Fundamental Items
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Fundamental Items │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────┤
│ DESCRIPTION │ REFER- │
│ PROBLEM STATEMENT │ ENCE │
│ RECOMMENDATIONS/ALTERNATIVES │ PAGE │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ There are several areas where OS/2 V2.0 mouse behavior is │ 153/G13, │
│ inconsistent with that described in CUA 91. │ 184/G2, │
│ │ 257/G10 │
│ In general, applications should follow OS/2 for UI │ │
│ consistency since consistency between OS/2 and application │ │
│ is of primary importance to users. However, they must use │ │
│ logical messages rather than responding to particular mouse │ │
│ buttons, so that user customization, or a future change in │ │
│ OS/2, will automatically be reflected in the application. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ OS/2 does not contain visible menu bars on object container │ 141/G2 │
│ windows. Lack of menu bars is likely to cause coexistence │ │
│ and migration difficulties. Testing also indicates that │ │
│ users prefer to have menu bars present. │ │
│ │ │
│ Applications have control over the window frame and should │ │
│ therefore provide menu bars. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ OS/2 has merged the system menu icon and title bar icon │ 113/G3, │
│ along with some of their functions. Title bar icons, when │ 253/W1 │
│ provided, must behave as a manipulable item which behaves │ and │
│ the same as the object's icon; the merged icon in OS/2 does │ Defi- │
│ not exhibit this behavior. │ nition │
│ │ │
│ One problem with this is that the consistency of the OO user │ │
│ interface, which requires clear separation of model, view │ │
│ and controller functions, is reduced. Many applications │ │
│ will choose not to add a separate title bar icon because the │ │
│ title bar will then present two identical icons side-by-side;│ │
│ they look the same but act differently. │ │
│ │ │
│ Unless an application has subclassed WPS objects, such as │ │
│ Folders, they have control over the System Menu contents and │ │
│ should conform to CUA 91. If a program provides a title bar │ │
│ icon then it must conform to CUA rules. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ OS/2 does not allow users to change the view in a window. │ 268/W1 │
│ The IBM Systems Application Architecture CUA Advanced │ │
│ Interface Design Reference requires applications to support │ │
│ changing the view in a window, so that users are not forced │ │
│ to open another window onto the same object. │ │
│ │ │
│ Applications have control over views and should follow the │ │
│ CUA architecture recommendations. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ OS/2 has implemented "conditional" cascade menus which │ 36/G1 │
│ behave differently from CUA rules on cascade menus. │ │
│ Selecting a cascading choice can cause a default action to │ │
│ occur unless the user clicks on the arrow portion of the │ │
│ choice. │ │
│ │ │
│ The CUA architecture recommends avoiding conditional cascade │ │
│ menus. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ OS/2 currently does not display scroll bars in windows if │ 216/W1, │
│ all objects are displayed. CUA maintains that scroll bars │ W2, G2 │
│ must always be displayed, following unavailable-state │ │
│ emphasis guidelines; this presents the user with a visual │ │
│ cue that the object extends beyond the window boundary. │ │
│ │ │
│ If the application has implemented its own container │ │
│ control, then it should conform to the CUA guidelines. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ DOS Session Settings uses a scroll bar to set numeric values │ 216/G3 │
│ for such things as FILES, FCBS, RMSIZE, etc. This is │ │
│ inconsistent with the behavior of scroll bars in windows. │ │
│ │ │
│ Both slider or spin button controls are available in OS/2 │ │
│ V2.0 should be used to set numeric values; scroll bars │ │
│ should only be used for scrolling. │ │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────┤
│ Message windows must have title bars and correct window │ 272/G1 │
│ frames. Some OS/2 message windows lack these features. │ │
│ │ │
│ Since applications have control over the generation of these │ │
│ windows they should conform to CUA guidelines. │ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────┘
[Back: Workplace Shell Object Persistence Summary]
[Next: Recommended Items]