User Interface Control Guidelines
4/19/2010
The following table provides descriptions for user interface (UI) controls. Refer to the linked topics for guidelines and details for each UI control.
| UI control | Description |
|---|---|
Use a check box only when it provides choices that are opposite and unambiguous. Otherwise, use option buttons. |
|
Combo Box Guidelines |
Use combo boxes in place of option buttons to conserve space or when the user needs to add entries to a list. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Command Buttons Guidelines |
The command button control causes an application to perform an action when the button is selected. On Windows Mobile Standard devices, only Internet Explorer Mobile has command buttons. All other applications use soft keys. |
Context Menus Guidelines |
Context Menus provide an efficient way for the user to access the operations of objects. Whenever actions are available for a specific item, a context menu should be available. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Date Pickers Guidelines |
The date picker control provides a calendar display that enables a user to select a date and display it in a specified format. |
This control is expanded to full screen when the user presses the ENTER hardware button. (Windows Mobile Standard only) |
|
Full Screen Multi-line Edit Guidelines |
A full-screen multi-line edit (MLE) control is a special type of edit box used to conserve space. |
Headers Guidelines |
A header control is used to display a heading above a list view that can also be used for sorting, folder picking, and other list-specific controls. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Horizontal Line Separator Guidelines |
Horizontal line separator elements visually group items on a screen or separate content areas of a screen. |
When you use an HTML control to create a hyperlink, you can take advantage of other aspects of the HTML control such as background images. |
|
List Box Guidelines |
Include a list box to display items a user can select. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
A list view control is used to display items in a scrollable list. |
|
Use menus to consolidate functionality. |
|
Menu Bar Buttons Guidelines |
Frequently used actions can be taken out of menus and placed directly on the menu bar so that they are easily accessible. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
When you assign mnemonics to menu commands, use the first letter of the command name unless another letter provides a better mnemonic association. |
|
Option Buttons Guidelines |
Use option buttons only when they provide mutually exclusive choices and when there are only a few choices. When there are many choices, use list boxes instead. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Progress Bars Guidelines |
A progress bar shows the percent completed for an operation or the percentage of a value. |
Scroll Bar Guidelines |
A scroll bar allows users to view all information on a page, even when not all of the information appears on the screen at the same time. |
The functionality of the shortcut keys in your application should be consistent with shortcut keys in other applications to ensure a consistent user experience. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
|
Sliders Guidelines |
A slider control is used to set or adjust values within a range. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Spin Boxes Guidelines |
Spin boxes conserve space and provide an alternative to list boxes and combo boxes. |
Split Buttons Guidelines |
A split button is used to create a button with an attached menu with secondary functions and options. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Tabs Guidelines |
Use tabs in an application to group related information and functionality. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Text Boxes Guidelines |
The text box control provides basic user text input and editing support. |
Text Headers Guidelines |
Use text headers to provide context for wizards, context for full-screen dialog boxes that contain settings or options, and instructions for picker dialog boxes. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Text Guidelines |
To conserve space, use text subheaders instead of group boxes to visually group items on a screen. Also, use text subheaders to clarify application data and functionality. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Time Pickers Guidelines |
Time pickers enable users to set the time, including the hour, minutes, and AM or PM options. |
ToolTips Guidelines |
A ToolTip is a small pop-up window that displays the name of a Windows Mobile menu bar button. (Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Classic only) |
Tree View Guidelines |
A tree view control is a special type of list box that displays the hierarchical relationship of items. |
Upper case keyboard selection |
On a QWERTY keyboard, you can allow the selection of upper case (capital) letters by a long press on the letter key, as well as by pressing Shift and then pressing the letter. Overriding keys in this manner must not affect any other key pressing requirements. |