The Style Guide provides developers who design and implement new products with a framework of behavior specifications that is consistent with the Motif and Common Desktop Environment (CDE) user interface. This behavior is established by drawing out the common elements from a variety of current behavioral models.
For specific details on coding an application program, widget, or window manager, refer to “Related Documents”.
This document is written for five audiences:
| Application designers | Any designer who uses Motif as a basis for building an application | |
| Widget designers | Any designer who adds functionality to the existing Motif software | |
| User interface system designers | Any designer who designs an interface for users with specific cultural and accessibility needs | |
| Window manager designers | Any designer who uses Motif to govern the layout and controls that affect application windows | |
| Common Desktop Environment application designers | Any designer who builds an application for the Common Desktop Environment |
Read through the entire Style Guide once to familiarize yourself with all user interface design concepts. If you are already familiar with graphical user interfaces and their design concepts, but need specific information, skip to the topic you are interested in by using the following table:
This is revision 2.1 of this document. It applies to Version 2.1 of the Motif software system and Version 2.1 of the Common Desktop Environment system.
This document is organized into thirteen chapters and three appendixes.
Chapter 1, “The User Interface: Elements of Style” provides an introduction to the Motif and CDE interfaces, a history of Motif, and an introduction to elements that Motif and this style guide use.
Chapter 2, “Controls” describes standard window and window manager controls.
Chapter 3, “Input Devices” describes keyboard and mouse input models.
Chapter 4, “Audible and Visual Interface Cues” describes audible and visual cues.
Chapter 5, “Specifying Attributes and Navigating” describes navigation and activation within an application or interface.
Chapter 6, “Selection” describes keyboard-based and mouse-based selection techniques and selection modes.
Chapter 7, “Data Transfer” describes user interactions and techniques for transferring data.
Chapter 8, “Fundamental Design Principles” discusses fundamental design and style issues for a Motif-based application or interface.
Chapter 9, “Visual Presentation Principles” discusses visual guidelines for presenting a Motif-based application or interface.
Chapter 10, “Application Development Principles” discusses guidelines for menus, windows, controls, and interface development.
Chapter 11, “International Design Guidelines” discusses internationalization and localization concepts and issues as they relate to user interface design.
Chapter 12, “Designing for Accessibility” discusses guidelines for making software applications accessible to users with disabilities.
Chapter 13, “Common Desktop Environment Guidelines” discusses guidelines for developing an application in the Common Desktop Environment.
Appendix A, “Widgets and Components Cross Reference” shows the relationship between the Motif widgets and components that this guide describes.
Appendix B, “Keyboard Model and Key Bindings” shows the model keyboard functions and key bindings.
Appendix C, “Mouse Techniques” shows mouse functions and button-binding variations.
For more information on Motif and CDE style, refer to the following documents:
Motif and Common Desktop Environment: Style Guide Reference
Motif and Common Desktop Environment: Style Guide Certification Checklist
For additional information about Motif, refer to the following documents:
Motif User's Guide
Motif Widget Writer's Guide
Motif Programmer's Guide
Motif Programmer's Reference
Motif Release Notes
For additional information about the Common Desktop Environment, refer to the following documents:
Common Desktop Environment: User's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Advanced User's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Information Manager Users Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Application Builder User's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: ToolTalk Messaging Overview
Common Desktop Environment: Programmer's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Help System Author's and Programmer's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Internationalization Programmer's Guide
Common Desktop Environment: Information System Author's and Programmer's Guide
This document uses the following conventions:
| Typeface or Symbol | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Enter | A key on the keyboard | When the user presses Delete, delete the text. |
| SELECT, ADJUST, TRANSFER, MENU | A virtual mouse button | The SELECT button selects text. |
| MB1, MB2, MB3 | A physical mouse button (where MB1 is the leftmost button) | Make MB1 the SELECT button. |
| Push button | A new term | A push button is a control that displays a label or graphic that represents an action. |
| Control | A reference page | For more information, see the Control reference page. |
| ls | A command | Use ls -a to list all files. |