type)

Reference

Description

A pop-up menu is a menu used as a spring-loaded pop-up control that contains context-sensitive choices.

Figure 49. Pop-Up Menu.




View figure.

When to Use

Required
Associate a pop-up menu with every object.

Recommended
Associate a pop-up menu with elements in a selection scope that can be selected.

Recommended
Associate a pop-up menu with the background of a selection scope.

Recommended
Provide a pop-up menu for an element whenever users frequently need to apply actions to that element and if the element is accessible by the predefined shortcut keys.

Optional
A pop-up menu can be associated with controls or elements not associated with selection.

Guidelines

Required
If a choice is not currently available, do not include it in a pop-up menu (except if a window menu is used as a pop-up menu).

Required
If an action choice applies only to objects (for example, choices that also appear on the Selected menu), make the choice available on a pop-up menu.

Recommended
Include an action on a pop-up menu when users frequently need to apply that action to the associated element or selection.

Recommended
The availability and contents of the pop-up menu should depend on the location of the pointer within an element, as well as the current state.

Required
If a choice is not currently available, do not include it in a pop-up menu (except for those used as window menus).

Required
Treat a menu popped up on an unselected character in text as if it were popped up in the background.

Required
If the user attempts to display a pop-up menu where no menu exists, or in a context in which the menu would be empty, do not display any pop-up menu; initiate a warning signal instead.

Required
Keep the relative order of identical choices the same on a pop-up menu as on the pull-down menu. For example, because Paste appears after Copy on the Edit menu, it should appear after Copy on any corresponding pop-up menu.

Required
Do not display a shortcut key for a choice on a pop-up menu unless it has the same result as the corresponding choice from a pull-down menu.

Required
If you include the Help choice on a pop-up menu, make it the last choice on the menu.

Required
On every pop-up menu, provide a title that indicates the function the menu performs or the identity of the element or object associated with it.

Required
Describe which elements have a pop-up menu associated with them and how these pop-up menus can be used in the Help choice available through the window's Help pull-down menu.

Optional
If an unselected element in a selection scope is not an object, and is not displayed as a solid shape, then your application can treat a menu popped up on the element as if it were popped up in the background.

Required
If you include the Delete or Clear choice in a pop-up menu, augment them with the words "to Trash" if and only if all elements to which the operation applies are objects.

Recommended
You can include action choices from pull-down menus other than Edit or Selected in a pop-up menu if there is no possible confusion about semantics. You can use appropriate augmentation of the label if necessary for clarity.

Optional
You can augment action choices in pop-up menus (or menus cascaded from them) with the word "All" to apply the action to all selectable elements in the selection scope.

Optional
You can augment action choices in pop-up menus (or menus cascaded from them) with the word "Selected" or "Selection" (for example, Cut Selection) to apply the action to the current selection in the selection scope.

Required
In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 20 to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with a selection or a selectable element and how to organize them.

Table 20. Pop-Up Menu Choices for Selections and Selectable Elements


 Mnemonic Menu Choice
Required S Properties
Required O Open
Optional U Undo
Optional R Repeat/Redo
Required
Drag/Move
Optional
Size
Optional
Duplicate
Required
Copy To ...
Required
Move To ...
Optional T Cut
Optional C Copy
Optional K Copy Link
Optional
Copy Special
Optional P Paste
Optional L Paste Link
Optional
Paste Special
Optional I Insert ...
Optional
Primary Copy
Optional
Primary Move
Optional
Primary Link
Recommended E Clear {to Trash}
Required D Delete {to Trash}
Optional S Select All
Optional
Deselect All
Optional
Select Pasted
Optional
Reselect
Optional
Print ...
Recommended
Help

Required
Make Undo or Repeat/Redo available from a pop-up menu (or a menu cascaded from it) associated with a selectable element only if the corresponding action applies to the selection or the selectable element on which the menu was popped up.

