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UI guidelines for dialog boxes

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  • P paulb

    how about this... 10). Modal dialogs should never be nested more than 2 deep. Any more than this just creates confusion (and a mess of nested windows).

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    Anna Jayne Metcalfe
    wrote on last edited by
    #31

    Definately. That's one of my pet hates too! Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd

    Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
    "I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul Watson

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    • N Nish Nishant

      Hey guys I am working on a set of UI guidelines for designing dialog boxes. I have a few tips ready already. But I am looking for several more. Your suggestions are welcome Dialog boxes 1. All dialog boxes will have a CANCEL button, and when the user clicks the CANCEL button the dialog will be dismissed without any changes being applied 2. Pressing ESCAPE when a dialog box is active will have the same effect as clicking the CANCEL button 3. On Windows based systems, the dialog will have a Close button [X} in the title bar which will duplicate the behaviour of the CANCEL button 4. All dialog boxes will have an OK button and when the user clicks the OK button, the dialog will be dismissed and all changes will be applied 5. Pressing ENTER on a dialog box will have the same effect as clicking on the OK button, except when the focus is on a multi-line edit box 6. The size of the dialog box will be such that it will fit within the screen on the lowest target resolution which by default is fixed as 640 x 480. Depending on the target requirements this default may be raised or lowered. 7. Dialog boxes that accept data entry should be modal. 8. Ideally there should not be more than 10 data entry fields on a dialog box, inclusive of edit boxes, combo boxes, list boxes, check boxes and radio buttons. Text fields are not counted. Under special situations where it is absolutely necessary that there will be more than 10 data entry fields in a dialog, they should be arranged in logical groups using group boxes. 9. The tab order should be sequential and logical. Random jumping of tabs is strictly not allowed. Nish

      Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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      Michael P Butler
      wrote on last edited by
      #32

      What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines? http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch09d.asp Michael :-) Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician. - The Doctor

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      • N Nish Nishant

        Olli wrote: I disagree in that coz I like it more logical, sometimes it's better to behave like the TAB-key.... but I think it depends on the logical situation... That's a hangover from the DOS days when apps did that. Today only COBOL apps behave that way. The default windows behaviour is to tab on TAB and dismiss on ENTER Nish

        Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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        Shaun Wilde
        wrote on last edited by
        #33

        Nishant S wrote: That's a hangover from the DOS days when apps did that. Today only COBOL apps behave that way. The default windows behaviour is to tab on TAB and dismiss on ENTER now I still get requirements for UI to behave like that eg press return on an edit moves to next field - we deal with people who do a lot of data inputting - and they do not use the mouse much but like to use the keyboard

        Stupidity dies. The end of future offspring. Evolution wins. - A Darwin Awards Haiku

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        • O Olli

          Nishant S wrote: The default windows behaviour is to tab on TAB and dismiss on ENTER I know, you know... but my customers do not really now... When you see them work, they click from edit to edit for example, and not so many are using the keyboard navigation (coz they don't know...)

          Olli I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.....
          :suss: :rolleyes: :suss:

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          Michael P Butler
          wrote on last edited by
          #34

          I still on ocassion hit enter when I should hit tab. Too many DOS app's in my past. ;-) Michael :-) Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician. - The Doctor

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          • S Shaun Wilde

            hmmm - now I wonder where I've seen 12 before - ponder ponder...... ;)

            Stupidity dies. The end of future offspring. Evolution wins. - A Darwin Awards Haiku

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            ColinDavies
            wrote on last edited by
            #35

            Shaun Wilde wrote: hmmm - now I wonder where I've seen 12 before - ponder ponder..... I BET. There is an unpublished API in windows for doing this ! Regardz Colin J Davies

            Sonork ID 100.9197:Colin

            I am sick of fighting with Martin, I think I will ignore his posts from here on in, and spend the time working on articles instead. Christian Graus

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            • N Nish Nishant

              Olli wrote: I disagree in that coz I like it more logical, sometimes it's better to behave like the TAB-key.... but I think it depends on the logical situation... That's a hangover from the DOS days when apps did that. Today only COBOL apps behave that way. The default windows behaviour is to tab on TAB and dismiss on ENTER Nish

              Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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              Anna Jayne Metcalfe
              wrote on last edited by
              #36

              Dismissing on ENTER can be a real pain. We tend to trap ENTER and use it to fire off a default action on the currently focused control instead. Although non-standard in Windows terms, this does allow the user to explicitly tell the system they've finished entering data in an edit box WITHOUT having to use the TAB key to force a focus change to the next control (which in our case is rarely the next one they'll be interested in anyway). :) Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd

              Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
              "I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul Watson

