Multiple Instances

Windows Interface Consistency

Applications should display a consistent user interface and design philosophy with the Windows interface. To maintain consistency, you should include the following items in your applications:

• A menu that displays the actions available for an object when the user clicks the object with the right mouse button.
• Property sheets that group together logically related dialog functions.
• TrueType fonts.

Other design guidelines include:

• Whenever possible, use the system supported controls instead of creating your own.

  For example, use the common dialogs rather than implementing your own File Open dialog box.

• Allow the user to select his own 3-D color schemes through the Control Panel.

  The system color constants allow you to adopt the user's current color scheme in your application. For example:

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  Visual Basic Constant	Description
  VbWindowBackground	Window background color.
  VbMenuText	Color of text on menus .
  VbInfoText	Color of text in ToolTips.
  VbInfoBackground	Background color of ToolTips.

  ---

• Support the fonts that the user selects for different parts of the screen.

  For example, a user may prefer to use a very large font in the caption bar.

• Do not maximize windows because forms do not include the area used by the Task Bar. As a result, applications cannot rely on getting all available pixels on the screen.