Navigation (CDE)

When the keyboard focus policy is explicit, allow the user to press the SELECT button on a component to move focus to it, except for components, such as scroll bars, that are used to adjust the size and location of other elements.

When the pointer is on a menu, allow the user to press the SELECT button to activate the menu in a spring-loaded manner.

When the pointer is on an element with an inactive pop-up menu and the context of the element allows the pop-up menu to be displayed, allow the user to press the MENU button to activate the pop-up menu in a spring-loaded manner.

If the user takes an action to display a pop-up menu, and a menu can be displayed for both an inner element and an outer element that contains the inner element, display the pop-up menu for the internal element. Be sure that the pop-up menu for an internal element is always accessible.

Once a pop-up menu is displayed, make the MENU button behave just as the SELECT button does for any menu system.

Make the SELECT button available from within posted pop-up menus. It should behave just as in any menu system.

When a menu is popped up or pulled down, place the location cursor on the menu's default entry or on the first entry in the menu, if there is no default entry.

Remove a spring-loaded menu system when the mouse button that activated it is released, except when the button is released on a cascading button in the menu hierarchy.

While a spring-loaded menu is popped up or pulled down, moving the pointer within the menu system moves the location cursor to track the pointer.

When a spring-loaded menu is popped up or pulled down and the pointer rests on a cascading button, pull down the associated menu and make it traverse. Remove the associated menu, possibly after a short delay, when the pointer moves to a menu item outside of the menu or its cascading button.

When a spring-loaded menu that is part of the menu bar is pulled down, moving the pointer to any other element on the menu bar unposts the current menu system and posts the pull-down menu associated with the new element.

When a spring-loaded menu is popped up or pulled down, and the button that activated the menu system is released within a component in the menu system, activate that component. If the release is on a cascading button or an option button, activate the associated menu in a posted manner if it was not posted prior to the associated button press.

When the pointer is in an area with a pop-up menu, allow the user to click the MENU button to activate the menu in a posted manner if it was not posted prior to clicking the MENU button.

Once a pull-down or option menu is displayed, pressing the SELECT button in the menu system causes the menu to behave as a spring-loaded menu. This allows the user to switch easily between using a posted menu and a spring-loaded menu.

If a button press unposts a menu and that button press is not also passed to the underlying component, do not pass subsequent events up to and including the button release to the underlying component.

When a button press unposts a menu, the press can be passed to the underlying component. Whether or not it is passed to the underlying component, the press can have additional effects, such as raising and giving focus to the underlying window. If the press is not passed to the underlying component, events up to and including the release must not be passed to that component.

Once a pop-up menu is displayed, pressing the SELECT button or pressing the MENU button in the menu system causes the menu to behave as a spring-loaded menu.

Pressing or clicking the MENU button on a menu-bar item displays the menu.

Pressing or clicking the MENU button on an option button displays the option menu.

Pressing the SELECT button on a text field causes the text cursor to be inserted at the mouse cursor position.

In a text component, display the text cursor differently when it has keyboard focus than when it does not. In a text component, the text cursor serves as the location cursor and, therefore, must indicate whether the component has keyboard focus.

If a text component indicates that it has lost the keyboard focus by hiding the text cursor and if the component subsequently regains the focus, the cursor should reappear at the same position it had when the component lost focus. The text cursor should not change position when a text component loses and then gains keyboard focus.

In a small component, such as a sash, indicate that it has keyboard focus by filling it. No other meaning should be associated with the filled state.

Pressing Ctrl Tab moves the location cursor to the next field, and pressing Ctrl Shift Tab moves the location cursor to the previous field. Unless Tab and Shift Tab are used for internal navigation within a field, pressing Tab also moves the location cursor to the next field, and pressing Shift Tab also moves the location cursor to the previous field.

Pressing Tab (if not used for internal navigation) or Ctrl Tab moves the location cursor forward through fields in a window according to the following rules:

Pressing Shift Tab (if not used for internal navigation) or Ctrl Shift Tab moves the location cursor backward through fields in the order opposite to that of Tab (if not used for internal navigation) and Ctrl Tab.