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              • N Nish Nishant

                Hey guys I am working on a set of UI guidelines for designing dialog boxes. I have a few tips ready already. But I am looking for several more. Your suggestions are welcome Dialog boxes 1. All dialog boxes will have a CANCEL button, and when the user clicks the CANCEL button the dialog will be dismissed without any changes being applied 2. Pressing ESCAPE when a dialog box is active will have the same effect as clicking the CANCEL button 3. On Windows based systems, the dialog will have a Close button [X} in the title bar which will duplicate the behaviour of the CANCEL button 4. All dialog boxes will have an OK button and when the user clicks the OK button, the dialog will be dismissed and all changes will be applied 5. Pressing ENTER on a dialog box will have the same effect as clicking on the OK button, except when the focus is on a multi-line edit box 6. The size of the dialog box will be such that it will fit within the screen on the lowest target resolution which by default is fixed as 640 x 480. Depending on the target requirements this default may be raised or lowered. 7. Dialog boxes that accept data entry should be modal. 8. Ideally there should not be more than 10 data entry fields on a dialog box, inclusive of edit boxes, combo boxes, list boxes, check boxes and radio buttons. Text fields are not counted. Under special situations where it is absolutely necessary that there will be more than 10 data entry fields in a dialog, they should be arranged in logical groups using group boxes. 9. The tab order should be sequential and logical. Random jumping of tabs is strictly not allowed. Nish

                Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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                NormDroid
                wrote on last edited by
                #37

                Have you checked the Windows User Interface Guidlines. Normski. - Professional Windows Programmer

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                • V Vimal Earnest

                  Good points.I like to add a few more Dialogs should support keyboard shortcuts. 1.This means that we can move within a group by using arrow keys. 2.We should be able to select various controls using ALT+key combinations.For this we have to underscore the 'key' letter of the text associated with the control.

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                  Nish Nishant
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #38

                  Vimal Earnest wrote: We should be able to select various controls using ALT+key combinations Good suggestion Vimal. Thanks :-)

                  Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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                  • M Matt Gullett

                    Here are some of my general rules. (Note: no rule is totally inflexible.) 1. For dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines of text or controls, place the control buttons in the lower right of the dialog. (I place them in the lower right for all dialogs now but my data indicates upper right makes no difference for small dialogs.) 2. Also for dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines place the help button (if any) in the lower left of the dialog. 3. Generally, all text should be left justified for US english display. 4. Button text should be in Upper lower case (ie. Cancel instead of CANCEL). 5. The dialogs title should be in Upper lower case (ie. Warning instead of WARNING) 6. IF the button text or title is in upper case, the other should be also. 7. If possible use Bold. underline and/or italic to emphasise text instead of CAPS. 8. Text in CAPS should be reserved to keu words and phrases only, and never more than 3 words at a time. 9. The group frame is your friend when used wisely. 10. Labels should all have an ending colon or not have the ending colon. Be consistent. 11. If needed, Bold any labels for required fields. If Bold is not avaiable use a leading asterick. 12. Place labels above or to the left of controls they identify, but never below (at least for US English.) 13. For numeric entry fields right justify is best. 14. Avoid the Masked edit control for dates unless changing the date in the control is a rare occurence in which case it should be a picket anyway. 15. Splitters and dialogs don't mix. 16. The tree control is generally evil unless you're software is for other developers especially on dialogs. 17. For dialogs containing lists it is best if the dialog is sizeable. 18. If your dialog is sizable, show the bottom-right chevron so the user knows it's sizable. 19. Edit controls should have a max length specified unless there really is no max length. 20. Multi-line edit control should allow the user to press ENTER to get a new line. Just a few I can think of at 4:30 in the morning.

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                    Nish Nishant
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #39

                    BRILLIANT Matt G absolutely awesome tips Nish :rolleyes:

                    Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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                    • M Michael P Butler

                      What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines? http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch09d.asp Michael :-) Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician. - The Doctor

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                      Nish Nishant
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #40

                      Michael P Butler wrote: What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines? Well, 90% of the application development here is targetted for X-Windows based systems :-( Nish

                      Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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                      • N Nish Nishant

                        Though there are various implementations of resizable dialogs, none of them are anywhere near perfect. Otherwise the developer must develop separate dialogs, one for each kind of resolution or resolutions. But that'd be a big ask :-( Nish

                        Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

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                        A Offline
                        Anna Jayne Metcalfe
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #41

                        If you're working with MFC projects, Herbert Menke's CResizeCtrl may be of help to you here. Since it's a plug-in class, there's no need to write hand-crafted OnSize() handlers in each dialog...just add them to the resizer and tell it how they should be sized/positioned as the dialog is resized. :cool: Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd

