Applications that are not file-oriented in nature (or that manage files transparently, not exposing this activity to the user) should replace the File menu with one or more application-specific menus.
Replacing the File menu:
Replacement1:
<app-label> Selected
Replacement2: <app-label><obj-type>
Replacement3: <obj-type>
You may use Replacement1 if your application has more than one object type. Items on <app-label> would be used for global actions that are not specific to an object type. The items in Selected are actions that pertain to objects that are currently selected, and may change depending on what objects are selected. If nothing is selected, this menu should have a single item that says (none selected). If an item is selected, but there are no items that apply to that object, this menu should have a single item that says (none).
You may use Replacement2 if your application has a single object type. Actions that are global to the application are on <app-label>,
and actions that are specific to the object type are on <obj-type>.
You may use Replacement3 if your application has a single object type, and does not require an <app-label> menu. For example, a Print Manager might contain a Printer menu.
All other menubar guidelines that apply to File-oriented applications also apply to non-File-oriented applications. Thus, the following menubar would be valid:
<app-label> Selected Edit <category1> View <category2> Help
Applications that are complex or are extremely domain-specific (for example, an application for medical imaging and diagnosis of cat scan data) may require other approaches to their menu bar design. For example,
<app-label><category1><category2> Selected Edit
<object-type> Options Help
|