When a window acquires focus, place the location cursor on the control that last had focus in the window, providing that all the following conditions are met:

Wrap field navigation between the first and last fields in the window.

When ↓ and ↑ are used for component navigation within a field, they should behave according to the following rules:

When → and ← are used for component navigation within a field, they should behave according to the following rules:

If a control uses → and ← for internal navigation, pressing Begin moves the location cursor to the leftmost edge of the data or the leftmost element in a left-to-right language environment. In a right-to-left language environment, pressing Begin moves the location cursor to the rightmost edge of the data or the rightmost element.

If a control uses → and ← for internal navigation, pressing End moves the location cursor to the rightmost edge of the data or the rightmost element in a left-to-right language environment. In a right-to-left language environment, pressing End moves the location cursor to the leftmost edge of the data or the leftmost element.

If a control uses ↓ and ↑ for internal navigation, pressing Ctrl Begin moves the location cursor to one of the following:

If a control uses ↓ and ↑ for internal navigation, pressing Ctrl End moves the location cursor to one of the following:

Each time a new window is opened, place keyboard focus in the first field or location within the window or in a default location, if this is appropriate for the particular window.

Pressing Tab key moves input focus between push buttons within a group.

The Ctrl, Shift, and Alt keys should modify only the function of other keys or key combinations.

Pressing Alt only to provides access to mnemonics.

If the user traverses to a menu while the keyboard focus policy is implicit, temporarily change the focus policy to explicit and revert to implicit whenever the user traverses out of the menu system.

Menus must always be traversable, even when the keyboard focus policy is generally implicit.

Pressing F10 activates the menu bar-system if it is inactive and the location cursor is placed on the first traversable cascading button in the menu bar. If there are no traversable cascading buttons, the key should do nothing.

When the keyboard focus is in an element with an inactive pop-up menu and the context of the element allows the pop-up menu to be displayed, pressing menu activates the pop-up menu and places the location cursor on the default item of the menu or on the first traversable item in the pop-up menu, if there is no default item.

When the keyboard focus is in an option button, pressing Select or Spacebar displays the option menu and places location cursor on the previously selected item in the option menu; or, if the option menu has been pulled down for the first time, places the location cursor on the default item in the menu. If there is an active option menu, pressing Return, Select, or Spacebar selects the current item in the option menu, unposts the menu system, and returns the location cursor to the option button.

Pressing ↓, ↑, ←, and → traverses through the items in a menu system.

When a menu traversal action traverses to the next or previous component in a menu or menu bar, the order of traversal and the wrapping behavior should be the same as that of the corresponding component navigation action within a field.

If your application uses any two-dimensional menus, do not include any cascading buttons. Cascading buttons in a two-dimensional menu restricts the user's ability to use the keyboard to navigate to all of the elements of the menu.

When focus is on a component in a menu or menu-bar system, pressing ↓ behaves in the following way:

When focus is on a component in a menu or menu-bar system, pressing ↑ behaves in the following way:

When focus is on a component in a menu or menu-bar system, pressing ← behaves in the following way:

When focus is on a component in a menu or menu-bar system, pressing → behaves in the following way:

Allow all menu traversal actions, with the exception of menu posting, to traverse to tear-off buttons in the same way as for other menu entries. Traversal of tear-off buttons needs to be consistent with traversal of other menu items.

If your application uses F10, Menu, or Cancel to unpost an entire menu system and an explicit focus policy is in use, move the location cursor back to the component that had it before the menu system was posted.

Any scrollable components within your application should support the appropriate navigation and scrolling operations. The page navigation keys Page Up, Page Down, Control Page Up (for Page Left), and Control Page Down (for Page Right) scroll the visible region by a page increment. The user needs to be able to view and access the entire contents of a scrollable component.

When scrolling by a page, leave at least one unit of overlap between the old and new pages.

Any keyboard operation that moves the cursor to or in the component, or that inserts, deletes, or modifies items at the cursor location should scroll the component so that the cursor is visible when the operation is complete. The user needs to be able to see the results of moving the location cursor or the effects of operating on the contents of the scrollable component.

If a mouse-based scrolling action is in progress, pressing Cancel cancels the scrolling action and returns the scrolling device to its state prior to the start of the scrolling operation.