                        Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
                        "I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul Watson

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                        • M Matt Gullett

                          Here are some of my general rules. (Note: no rule is totally inflexible.) 1. For dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines of text or controls, place the control buttons in the lower right of the dialog. (I place them in the lower right for all dialogs now but my data indicates upper right makes no difference for small dialogs.) 2. Also for dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines place the help button (if any) in the lower left of the dialog. 3. Generally, all text should be left justified for US english display. 4. Button text should be in Upper lower case (ie. Cancel instead of CANCEL). 5. The dialogs title should be in Upper lower case (ie. Warning instead of WARNING) 6. IF the button text or title is in upper case, the other should be also. 7. If possible use Bold. underline and/or italic to emphasise text instead of CAPS. 8. Text in CAPS should be reserved to keu words and phrases only, and never more than 3 words at a time. 9. The group frame is your friend when used wisely. 10. Labels should all have an ending colon or not have the ending colon. Be consistent. 11. If needed, Bold any labels for required fields. If Bold is not avaiable use a leading asterick. 12. Place labels above or to the left of controls they identify, but never below (at least for US English.) 13. For numeric entry fields right justify is best. 14. Avoid the Masked edit control for dates unless changing the date in the control is a rare occurence in which case it should be a picket anyway. 15. Splitters and dialogs don't mix. 16. The tree control is generally evil unless you're software is for other developers especially on dialogs. 17. For dialogs containing lists it is best if the dialog is sizeable. 18. If your dialog is sizable, show the bottom-right chevron so the user knows it's sizable. 19. Edit controls should have a max length specified unless there really is no max length. 20. Multi-line edit control should allow the user to press ENTER to get a new line. Just a few I can think of at 4:30 in the morning.

                          A Offline
                          A Offline
                          Anna Jayne Metcalfe
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #42

                          Matt Gullett wrote: 2. Also for dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines place the help button (if any) in the lower left of the dialog. Surely you mean lower right? (Property Pages and Wizards follow this convention, unless you move the default buttons). Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd

                          Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
                          "I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul Watson

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                          • A Anna Jayne Metcalfe

                            Matt Gullett wrote: 2. Also for dialogs with more than 2 or 3 lines place the help button (if any) in the lower left of the dialog. Surely you mean lower right? (Property Pages and Wizards follow this convention, unless you move the default buttons). Andy Metcalfe - Sonardyne International Ltd

                            Trouble with resource IDs? Try the Resource ID Organiser Add-In for Visual C++
                            "I would be careful in separating your wierdness, a good quirky weirdness, from the disturbed wierdness of people who take pleasure from PVC sheep with fruit repositories." - Paul Watson

                            M Offline
                            M Offline
                            Matt Gullett
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #43

                            Oy yea! Lower right it is. BTW it was 4:30 AM when I posted the message so I am surprised it makes sense at all.

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                            • N Nish Nishant

                              Michael P Butler wrote: What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines? Well, 90% of the application development here is targetted for X-Windows based systems :-( Nish

                              Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

                              M Offline
                              M Offline
                              Michael P Butler
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #44

                              Well just cut and paste the MS ones, put your name on it and nobody'll know the difference. ;-) Michael :-) Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician. - The Doctor

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                              • C Chris Maunder

                                11. Developers who provide dialogs with messages such as 'Your application is toast: Shutting down' with [OK] and [Cancel] buttons, and for which the Cancel button does not cancel the aforementioned toasting of said application, will be taken out back and shot. 12. Dialogs that have the message 'Lame: we need to restart Windows' and for which clicking the 'X' close button, hitting escape, or clicking 'Cancel' (if provided) goes ahead and restarts windows in defiance of the users choice will cause the developer who wrote the code to be staked over an ant's nest and covered in honey. cheers, Chris Maunder

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                                C Offline
                                Christopher Duncan
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #45

                                Chris Maunder wrote: 11. Developers who provide dialogs with messages such as 'Your application is toast: Shutting down' with [OK] and [Cancel] buttons, and for which the Cancel button does not cancel the aforementioned toasting of said application, will be taken out back and shot. [OK] [Cancel] should be replaced with [Crash] [Burn] If I'm going to get choices, at least make them realistic. Chistopher Duncan Author - The Career Programmer: Guerilla Tactics for an Imperfect World (Apress)

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                                • O Olli

                                  Nishant S wrote: The default windows behaviour is to tab on TAB and dismiss on ENTER I know, you know... but my customers do not really now... When you see them work, they click from edit to edit for example, and not so many are using the keyboard navigation (coz they don't know...)

