Common Desktop Environment: Style Guide and Certification Checklist

Input Device Model

 

n/a 

 

 

 

Required 

2-4: 

Your application supports methods of interaction for keyboard-only users. All features of your application are available from the keyboard. 

Some users may not have access to a pointing device. These users need to be able to access the full functionality of the application from the keyboard. Additionally, advanced users will be able to use the keyboard to perform some tasks more quickly than with a pointing device. 

Required 

2-5: 

Your application uses the following bindings for mouse buttons: 

 

 

 

 

 

BSelect 

Used for selection, activation, and setting the location cursor, and is the leftmost button, except for left-handed users, where it can be the rightmost button.  

 

 

 

 

 

BTransfer 

Used for moving and copying elements, and is the middle mouse button, unless dragging is integrated with selection or the mouse has fewer than three buttons. 

 

 

 

 

 

BMenu 

Used for popping up menus, and is the rightmost button, except for left-handed users, where it can be the leftmost button, or unless the mouse has fewer than three buttons. If the mouse has one button, BMenu is bound to Alt+BSelect.  

 

 

 

 

 

These bindings ensure a consistent interface for using standard mouse-based operations across applications. 

Required 

2-6: 

Your application does not warp the pointer unless you have given the user a means of disabling the behavior.  

The pointer position is intended only as input to applications, not as an output mechanism. An application warps the pointer when it changes the pointer's position. This practice is confusing to users and reduces their sense of control over an application. Warping the pointer can also cause problems for users of absolute location pointing devices. 

Required 

a: 

Components and applications that have functions corresponding to the Motif/Common Desktop Environment virtual keys must support those keys. 

If these virtual keys are available, the following mappings should be used. Priorities indicate the importance of implementing these functions in your application. 

Required 

 

Help = F1  

Pressing the Help key provides the user with help information in a window or in the status area.

Required 

 

Properties = Control+I

Pressing the Properties key invokes a dialog box for making object-specific settings. 

Required 

 

Undo = Control+Z 

Pressing the Undo key reverses the effect of the last applied operation. This is the primary key mapping for Undo. 

Optional 

 

Undo = Alt+Backspace

This is a secondary key mapping for Undo. It should be supported in addition to Control+Z to help users migrating from previous versions of Motif, Microsoft Windows, or OS/2. 

Required 

 

Cut = Control+X

Pressing the Cut key removes the selected object and places it in the clipboard. This is the primary key mapping for Cut. 

Optional 

 

Cut = Shift+Delete 

This is a secondary key mapping for Cut. It should be supported in addition to Control+X to help users migrating from previous versions of Motif, Microsoft Windows, or OS/2. 

Required 

 

Copy = Control+C 

Pressing the Copy key places a copy of the selected object in the clipboard. This is the primary key mapping for Copy. 

Optional 

 

Copy = Control+Insert 

This is a secondary key mapping for Copy. It should be supported in addition to Control+C to help users migrating from previous versions of Motif, Microsoft Windows, or OS/2. 

Required 

 

Paste = Control+V 

Pressing the Paste key places the contents of the clipboard at the selected location. This is the primary key mapping for Paste. 

Optional 

 

Paste = Shift+Insert 

This is a secondary key mapping for Paste. It should be supported in addition to Control+V to help users migrating from previous versions of Motif, Microsoft Windows, or OS/2. 

Optional 

 

Open = Control+O 

Pressing the Open key opens the object, which is typically the default action. 

Optional 

 

Stop = Control+S 

Pressing the Stop key cancels an operation. 

Optional 

 

Again = Control+A 

Pressing the Again key repeats the last operation. 

Optional 

 

Print = Control+P

Pressing the Print key initiates printing. 

Optional 

 

Save = Control+S

Pressing the Save key saves the current file. 

Optional 

 

New = Control+N 

Pressing the New key will create a new object.