Advanced Visual Basic Techniques
(Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.)
Author(s): Rod Stephens
ISBN: 0471188816
Publication Date: 06/01/97

Large Icons. Displays items as large icons.

Small Icons. Displays items as small icons.

List. Displays items in a list. This command makes sense only if the Large Icons and Small Icons commands are also present.

Refresh. Refreshes the display or reloads the data. This is useful if the data presented by the application changes and the application does not automatically refresh the display. For example, if a new file is added to a directory displayed by Windows Explorer, Explorer adds the file to the end of its display. If you invoke the Refresh command, Explorer rearranges the directory list according to its sorting criteria (alphabetical, by type, by size, and so on) and puts the new file in its proper position.

Scale. Changes the scale at which the document is displayed.

Options The Options menu contains commands that customize the application. There is some ambiguity about whether certain commands belong in the Options menu or elsewhere. Commands that determine which user interface components are visible (that is, toolbars) are often placed in the View menu. The Print Setup command is always placed in the File menu, even though it is more properly a configuration command.

As a rule of thumb, if a configuration command is complicated and the application saves the settings to use them the next time it is run, the command probably belongs in the Options menu. Commands that affect the inner workings of the application but do not change the visible interface almost surely belong here. For example, in a programming environment, commands to change compiler options would belong in the Options menu.

The standard mnemonic for the Options menu is O. Options menu entries are extremely application-specific so no commands are truly standard for the Options menu.

Window Although the Window menu is used only by MDI applications, it is described here for completeness. This menu contains commands that manipulate the windows in the MDI application. These commands allow the user to arrange the windows in various ways and to make one of the windows active. These functions are simple to implement using the MDI form’s Arrange method.

Figure 1.12 shows a Window menu. The standard mnemonic for this menu is W. Standard entries in the Window menu are listed below.

Arrange Icons. Arranges the icons for any minimized child forms. An application can implement this command for the MDI form MyForm by simply using the following command:

MyForm.Arrange vbArrangeIcons

FIGURE 1.12  A Window menu.

Cascade. Arranges the nonminimized child forms so they overlap each other slightly. This makes it easy for the user to jump between windows quickly. An application can implement this command for the MDI form MyForm using the following command:

MyForm.Arrange vbCascade

Tile Horizontal. Arranges the nonminimized child forms horizontally so they do not overlap. If this would make the forms too small to be usable, the application should not provide this command. An application can implement this command for the MDI form MyForm with the following command:

MyForm.Arrange vbTileHorizontal

Tile Vertical. Arranges the nonminimized child forms vertically so they do not overlap. If this would make the forms too small to be usable, the application should not provide this command. An application can implement this command for the MDI form MyForm using the following command:

MyForm.Arrange vbTileVertical

Window list. If the Window menu’s WindowList property is set to true, Visual Basic automatically adds a list of the MDI child windows to the menu. The list of children is separated from the other commands in the menu by a separator. When the user selects one of the children, it becomes the current window. The application does not need to do anything to implement this feature other than setting the menu’s WindowList property to true.

Help The Help menu contains commands that give the user help. There are also a few other ways the user can obtain help. These methods are discussed in the section “Help” in Chapter 2.

Help commands are slightly different from other menu commands that use dialogs. The Print Setup command, for example, presents a modal dialog. The user cannot continue working with the application until the dialog is closed. Help, on the other hand, is displayed by a separate application. The user can click on the original application and resume working there without closing the help application. Even so, the name of each help command should end with an ellipsis so the user knows it presents a new form.

Figure 1.13 shows a Help menu. The standard mnemonic for this menu is H. Standard entries in the Help menu are listed below.

Contents (F1). Presents the application’s help table of contents. In many applications F1 displays context-sensitive help on whichever control currently has the input focus. A form’s ActiveControl property indicates which control has the focus.

Search For Help On. Allows the user to search the application’s help file.

Index. Presents the application’s help index. This is a list of keywords much like the index in a book. In some help systems, buttons allow the user to jump to entries starting with a letter of the \alphabet. The keywords should be marked as hypertext links so the user can jump to a topic by clicking on a keyword. This is not a searchable index, as is the one presented by the Search For Help On command.

FIGURE 1.13  A Help menu.

How To Use Help. Presents help on using help. Many applications do not provide this command, assuming that most users know how to use help. This command is very easy to provide, however, so there is no reason to omit it.

Context-Sensitive Help. Initiates context-sensitive help. This command changes the cursor to a question mark. When the user clicks on a user interface element, the application presents help for that element. For example, the user might click on a text field to find out more about the data in that field.

Examples. Presents application-specific examples.

Tips. Presents short, application-specific usage hints and tips.

Technical Support. Explains how to obtain technical support for the application.

About This Screen. Provides help for the current screen. The word “screen” should be replaced with the name of the current screen, as in “About The Expense Screen.”

About The Application. The word “application” should be replaced by the application’s name, as in “About ExpenseReporter.” Almost every Windows program has an About command at the bottom of the Help menu. This command presents a dialog that gives the name and version number of the application. It often contains brief copyright information and sometimes tells who is the registered owner of the application. Many applications also include system information. Some list the amount of free disk space, others show memory usage, and still others provide a button that opens another application that tells all about the system. This information has nothing to do with the application so it should not be here.