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Popup Menus
Description
The common Popup Menu contents are described as follows. Note that
you should only include those functions actually supported by your
application. The illustration on this reference page shows a Popup
Menu.
- Properties
- Must display a properties DialogBox that the user can use to
set the properties of the component. If the Menu is popped up over a
selection, it can display the properties of the selection. If the
Menu is popped up over an unselected item, it can display the
properties of that item. If the Menu is popped up over the
background, it should display the properties of the collection, except
over a part of the background considered to be in the selection. This
action should have the mnemonic S.
- Undo Alt+Backspace
- Must reverse the most recently executed action. To provide a
visual cue to the user, the Undo selection title
should be dynamically modified to indicate what is being undone. For
example, if the most recently executed action was a paste, the action
name would be Undo paste. This action should have
the mnemonic U. This action should have the same
accelerator as the corresponding entry in the Edit
Menu.
- Primary Move Alt+Shift+Delete
- Must move the contents of the primary selection to the
component. This action must only be used in an editable component.
If the action uses an accelerator, it should be
,
[X], or both. In addition,
if the keyboard has a [Cut] key, this action should
support
[Cut] as an
accelerator. If more than one format can be moved from the primary
selection, Primary Copy can cascade a Menu of
possible transfer formats, in which case it should not have an
accelerator.
- Primary Copy Alt+Ctrl+Insert
- Must copy the contents of the primary selection to the
component. This action must only be used in an editable component.
If the action uses an accelerator, it should be
,
[C], or both. In addition,
if the keyboard has a [Copy] key, this action should
support
[Copy] as an
accelerator. If more than one format can be copied from the primary
selection, Primary Copy can cascade a Menu of
possible transfer formats, in which case it should not have an
accelerator.
- Primary Link
- Must place a link to the primary selection in the component.
This action must only be used in an editable component. If the link
can be viewed in more than one way, Primary Link can
cascade a Menu of possible viewing representations.
- Cut
- Must cut elements to the clipboard and can mark them for use in
a subsequent Paste Link operation. If the Menu is
popped up in a selection, the entire selection must be cut. If the
Menu is popped up over an unselected element, just that element should
be cut. If the Menu is popped up in the background, the entire
collection can be cut. This action should have the mnemonic
T.
- Copy
- Must copy elements to the clipboard and can mark them for use
in a subsequent Paste Link operation. If the Menu is
popped up in a selection, the entire selection must be copied. If the
Menu is popped up over an unselected element, just that element should
be copied. If the Menu is popped up in the background, the entire
collection can be copied. This action should have the mnemonic
C.
- Copy Link
- Must copy a link of elements to the clipboard and can mark them
for use in a subsequent Paste Link operation. If the
Menu is popped up in a selection, a link to the entire selection must
be copied. If the Menu is popped up over an unselected element, a
link to just that element should be copied. If the Menu is popped up
in the background, a link to the entire collection can be copied.
This action should have the mnemonic K.
- Paste Shift+Insert
- Must paste the contents of the clipboard to the component.
This action must only be used in an editable component. This action
should have the mnemonic P. This action should have
the same accelerator as the corresponding entry in the
Edit Menu.
- Paste Link
- Must paste a link of the contents of the clipboard to the
component. This action must only be used in an editable component.
This action should have the mnemonic L.
- Clear
- Must remove a selected portion of data from the client area
without copying it to the clipboard. If the Menu is popped up in a
selection, it must delete the selection. If the Menu is popped up
over an unselected element, it should delete that element. If the
Menu is popped up over the background, except over a part of the
background considered to be in the selection, it can delete all the
elements. The remaining data is not compressed to fill the space that
was occupied by the cleared data. This action should have the
mnemonic E.
- Delete
- Must remove a selected portion of data from the client area
without copying it to the clipboard. If the Menu is popped up in a
selection, it must delete the selection. If the Menu is popped up
over an unselected element, it should delete that element. If the
Menu is popped up over the background, except over a part of the
background considered to be in the selection, it can delete all the
elements. This action should have the mnemonic D.
- Select All Ctrl+/
- Must make the primary selection consist of all the elements in
the collection with the Popup Menu. If the action uses an
accelerator, it should be
[/].
- Deselect
All Ctrl+\
- Must deselect the current selection in the collection with the
Popup Menu. If the action uses an accelerator, it should be
[\].
- Select Pasted
- Must make the primary selection consist of the last element or
elements pasted into the collection with the Popup Menu.
- Reselect Alt+Insert
- Must make the primary selection consist of the last selected
element or elements in the component with the Popup Menu. The action
must be available only in components that do not support persistent
selections and only when the current selection is empty. If the
action uses an accelerator, it should be
.
- Promote Alt+Insert
- Must promote the current selection to the primary selection.
This action must only be available in components that support
persistent selections. If the action uses an accelerator, it should
be
.
Appropriate words, such as Selection or words
denoting the type of a single element of the collection as a whole,
should be added to a Label to specify which elements are affected.
For example, if a Popup Menu contains the entry Copy
Selection, the current selection is copied to the clipboard
regardless of where in the collection the Menu is popped up.
A Popup Menu item should only have an accelerator if the result of
typing the accelerator would be equivalent to popping up the Menu by
typing
, and then selecting the Menu
item. If Cut Selection is included in a Popup Menu,
it should use the same accelerators as Cut in the
Edit Menu. If Copy Selection is
included in a Popup Menu, it should use the same accelerators as
Copy in the Edit Menu.
Illustration
Related Information
See Application Design
Principles for more information on Popup Menus and for general
information about Menu design.