Indigo Magic User Interface Guidelines
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Indigo Magic™ User Interface Guidelines Document Number 007-2167-002 CONTRIBUTORS Written by Jackie Neider, Deb Galdes, John C. Stearns, and Arthur Evans Illustrated by John C. Stearns, Arthur Evans, Delle Maxwell, and Doug O’Morain Edited by Christina Cary Production by Cindy Stief Principal architects of the Silicon Graphics Style: Deb Galdes, Delle Maxwell, Mike Mohageg, Michael Portuesi, Rob Myers, and Betsy Zeller Special thanks to Donna Davilla, Debbie Myers, Dave Ciemiewicz, Steve Yohanan, and Kim Rachmeler Other contributions by Dave Story, Eva Manolis, Susan Dahlberg, Doug Young, Josie Wernecke, Susan Angebranndt, Roger Powell, Dave Mott, Tom Davis, David Curley, Ken Jones, Richard Wright, Ron Edmark, Victor Riley, Ashmeet Sidana, Ken Kershner, Joel Tesler, Bob Brown, Dan Miley, Greg Ferguson, Jerry Granucci, Ed Immenschuh, Grace Pariante, Rebecca Underwood, James Raby, Pete Sullivan, Mike Chow, Tony Wong, Jamie Schein, Mike Keeler, Anna Wichansky, Beth Fryer, Robert Reimann © Copyright 1996, Silicon Graphics, Inc.— All Rights Reserved This document contains proprietary and confidential information of Silicon Graphics, Inc. The contents of this document may not be disclosed to third parties, copied, or duplicated in any form, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of Silicon Graphics, Inc. RESTRICTED RIGHTS LEGEND Use, duplication, or disclosure of the technical data contained in this document by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subdivision (c) (1) (ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 52.227-7013 and/or in similar or successor clauses in the FAR, or in the DOD or NASA FAR Supplement. Unpublished rights reserved under the Copyright Laws of the United States. Contractor/manufacturer is Silicon Graphics, Inc., 2011 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043-1389. Silicon Graphics and IRIS are registered trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. IRIX, IconSmith, Indigo Magic, InPerson, IRIS IM, IRIS InSight, and IRIS Showcase are trademarks of Silicon Graphics, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company, Ltd. Motif and OSF/Motif are trademarks of the Open Systems Foundation. MediaMail is a trademark of Z-Code Software Corp. PostScript is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. X Window System is a trademark of the Massachusets Institute of Technology. Indigo Magic™ User Interface Guidelines Document Number 007-2167-002 Contents List of Figures xiii List of Tables xvii About This Guide xix What This Guide Contains xx Part One: Integrating With the Indigo Magic Desktop xx Part Two: Interface Components xxi Appendix xxi What You Should Know Before Reading This Guide xxi Suggestions for Further Reading xxii Conventions Used in This Guide xxiii Style Guidelines xxiii Font Conventions xxiii PART I Integrating With the Indigo Magic Desktop 1. Overview of the Indigo Magic Desktop 3 Overview of the Desktop 3 How Users Interact With Desktop Icons 6 Mouse and Keyboard Hardware 8 2. Icons 11 Designing the Appearance of Icons 11 General Icon Design: Components, Size, and Colors 13 Icon Components 14 Icon Size 16 Icon Colors 17 Icon Orientation 20 iii Contents Application Icon Design 22 File Icon Design 24 Icon Appearance Design Guidelines 26 Defining the Behavior of Icons With FTRs 27 User and Icon Interaction 27 Icon Behavior Guidelines 29 Making Application Icons Accessible 30 Putting Icons Into the Icon Catalog 30 Naming and Locating Executables for the Find an Icon Tool 31 Application Icon Accessibility Guidelines 33 3. Windows in the Indigo Magic Environment 35 The Indigo Magic Look: Graphic Features and Schemes 36 Enhanced Graphics in the Indigo Magic Look 36 Schemes for Colors and Fonts 39 Indigo Magic Look Guidelines 40 Application Window Categories and Characteristics 40 Application Window Categories 41 Application Models 41 “Single Document, One Primary” Application Model 42 “Single Document, Multiple Primaries” Application Model 42 “Multiple Document, Visible Main” Application Model 42 “Multiple Document, No Visible Main” Application Model 43 Window Decorations and the Window Menu 43 Window Title Bar 46 Rules for Labeling the Title Bar in Main Primary Windows 47 Rules for Labeling the Title Bar in Windows Other Than Main 48 Window Size 49 Window Placement 51 Application Window Characteristic Guidelines 52 Keyboard Focus Across Windows 55 Single-Action Pointer Grab Model 56 Multiple-Action Pointer Grab Model 58 iv Contents Guidelines for Keyboard Focus Across Windows 59 Minimized Windows 60 Choosing an Image for Your Minimized Window 60 Labeling a Minimized Window 63 Processing While Minimized 64 Using the Minimized Window to Show