Cursor

A box drawn around an element. This is the default element cursor. It usually has solid borders, but should have dashed borders when used within a selection scope in add mode.

An outline with a shadow effect around a control. Provide the shadow shape on a control whose outline is not normally shown, for example, the menu system.

Solid or hollow square boxes that surround an object (sometimes called resize borders). You typically use handles in applications when the size, position, or shape of an element can be resized.

A vertical bar or I-beam in text to indicate where text may be inserted (insert mode). The bar should blink when the text has input focus.

A shaded block behind the character (or sometimes a line under a character). Use it to indicate that it will be replaced (replace mode) by the next character typed. The box or underline may blink when the text has the input focus.

When using an explicit focus policy, use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis, unless a cursor is visible on some element within the control.

Use a text cursor at the appropriate point when a control is in a state where characters typed by the user may be inserted in the control or in which characters displayed within the control may be selected.

Use a graphics cursor in a control when keyboard users need to be able to place elements at specific (x,y) positions or to select elements within an arbitrary rectangle.

Use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis if a cursor is displayed within that control but is not visible because it is clipped or scrolled out of view.

Always use an element cursor on a control to indicate focus emphasis.

When the purpose of a control is to allow a positional indicator to be set to a value (for example an arm in a slider), indicate focus emphasis with an element cursor on the positional indicator.

Within a selection scope in which the user can move elements to arbitrary positions, use an element cursor within the scope instead of a graphics cursor if and only if the following are true:

A control that uses a text or graphics cursor must keep track of the cursor position even when the control does not have focus.

When designing new controls, use one of the existing cursor styles.

When the user clicks the SELECT button at a legitimate cursor position within a control that uses keyboard navigation to move the cursor, move the cursor to the location at which SELECT was clicked.

When the user presses Ctrl SELECT at a legitimate cursor position within a control that uses keyboard navigation to move the cursor, move the cursor to the location at which SELECT was pressed, but do not perform any other action, unless pressing Ctrl SELECT already has a predefined meaning in that control.

Text and graphics cursors should not track the pointer; they should only move via keyboard navigation or when a mouse button is pressed, even when in a window that uses an implicit focus policy.

An element cursor used within a control (other than a spring-sensitive control) should not track the pointer when in a window that uses an explicit focus policy.

An element cursor used within a control should track the pointer when in a window that uses an implicit focus policy.

When using keyboard navigation, do not skip over an element solely because it is obscured by another window or by an icon in the workspace.

If an element is obscured by other elements in the same window, allow keyboard navigation to it only if it can be made visible within the window.

If a control keeps track of a cursor position within the control even when the control does not have focus, do one of the following:

If a control hides a cursor but keeps track of its position within the control when the control does not have focus, then when the control gains focus, show the cursor at the position it was in (relative to the underlying data) when the control last had focus, unless the application has changed the data or cursor position in the meantime.

Within a selection scope that supports add mode and normal mode, change the appearance of the cursor, depending upon the mode. In particular, when an element cursor is used, draw a solid box around the element in normal mode and a dashed box around the element in add mode.

Make sure that a text or graphics cursor used in a control is clearly distinguishable from the shape of the pointer when it is in that control.

To make a cursor more visible when the control containing it has focus, use one of the following methods:

If a control keeps track of a cursor position within the control even when the control does not have focus, make the cursor more visible when the control does have focus.

Indicate when a graphics cursor is on an element, for example, by also showing an element cursor on the element.

When insert mode is being used, display a text cursor as a vertical bar or I-beam at the cursor position.

The size of the I-beam cursor should be proportional to the current font.

When replace mode is being used, use a block or underline to make the text cursor appear to be displayed on a character, though it actually is positioned immediately before that character.

Make a cursor distinct from any other form of emphasis.