Menu (computing)

A menu is a form of interactive user interface for computer programs with a graphical, character-based or rare voice-centric user interface (GUI, TUI or VUI ). It allows you to select the desired command from a range (hence 'menu' ) to make and execute, without knowing exact commands and need to apply. Menu bars are standard today, the Common User Access.

Menus of the GUI (windows metaphor )

Menus are usually combined hierarchically to menu bars on the screen or the window that summarize the commands under key terms or symbols, the basic menus. If these terms are selected, a list opens, the drop-out menu with the corresponding menu items, then trigger the commands (programs, modules, actions of the program ). Special sub-menu items do not perform right out, but open another menu level, as another dropout, as a pop -up menu or dialog box.

Overall, the most important for the user functions that are provided by the appropriate operating system or application program. A variant is a row of icons, toolbar, designed less for hierarchical selection, but direct commands. Mixed forms are common (drop- outs from icons, menu lists with icon and / or text and other shapes ).

Some characters will be highlighted by underlining as mnemonics ( memory aids ) and can be used for quick selection via the keyboard (eg: file), and can then be selected quickly by keyboard shortcuts.

The main menus are available today:

• At desktop level: menu of the taskbar, the basic toolbar and status bar: Start menu on a Windows system
• Program menu

• File menu: basic functions such as opening and saving files, printing, exiting the application itself
• Edit Menu: Undo / Redo, Copy, and Paste, select / highlight, functions that relate to the marked content of the program window, usually also search functions
• View Menu: Zoom ( scale ), Refresh, Full Screen, and the like
• Tools / Options > / settings: a menu using the configuration program, other program functions
• Help: Contents page and / or Online Help, Version Information (about ) update

Then, still numerous specific menus can be found depending on the class of application, such as menus format in word processing, bookmarks / favorites menu in web browsers, and a similar program.

Other menu types

A special form of menus are those that are served with the phone (eg hotlines ). Another form occurs in language-oriented user interfaces are used.