Context menu

Context menu
A desktop context menu in GNOME which can be customized
Context menus in Windows XP are customizable by third-party software.

A context menu (also called contextual, shortcut, and popup or pop-up menu) is a menu in a graphical user interface (GUI) that appears upon user interaction, such as a right mouse click or middle click mouse operation. A context menu offers a limited set of choices that are available in the current state, or context, of the operating system or application. Usually the available choices are actions related to the selected object.

Contents

History

Context menus first appeared in the Smalltalk environment on the Xerox Alto computer, where they were called pop-up menus. The NEXTSTEP operating system further developed the idea, incorporating a feature whereby the right or middle mouse button brought the main menu (which was vertical and automatically changed depending on context) to the location of the mouse, thereby eliminating the need to move the mouse pointer all the way across the large (for the time) NextStep screen.

Implementation

Context menus are opened via various forms of user interaction that target a region of the GUI that supports context menus. The specific form of user interaction and the means by which a region is targeted vary:

  • On a computer running Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, or Unix running the X Window System, clicking the secondary mouse button (usually the right button) opens a context menu for the region that is under the mouse pointer.
  • On systems that support one-button mice, context menus are typically opened by pressing and holding the primary mouse button (this works on the icons in the Dock on Mac OS X) or by pressing a keyboard/mouse button combination (e.g. Ctrl-mouse click in Mac OS). A keyboard alternative for Mac OS is to enable Mouse keys in Universal Access. Then, depending on whether a laptop or compact or extended keyboard type is used, the shortcut is Function+Ctrl+5 or Ctrl+5 (numeric keypad) or Function+Ctrl+i (laptop).
  • In Microsoft Windows, pressing the Application key or Shift+F10 opens a context menu for the region that has focus.

Context menus are sometimes hierarchically organized, allowing navigation through different levels of the menu structure. The implementations differ: Microsoft Word was one of the first applications to only show sub-entries of some menu entries after clicking an arrow icon on the context menu, otherwise executing an action associated with the parent entry. This makes it possible to quickly repeat an action with the parameters of the previous execution, and to better separate options from actions.

X Window Managers

The following window managers provide context menu functionality:

Usability

Context menus have received some criticism from usability analysts when improperly used, as some applications make certain features only available in context menus, which may confuse even experienced users (especially when the context menus can only be activated in a limited area of the application's client window).

Context menus usually open in a fixed position under the pointer, but when the pointer is near a screen edge the menu will be displaced - thus reducing consistency and impeding use of muscle memory. If the context menu is being triggered by keyboard, such as by using Shift + F10, the context menu appears instead near the focused widget instead of the position of the pointer, to save recognition efforts.

In documentation

Microsoft's guidelines call for using the term context menu only in programming and other technical documentation, while using shortcut menu in user documentation.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ Microsoft (2011). Menus. Retrieved from http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa511502.aspx.

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • context menu — kontekstinis meniu statusas T sritis informatika apibrėžtis Meniu, kuriame yra komandos, taikytinos esamam ↑kontekstui. Pavyzdžiui, daugelyje „Windows“ terpės programų kontekstinis meniu atsiranda spustelėjus pasirinktą objektą dešiniuoju pelės… …   Enciklopedinis kompiuterijos žodynas

  • context menu — noun A context sensitive menu …   Wiktionary

  • Context — may refer to: Context (language use), the relevant constraints of the communicative situation that influence language use, language variation, and discourse summary Archaeological context, an event in time which has been preserved in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Menu (computing) — A generic application menu In computing and telecommunications, a menu is a list of commands presented to an operator by a computer or communications system. A menu is used in contrast to a command line interface, where instructions to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Menu key — The context menu in Mozilla Firefox In computing, the Menu key or Application key is a key found on Microsoft Windows oriented computer keyboards. Its symbol is a small icon depicting a cursor hovering above a menu. It is typically found on the… …   Wikipedia

  • Menu bar — A menu bar is a region of a screen or application interface where drop down menus are displayed. The menu bar s purpose is to supply a common housing for window or application specific menus which provide access to such functions as opening files …   Wikipedia

  • Menu (disambiguation) — The word menu may refer to: A restaurant menu. In computing, an on screen list of alternatives; see menu (computing), context menu and pie menu. In military history, Operation Menu On a computer keyboard, the menu key. On a non shuffle iPod, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Menu engineering — is an interdisciplinary field of study devoted to the deliberate and strategic construction of menus.[1] It is also commonly referred to as Menu Psychology. Contents 1 Definition 2 Psychology of menu engineering 3 Manage …   Wikipedia

  • Context-Sensitive Menu —   [dt. kontextbezogenes Menü], Kontextmenü …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Context sensitive user interface — A context sensitive user interface is one which can automatically choose from a multiplicity of options based on the current or previous state(s) of the program operation. [ [http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/context sensitive.html Webopedia :… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”