Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 20837
Ellipsis in menu items not consistently used
Last modified: 2004-08-12 12:51:33 UTC
The guideline for adding an ellipsis (...) to a menu item name appears to be that it should be added when the menu selection is followed by a dialog. This rule is not consistently applied. Examples (Writer): File -> New -> Presentation File -> New -> Labels File -> New -> Business Cards File -> New -> Presentation File -> New -> Templates and Documents Insert -> Hyperlink Help -> Contents
*** Issue 20838 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 20839 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
*** Issue 20840 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue. ***
SBA: Reassigned to Thorsten.
Sorry about posting more than once. It looked like the server had not processed the data.
TM->MMP: As talked to CD, this is not a defect but a wish for an enhancement. Please have a look. Thanks !
The guideline is 1) a little different and 2) not quite clear. Quoted from Java Loog and Feel Design Guidlines p.178 [http://java.sun.com/products/jlf/ed2/book/HIG.Menus.html#36226]: >>>If a menu item does not fully specify a command and users need a dialog box to finish the specification, use an ellipsis after the menu item. For example, after choosing Save AsÂ…, users are presented with a file chooser to specify a file name and location. Do not use an ellipsis mark simply to indicate that a secondary or utility window will appear. For example, choosing Preferences displays a dialog box; because that display is the entire effect of the command, however, Preferences is not followed by an ellipsis. <<< On your examples: File -> New -> Presentation This might open a wizard. OOo does not know if this wizard is in fact used so we show no ellipses. File -> New -> Labels Yes. The Labels dialog is even modal. I suggest to use ellipses. File -> New -> Business Cards Yes. Same as Labels. I suggest to use ellipses. File -> New -> Templates and Documents Yes. A modal dialog that needs more user input to actually create a new document. I suggest to use ellipses. Insert -> Hyperlink Yes. Although this command just opens a nonmodal dialog. The user has to enter data to actually create a hyperlink. (Same as Edit menu: Find and Replace. There is an ellipses, too.) Help -> Contents No. Help Contents opens the help window. Done. This is covered by the Java L&F guideline above.
On my to do list.
The cases will be dealt with in the menu terminology spec. Creating dependency to issue 20159
according to http://www.openoffice.org/servlets/ReadMsg?list=releases&msgNo=7690 this issue will be set to OOoLater
As almost all menus were completely redone for OO.o 2.0, setting this issue to fixed. (The ellipses was in correspondence with other individual feature tasks/issues, so there is no one spec to use to test this issue.)
Not all menu items are visible in builds. If after the OO.o 2.0 Beta is released there are any ellipses errors, please file a new issue specifically quoting each menu item that is erroneous. Then any remaining errors can be fixed easily.