Recommended
Include predefined pull-down menu choices on a pop-up menu associated with a selection or a selectable element only if they also appear on the Selected or Edit menus or clearly apply to the selection.

Required
In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 21 to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with the background of a selectable scope and how to organize them.

Table 21. Pop-Up Menu Choices for Selection Scope Backgrounds


 Mnemonic Menu Choice
Optional U Undo
Optional R Repeat/Redo
Required N New
Optional
Duplicate
Optional
Copy To ...
Optional
Move To ...
Optional T Cut
Optional C Copy
Optional K Copy Link
Optional
Copy Special
Recommended P Paste
Optional L Paste Link
Optional
Paste Special
Optional I Insert ...
Optional
Primary Copy
Optional
Primary Move
Optional
Primary Link
Recommended E Clear {to Trash}
Required D Delete {to Trash}
Optional S Select All
Optional
Deselect All
Optional
Select Pasted
Optional
Reselect
Optional
Print All ...
Optional
Print Selected ...
Recommended
Help

Required
Include the New choice in a pop-up menu only if it is associated with the background of a selection scope and if New appears in the corresponding Selected menu.

Required
Include action choices that act on a selection in a pop-up menu associated with the background only if there are elements in the selection scope that are selected.

Recommended
If an action choice in a pop-up menu associated with the background of a selection scope applies to the current selection, augment the choice with the word "Selected" or "Selection." For example, use Cut Selection instead of Cut.

Required
If the pop-up menu is associated with a selectable element that is not currently selected and the action label is not augmented with the word "Selected" or "Selection," make the action act as if only the associated element were selected. For example, when the user selects Cut from a pop-up menu on an unselected element, cut just that element to the clipboard.

Required
Help on a pop-up menu associated with an element should have the same effect as pressing Help or F1 when the active cursor is on an element.

Required
In conjunction with the Menu Guidelines reference page, use Table 22 to decide which choices to include in a pop-up menu associated with controls or elements that are not selectable or that do not include selection scopes and how to organize them.

Table 22. Pop-Up Menu Choices for Other Elements and Controls


 Mnemonic Menu Choice
Optional C Copy
Optional
Copy Special
Optional P Paste
Optional
Paste Special
Recommended
Help

Optional
In pop-up menus on elements not related to selection scopes, you can use Copy or Copy Special to place information or values displayed in the element on the clipboard.

Optional
In pop-up menus on elements not related to selection scopes, you can use Paste or Paste Special to set information or values.

Required
Do not change the data or selection state of an element when the pop-up menu associated with it is displayed.

Required
If you provide an action choice (other than Help) on a pop-up menu (or a menu cascaded from it) that is associated with a selection scope, provide access to the same choice from either a menu bar, menu cascade button, push button in the same window, or a shortcut key.

Recommended
When the user invokes a pop-up menu, display source emphasis on the associated element or control.

Required
When the user presses (not clicks) the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

Required
When the user clicks the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu and the menu is not currently displayed, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

Required
When the user clicks the MENU button at a location that allows a pop-up menu and the menu is currently displayed, deactivate the associated pop-up menu at that location.

Required
If a pop-up menu is associated with the location of the active cursor and the user presses Menu or Shift F10, display the associated pop-up menu at that location.

Required
If focus is in a spring-loaded system based on a pop-up menu and the user presses Menu or Shift F10, deactivate the system.

Recommended
When a user presses the MENU button to display a pop-up menu, place the menu so that the menu's default choice is to the right of the pointer. For information on bidirectional and vertical language support, see Chapter 11.

Essential Related Topics

For more information, see the Data Transfer, Edit (Menu), Menu (Control), Menu Guidelines, Object, Selected Menu, Selection, and Spring-Loaded (Control Type) reference pages.

Supplemental Related Topics

For more information, see the Emphasis (Cue), Help (Menu/Action Choice), Shortcut Key, and Warning Signal reference pages.

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