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Subject:Trees, menu commands, and UI design From:michael -dot- murphy3 -at- usdoj -dot- gov To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 13 May 2002 8:45:47
I have some input into our UI designs. We've been encouraging our
developers to use tree controls to represent data structure. When a user
clicks a tree node, the appropriate fields appear on the window. For
example, if a user clicks the Contact node, the address, phone, e-mail,
etc. fields appear to the right of the tree. The user can edit these
fields. The user can also right-click tree nodes to see a menu of commands
appropriate for a given node, including deleting the given node and adding
sub-nodes.
My manager showed me a custom web application that implements a tree
control in a different way. The top level nodes contain what you might
normally see on a menu bar: Enter Data, Validate Data, Print Reports, Help.
The sub-nodes under Enter Data are built in a typical representation of the
data structure. For example the Contact node would appear here. This
implementation was a bit of a mental speed bump for me at first because it
gives the tree control a somewhat "mixed use" feel: a data structure
metaphor inside a menu of commands metaphor.
Has anyone else seen this kind of implementation?
Maybe I'm just stumbling over label choices. After all, you could rename
the Contact node in my first example the Update Contact Information node. I
realize that there may be a better forum for my question. I know I've seen
a UI design list server mentioned here before, and I searched the archives,
but I have to admit that I am BAD at searching archives (and googling).
The tree was implemented using a commercial Java applet. Hey you web app
documenters, have you seen this kind of use before? It does give the UI a
very clean look: no menu bar or tool bar, tree on the right, fields on the
left.
I'm on digest. Thanks for any input!
Mike
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