Status 64 Minimized Window Guidelines 65 Desks 66 Desks Guidelines 68 Session Management 68 Session Management Guidelines 70 4. Indigo Magic Desktop Services 73 Software Installation 73 Software Installation Guideline 75 Online Help 75 Providing Help Using SGIHelp 75 Types of Online Help 76 Context-Sensitive Information 78 Overview Information 78 Task-Oriented Information 79 Index of Help Topics 79 Keyboard Shortcut Information 80 Product Information 80 Providing Help through a Help Menu 80 Providing Help Through a Help Button 82 Guidelines for Designing Online Help 83 Writing Online Help Content for SGIHelp 85 Learning About SGIHelp 85 Creating Help Cards 86 Writing Context-Sensitive Help 87 Writing Overview Information 87 Writing Task Information 87 Writing Index Information 88 v Contents Writing Keyboard Shortcut Information 88 Writing for Windows With Help Buttons 89 Guidelines for Creating SGIHelp Content 89 Online Documentation 91 Desktop Variables 91 Scheme Setting 92 Auto Window Placement Setting 92 Language Setting 92 Mouse Double-Click Speed Setting 93 Editor Preference Setting 94 Desktop Variables Guidelines 97 File Alteration Monitor (FAM) 97 File Monitoring Guideline 98 5. Data Exchange on the Indigo Magic Desktop 99 Supporting the Clipboard Transfer Model 99 Supporting the Primary Transfer Model 101 Data Types Supported for Inter-Application Transfer 105 Data Exchange Guidelines 106 PART II Interface Components 6. Application Windows 111 Application Models 111 Window Types 112 Standard Application Models 113 “Single Document, One Primary” Application Model 113 “Single Document, Multiple Primaries” Application Model 115 “Multiple Document, Visible Main” Application Model 116 “Multiple Document, No Visible Main” Application Model 118 Application Model Guidelines 118 Main and Co-Primary Windows 119 Menu Bars in Primary Windows 121 Scrollable Work Areas in Primary Windows 122 vi Contents Control Areas in Primary Windows 122 Status Areas in Primary Windows 123 Splitting Primary Windows Into Panes 124 Popup Menus in Primary Windows 124 Primary Window Guidelines 124 Support Windows 125 General Support Window Design 126 A Specific Standard Support Window: The Indigo Magic Color Chooser 127 Support Window Guidelines 129 Pointer Behavior in a Window 130 Pointer Behavior Guidelines 131 7. Focus, Selection, and Drag and Drop 133 Keyboard Focus and Navigation 133 Keyboard Focus Policy and Navigation Within a Window 134 Keyboard Navigation 135 Mouse Navigation 138 Keyboard Focus and Navigation Guidelines 139 Selection 139 Selection Models—What Can Be Selected and How To Select It 140 Highlighting a Selection 143 Multiple Collections in One Application Window 143 Selection Guidelines 144 Drag and Drop 144 Two Models of Drag and Drop 145 Drag and Drop for Non-Text Objects 145 Drag and Drop for Text 146 Pointers for Drag Operations 147 Drag and Drop Guidelines 147 8. Menus 149 Types of Menus 149 Pull Down Menus 150 Popup Menus 151 vii Contents Option Menus 151 Menu Traversal and Activation 152 Using the Mouse to Manipulate Menus 153 Spring-Loaded Manner 153 Posted Manner 153 Mouse Click 154 Using the Keyboard to Manipulate Menus 154 Menu Traversal and Activation Guidelines 155 The Menu Bar and Pull-Down Menus 155 Standard Menus 157 File Menu 158 Selected Menu 161 Edit Menu 161 View Menu 164 Tools menu 165 Options menu 165 Help menu 165 What to Put in the Pull-Down Menus 166 Naming Menus in the Menu Bar 167 Naming Menu Entries in the Pull-Down Menus 168 Ordering Menus and Menu Entries in the Pull-Down Menus 169 Using Cascading Menus 170 Using Radio Buttons and Checkboxes in Pull-Down Menus 171 Choosing Mnemonics 171 Choosing Keyboard Accelerators 172 Disabling Menu Entries 174 Dynamic Menu Entries 174 Pull-Down Menu Guidelines 175 Popup Menus 178 What to Put in Popup Menus 179 Disabling Popup Menu Entries 180 Popup Menu Guidelines 180 viii Contents 9. Controls 183 Pushbuttons 184 Pushbutton Guidelines 184 Option Buttons 185 Option Button Guidelines 186 Checkboxes 187 Checkbox Guidelines 187 Radio Buttons 188 Radio Button Guidelines 189 LED Indicators 190 LED Button Guidelines 190 Lists 191 List Guidelines 192 Text Fields 193 Text Field Guidelines 193 Scrollbars 194 Scrollbar Guidelines 195 Indigo Magic Scales 197 Indigo Magic Scale Guidelines 197 Labels 198 Label Guidelines 198 File Finder 199 File Finder Guidelines 200 Thumbwheels 200 Thumbwheel Guidelines 201 Dials 202 Dial Guidelines 202 10. Dialogs 205 Types and Modes of Dialogs 205 Dialog Modes 209 Guidelines for Using the Various Types and Modes of Dialogs 210 Designing Dialogs 210 Decorations, Initial State, and Layout of Dialogs 211 ix Contents Standard Dialog Actions 213 Choosing Specific Actions for Your Dialogs 213 Choosing Default Actions 214 Labeling Dialog Buttons 215 Content