Common Desktop Environment: Style Guide and Certification Checklist

Window Management

Window Support

This section corresponds to section 7.2 of the OSF/Motif Style Guide, Revision 1.2. The different window types are discussed throughout the OSF/Motif Style Guide, Revision 1.2 and this book. In particular, see Chapter 6, Application Design Principles.

n/a

Required

aa:

Application windows should be clearly distinguishable as primary or secondary windows based on appearance and behavior.

Primary Window:

Primary window decoration (see "Window Decorations")
Primary window management (see "Window Management Actions")
Window stacking, workspace placement, and minimization can be independent of other primary windows

Secondary Window:

Secondary window decoration (see "Window Decorations")
Secondary window management (see "Window Management Actions")
Window stacking, workspace placement, and minimization tied to the associated primary window

Window Decorations

	y	n/a	n
Required	_	_	_	ab:	Windows that support particular window management functionality must request the corresponding window decoration (for example, a window that can be minimized should request the minimize button).
Required	_	_	_	ac:	Windows that support any window management functionality (move, resize, minimize, maximize, close, and others) must have a window menu with items for that functionality.
Required	_	_	_	ad:	Follow Common Desktop Environment window decoration conventions, as shown in Table 10-1.

Table 10-1 Common Desktop Environment Window Decoration Conventions


	Border	Title	Menu	Min	Max	Resize
Primary Window: Default Front Panel	Yes Yes [The Front Panel has custom visuals for the window decorations.]	Yes No	Yes Yes²	Yes Yes	Yes [Decorations for resize and maximize should be provided for primary windows if appropriate.] No	Yes¹ No
Secondary Window: Default Front Panel	Yes No	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	No No	No [Secondary windows should be designed such that resizing and maximization are not necessary or appropriate. If a secondary window must be resizable and maximizable, the associated decorations should be displayed.] No	No³ No

	y	n/a	n
Required	_	_	_	ae:	Follow Common Desktop Environment window menu conventions. Items should appear in the window menu if they are applicable to the window or its minimized window icon. Restore (R) Move (M) Size (S) Minimize (n) Maximize (x) Lower (L) Occupy Workspace ... (O) Occupy All Workspaces (A) Unoccupy Workspace (U) Close (C) Alt+F4
Optional	_	_	_	af:	Applications should not add items to the window menu. If an extraordinary requirement has an application add items to the window menu, the items should be appended to the end of the menu with a separator between Close and the application items.
Optional	_	_	_	ag:	Accelerators, aside from Alt+F4 for Close, should not be used in the window menu (to minimize conflict with other uses of the Alt key for application accelerators, localization, and others).

Window Navigation

This section corresponds to section 7. 4 of OSF/Motif Style Guide, Revision 1.2. There are no checklist items for application developers.

Icons

	y	n/a	n
Optional	_	_	_	ah:	Applications should provide unique window icons for their primary windows. The window icon image should have a similar appearance to the associated file or Front Panel icon image.
Optional	_	_	_	ai:	The window icon label should contain the same text as the title of the corresponding primary window, or an abbreviated form of it. Refer to "Layout" for window title guidelines.
Optional	_	_	_	aj:	The window icon image should have a similar appearance to the associated file or Front Panel icon image. Refer to "Design Philosophy and Helpful Hints".

Application Window Management

Window Placement

	y	n/a	n
Recommend	_	_	_	ak:	Applications should not require or force windows or window icons to be positioned at a particular screen location.
Recommend	_	_	_	al:	A secondary window is placed by the application relative to the associated primary window. It should be placed close to, but not obscuring, the component that caused it to be displayed and the information that is necessary to interact with the dialog box. Some suggestions are given in section 6.2.4.3, "Determining Dialog Box Location and Size," of the OSF/Motif Style Guide, Revision 1.2. Additional or modified recommendations include:
Optional	_	_	_	am:	If a dialog box does not relate to specific items in the underlying window, it should be placed below the menu bar (if there is one) and centered (horizontally) over the work area.
Recommend	_	_	_	an:	If a secondary window is allowed to be stacked below its associated primary window (not constrained to stay on top of the primary window), it should be placed such that it is not completely covered by the primary window. This recommendation takes precedence over other placement recommendations.
Recommend	_	_	_	ao:	If a menu or dialog box is already on display, reinvoking the command that caused it to be displayed automatically brings that window or menu to the front of the window stack without changing its position on the screen.

Window (Document) Clustering

	y	n/a	n
Optional	_	_	_	ap:	Windows that are closely related in supporting a particular task should be placed in a window cluster. Secondary windows are automatically placed in a window cluster with the associated primary window. Windows in a window cluster are stacked together, minimized or normalized together, and kept in the same workspace.

Note -

Currently the only mechanism for forming a window cluster that is supported by the Window Manager is to indicate a primary-secondary relationship.

Window Management Actions

	y	n/a	n
Required	_	_	_	aq:	Windows should follow Common Desktop Environment window management functionality conventions, as shown in Table 10-2

Table 10-2 Common Desktop Environment Window Management Conventions


	Close	Move	Lower	Min	Max	Resize
Primary Window: Default Front Panel	Yes No	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	Yes [Resize and maximize functionality should be provided for primary windows if appropriate.] No	Yes¹ No
Secondary Window: Default Subpanel	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	No No	No [Secondary windows can contain the Maximum and Resize window manager functions, if appropriate. ] No	No² No

	y	n/a	n
Required	_	_	_	ar:	Windows that support particular window management functionality should request corresponding window decoration (for example, a window that can be minimized should request the minimize button).
Required	_	_	_	as:	Windows that have form factor constraints need to set Window Manager hints for minimum size, maximum size, aspect ratio, and resize increment as appropriate.
Recommended	_	_	_	at:	Maximizing a window should show more content (objects or controls) if appropriate (as opposed to scaling up the sizes of objects and controls).
Required	_	_	_	au:	Windows that have Close or Exit functionality need to support the window management protocol for Close if there is a window menu. In the case of dialog boxes, the Close item on the window menu corresponds to the Cancel functionality or dialog box dismissal with no further action taken.
Recommended	_	_	_	av:	When your application creates a new window, it should come up in the user's current workspace and only occupy that single workspace.
Recommended	_	_	_	aw:	Application windows that are related to a particular task should move together between workspaces.

Session Management Support

	y	n/a	n
Required	_	_	_	ax:	Applications should support Interclient Communications Conventions Manual (ICCCM) mechanisms for session management of their primary windows and key properties.
Required	_	_	_	ay:	Applications should support ICCCM mechanisms for session management of all associated windows (that is, secondary windows that may include help windows).
Optional	_	_	_	az:	Applications should accept messages from the Common Desktop Environment Session Manager that inform them the user is logging out and should save their state at that time.
Optional	_	_	_	ba:	Applications that have a single primary window that is open at the time the user logs out should restore the primary window, in the workspace last occupied, when the user logs in again.
Optional	_	_	_	bb:	Save user context wherever possible. For example, applications that support the editing of files should save the state of the file at logout and should restore the file in the application window when users log in again.
Optional	_	_	_	bc:	Applications that have multiple primary windows that are open at the time the user logs out should restore all primary windows, in their respective workspaces, when the user logs in again.