Glossary » Widgets

clipboard

an abstract location where data is stored after it is cut or copied. The clipboard may actually be viewed when the items it contains have a natural visual representation, such as pictures or text.

clipping

a file that contains a small piece of text, graphics, or other object that has been dragged onto the desktop from an application, in contrast to a standard document saved by an application. The clipping can be dragged into another…

close box

a small box in the title bar of a window used to close the window.

collapse box

a box used in a window’s title bar (in MacOS) that causes the window to shrink or expand, leaving only the title bar visible in its shrunken state. This functionality has also been called WindowShade, metaphorically referring to the idea…

combo box

a text entry field which also has a menu to choose default values from, often used for choosing font sizes.

composite selection

a selection that contains multiple items, especially a discontinuous selection.

confirmation slip

a dialog box for confirming or canceling an action (NewtonOS term).

contextual menus

menus that appear at the location of the pointer which give information relevant to the specific object or location being clicked, e.g. menus that appear after a right-click on a mouse (for PCs) or a control-click (Macs). These are in…

control

a type of widget that specifically enables a user to interact with it to provide input, as opposed to a widget that merely displays a value (e.g. a gauge). Example include most of the common widgets: buttons, scrollbars, text entry…

corrector view

a special display for editing objects. In particular, in pen-based systems, the corrector view enables the easy correction of words that were incorrectly recognized from handwriting.

crossbeam pointer

a pointer in the shape of a thick cross, used to select cells in a spreadsheet or table (different from a crosshair pointer, which is a thin cross used to carefully pinpoint exact locations).

crosshair

a pointer in a cross shape for accurate pointing, used commonly in drawing applications.

cursor

an indicator that marks the location of the text insertion point, usually a thin vertical blinking line or a small caret (upward-pointing triangle) at the base of the line of text.

Note: “cursor” is often mistakenly used to refer…

cut and paste

a simple device for users to move items/data into different parts of a document and between different documents and applications. A user selects an object and selects the “cut” command (from a menu or toolbar). This removes the object from…

cycle button

a button used for selecting among a small number of options. Each time the button is pressed, the next option in the sequence is selected. A cycle button serves the same purpose as a radio button group but takes a…

dial

a widget that enables a user to set a value on a circular display, much as they would move a slider. Circular motion is usually quite difficult to control on-screen (especially with a mouse), so dials are best avoided.

dialog box

a type of window other than the main document window, commonly used to specify options or properties, and typically only visible temporarily.

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disclosure triangle

a small triangle pointing to the right which, when clicked, rotates to point down and reveals additional information below it.

double tap

in a pen-based system, to tap a pen twice in succession, used in a way equivalent to a double-click to select a range or activate an icon.

drag and drop

a direct manipulation capability that allows you to select and drag and object and drop it into another location, specifically referring to dragging from one application to another. This is a more direct approach than the traditional cut and paste…

drag handle

a small box on the edge of a selected object that can be dragged to move the object.

drag texture

a texture that appears on draggable interface components, such as sliders, scrollbars, resize boxes, and window title bars. As a metaphor for real-world grippable objects, the texture is usually a sandpaper grid of dots or a set of parallel lines.…

dropdown menu

in a menubar, an item you can click that brings down a list of options to choose, typically used to perform commands or set options.

Not always used to refer to items in a menubar, a menu can also appear…

earcon

an auditory icon; a recognizable sound used as a symbol. An example of the use of an earcon is to play sounds as rollovers to clarify the meaning of unlabeled or abstract buttons.

electronic ink

in pen-based computing systems, the untranslated scrawls a user makes on a screen, stored as a set of lines or points. Electronic ink may be stored as is, or translated into text or structured graphics for further editing, searching, etc.…