TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I agree, we are discussing two different things in this thread.
One is a control labeled with an 'ellipsis alone' and nothing else.
The other is a control with a meaningful label followed by an ellipsis.
The 'ellipsis alone' does not seem to be discussed in standards documents.
Since it is too cryptic to be good design, why discuss it?
(I have seen the 'ellipsis alone' used on a button that was designed to
display a list of definitions for possible entries in a field. That button
has since disappeared from our GUI.)
Jim Shaeffer
jims -at- spsi -dot- com
<snip>It seems that the MS UI design guidelines are now in a book called
_The
Windows User Experience_ which has about 2 pages on the ellipsis at the
following url:
However, there is no information about using the ellipsis on a button or
control, which I believe was the original question. I, too, have seen it on
an application, although I can't remember which.
