Section 2.7. Common Controls

2.7. Common Controls

Many application and system windows use a common set of controls in addition to the ubiquitous titlebar, menubar, system menu, and scrollbars. This section describes a few of these common controls.

Figure 2-5 shows some of the common controls in Control Panel Display Screen Saver and the additional dialog box that pops up from its Settings button.

Figure 2-5. Common controls in Windows applications and dialogs

Some of these controls include:

(1) Tabbed dialogs

Settings may be grouped into separate tabbed dialog pages. For example, see Control Panel System or Control Panel Display. Click on any tab to bring that page to the front.

(2) Radio buttons

Radio buttons are used for mutually exclusive settings. Clicking on one causes any other that has been pressed to pop up, just like on an old car radio. The button with the dot in the middle is the one that has been selected. Sometimes you'll see more than one group of buttons, with a separate outline around each group. In this case, you can select one radio button from each group .

(3) Drop-down lists

Any time you see a downward-pointing arrow next to a text field, click on the arrow to drop down a list of other values. Often, a drop-down list contains a history of previous entries you've made into a text entry field. Pressing the first letter will often jump to that place in the list, as long as the list has the focus. The down arrow (or F4) will also drop down the currently selected list. The arrow keys will scroll through the stored entries, even if the list is not already dropped down. Microsoft sometimes calls these lists "Look In Lists." For an example, see Start Find Files or Folders Name & Location.

(4) Checkboxes

Checkboxes are generally used for on/off settings. A checkmark means the setting is on; an empty box means it's off. Click on the box to turn the labeled setting on or off.

(5) Grayed-out (inactive) controls

Any control like this one that is grayed out is disabled because the underlying operation is not currently available. In the dialog box shown in Figure 2-5, the currently selected screensaver doesn't have any applicable settings, so the Settings button is disabled.

(6) OK, Cancel, Apply

Most dialogs will have at least an OK and a Cancel button. Some also have Apply. The difference is that OK accepts the settings and quits the dialog and Apply accepts the changes, but doesn't quit. (This is useful in a dialog with multiple tabs, so that you can apply changes before moving to the next tab.) Cancel quits without making any changes. If you click Cancel after clicking Apply, your changes will probably already have been applied and will not revert to their original settings. But don't be surprised if some applications respond differently. Microsoft has never been clear with application developers about the expected behavior of these buttons.

(7) Counters

You can either select the number and type in a new value or click on the up or down arrow to increase or decrease the value.

(8) The default button

When a set of buttons is displayed, the default button (the one that will be activated by pressing the Enter key) has a bold border around it. The button or other area in the dialog box that has the additional dashed outline has the focus. You can move the focus by clicking with the mouse, typing the underlined accelerator character in a button or field label, or pressing the Tab or arrow keys.

In some dialog boxes, the default button (the button the Enter key presses) is hardcoded it will always be the same, as shown in Figure 2-6.

Figure 2-6. A tab containing a hardcoded default button

In others, the default button follows the focus from button to button, as in Figure 2-7. For example, right-click on the Taskbar and select Properties. The Taskbar Options tab has the OK button hardcoded as the default. Note that the bold border will stay on this button even when you move the focus among the checkboxes. The Start Menu Programs tab does not have a hardcoded default button. As you move the focus between buttons, the default button highlight moves with it. Regardless of which button is the default, pressing Esc always has the same effect as clicking the Cancel button: it cancels the dialog box.

Figure 2-7. A tab without a hardcoded default button

For more information on these various UI features, see Chapter 3.