The slider control supports the setting of approximate values and properties in an analog rather than digital form. It is designed to be used where settings are intuitively expressed in analog or relative form, rather than exact numeric values.
The slider control consists of a slider shaft, within which is a slider arm. The arm is used to change the setting of the slider control. The arm can be moved by the user by dragging it with the mouse or by using the cursor arrow keys on the keyboard.
An application may also change the setting of a slider control from within the application, independently of user action. The application creating the slider control must specify the range of available values or increments for the slider and may also specify the spacing for items in the rulers.
In previous versions of OS/2, the scroll bar control was often used to provide the same effect as the slider; for example, setting colors in the control panel. The slider control is better than the scroll bar in such cases, since it is more flexible and typically easier to control within an application. Providing a slider control also means that the scroll bar can be used only for its intended purpose of scrolling information within a window, which results in a more consistent user interface.