menu
Last modified: Tuesday, February 25, 2003
A list of commands or options from which you can choose . Most applications now have a menu-driven component. You can choose an item from the menu by highlighting it and then pressing the Enter or Return key , or by simply pointing to the item with a mouse and clicking one of the mouse buttons . The antithesis of a menu-driven program is a command-driven system , in which you must explicitly enter the command you want rather than choose from a list of possible commands. Menu-driven systems are simpler and easier to learn but are generally not as flexible as command-driven systems, which lend themselves more naturally to interaction with programs.
There are several different types of menus:
pop-up menu: A menu that appears temporarily when you click the mouse button on a selection. Once you make a selection from a pop-up menu, the menu usually disappears. cascading menu: A submenu that opens when you select a choice from another menu. pull-down menu : A special type of pop-up menu that appears directly beneath the command you selected. moving-bar menu : A menu in which options are highlighted by a bar that you can move from one item to another. Most menus are moving-bar menus. menu bar : A menu arranged horizontally. Each menu option is generally associated with another pull-down menu that appears when you make a selection. tear-off menu : A pop-up menu that you can move around the screen like a window .