                                  Olli I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.....
                                  :suss: :rolleyes: :suss:

                                  P Offline
                                  P Offline
                                  Phil J Pearson
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #46

                                  Then you should upgrade to the latest version of customer. There's really no excuse for continuing to use the old, broken version. Phil

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                                  • P Phil J Pearson

                                    Then you should upgrade to the latest version of customer. There's really no excuse for continuing to use the old, broken version. Phil

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                                    O Offline
                                    Olli
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #47

                                    LOL :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

                                    Olli I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe.....
                                    :suss: :rolleyes: :suss:

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                                    • N Nish Nishant

                                      Hello James Twine. First of all, thanks for the reply! James R. Twine wrote: 3. On Windows based systems, the dialog will have a Close button [X} in the title bar which will duplicate the behaviour of the CANCEL button This is default behavior. The same goes for (see below). Not for Java and VB developed applications!!! James R. Twine wrote: There are cases where non-modal windows are very useful for data entry. The Properties window in DevStudio is a perfect example: image having to manually dismiss a dialog each time you changed a control's text, ID, or style in the resource editor... Hmmm. I guess I'll have to add a special case clause for that!!! :-( Regards, Nish

                                      Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

                                      J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      James R Twine
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #48

                                      Nishant S wrote: Not for Java and VB developed applications!!!    That is because their implementation of the boxes is broken! :)  Actually, now that I think about it, I KNOW that the Dialog Manager automatically handles , but I am not so sure about ...    Peace! -=- James. "There is nothing worse than being oblivious to the fact that you do not know what you are doing." [Get Check Favorites 1.4 Now!]

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                                      • M Michael P Butler

                                        What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines? http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnwue/html/ch09d.asp Michael :-) Look, try and use your intelligence, man, even if you are a politician. - The Doctor

                                        J Offline
                                        J Offline
                                        James R Twine
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #49

                                        Michael P Butler wrote: What's wrong with the "offical" Microsoft User Interface Guidelines?    Nothing... Except a lot of developers are ignorant of them.  There are broken GUIs everywhere...    Peace! -=- James. "There is nothing worse than being oblivious to the fact that you do not know what you are doing." [Get Check Favorites 1.4 Now!]

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                                        • N Nish Nishant

                                          Hey guys I am working on a set of UI guidelines for designing dialog boxes. I have a few tips ready already. But I am looking for several more. Your suggestions are welcome Dialog boxes 1. All dialog boxes will have a CANCEL button, and when the user clicks the CANCEL button the dialog will be dismissed without any changes being applied 2. Pressing ESCAPE when a dialog box is active will have the same effect as clicking the CANCEL button 3. On Windows based systems, the dialog will have a Close button [X} in the title bar which will duplicate the behaviour of the CANCEL button 4. All dialog boxes will have an OK button and when the user clicks the OK button, the dialog will be dismissed and all changes will be applied 5. Pressing ENTER on a dialog box will have the same effect as clicking on the OK button, except when the focus is on a multi-line edit box 6. The size of the dialog box will be such that it will fit within the screen on the lowest target resolution which by default is fixed as 640 x 480. Depending on the target requirements this default may be raised or lowered. 7. Dialog boxes that accept data entry should be modal. 8. Ideally there should not be more than 10 data entry fields on a dialog box, inclusive of edit boxes, combo boxes, list boxes, check boxes and radio buttons. Text fields are not counted. Under special situations where it is absolutely necessary that there will be more than 10 data entry fields in a dialog, they should be arranged in logical groups using group boxes. 9. The tab order should be sequential and logical. Random jumping of tabs is strictly not allowed. Nish

                                          Author of the romantic comedy Summer Love and Some more Cricket [New Win] Review by Shog9 Click here for review[NW]

                                          J Offline
                                          J Offline
                                          James R Twine
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #50

                                          A few more...    If you use color as part of your interface, like using Green test for informational messages and Red for errors, make the colors selectable by the user!  Many developers forget that some users are colorblind, and others may be using a red or green color as their background color.    If you have a drop-down combobox, make sure to adjust it's dropped width as required.    When showing MessageBoxes to confirm an action with MB_OKCANCEL, MB_YESNO, MB_YESNOCANCEL, etc, make sure to default the "safe" choice.  This one is forgotten most often.  For example, if you are asking the user to confirm a delete action with a message like "Are you sure you want to delete this item? This action cannot be undone!", and are using a MB_YESNO MessageBox, the [No] button should be the default button.    Peace! -=- James. "There is nothing worse than being oblivious to the fact that you do not know what you are doing." [Get Check Favorites 1.4 Now!]

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