Pie menu
In a pie menu or pie - menu (of English. Pie, a kind of cake or pie) is in software engineering to a menu that is circularly around a reference point (eg, mouse, computer game character ) are shown. The options are selected by " shown " to the input device such as the mouse, in a certain direction. In most cases, pie menus take on the role of a context menu.
Pie menus are used in computer programs since the early 1990s. Despite her repeatedly emphasized ease of use they are compared to conventional linear pull-down menus still relatively uncommon in graphical user interfaces. This is mainly due to the low availability of standardized libraries for user interfaces that support this form of interaction.
Pros and Cons
As an advantage of pie menus is often stated that the navigation is made more efficient, faster and less error-prone by a graphical user interface, since it is easier to quickly indicate a direction from a point than to make an entry of a pop-up menus. This has been scientifically proven in 1954 by Paul Fitts.
Disadvantage is the low level of support so far this menu by computer programs, with the exception of games. In addition, complex menus with entries with longer labels are more difficult to implement than in pop-up menus.
Applications
Desktop Environments and Window Managers
So far, there are very few complete desktop surfaces that consistently focus on pie menu. The first window manager who used this feature at least partially, was the UDE window manager, which is being developed since 1998 for Unix operating systems. Also the 3D window manager Metisse, which is included with some Linux distributions since 2007, pie menu includes as functionality. For the GNOME desktop environment, there is a plugin.
In the development of Microsoft Windows is announced since the late 1990s to support pie menu. So this feature should (today's Vista ) should already be installed by default, according to a 1999 announcement made by Microsoft as part of a newly designed interface, in the sixth generation of Windows NT, but it was on the seventh generation expected for 2009 ( Windows 7) moved. In Windows 8, and the Modern UI surface is amplified set to pie menus.
For Windows, there is the software SmartPie that transfers the concept of launching programs and similar actions, or for example RadialM that provides individual functions via pie menus.
Games
Unlike other programs pie menus are very popular for quite some time in computer games. Examples include The Sims, Silver, Second Life, Secret of Mana, Neverwinter Nights or Crysis.
Other application programs
Application programs are set up so far only sporadically for use with pie menus. Most special plugins must be installed for it. The most well known program with pie menu functionality is the Mozilla Firefox web browser, along with some graphics programs are equipped with them. Such was the Power Animator, a well-known technique primarily used in the film industry 3D modeling program, in 1990 one of the pioneers in the introduction of this menu form. Even with application programs in a professional environment are now scattered pie menu to be found. So has the CAD software SolidWorks Version 2010 on a kind of mixture of pie menu and mouse gesture, so often used functions ( switch views, add sketch lines, circles or rectangles) can be reached faster.