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■Mini: Mini system font.

Control spacing: There should be 8 pixels between individual rectangular-style toolbar controls. Note that this happens automatically, and that this spacing can change depending on the length of the external label.

Rectangular-Style Toolbar Control Implementation

Rectangular-style toolbar controls are available in Interface Builder. In the Interface Builder library, these controls are called Round Textured Buttons. To create one using Application Kit programming interfaces, use the setBezelStyle: method of NSButtonCell with NSTexturedRoundedBezelStyle as the argument.

The blue glow you see behind the calendar image in the iCal segmented control (shown in Figure 15-4 (page 253)) is an effect Application Kit provides under some circumstances. The effect indicates an on state in a properly configured segmented control that behaves like a set of checkboxes or a button that behaves like a toggle button. Although it is possible that the precise appearance of this on-state look may change in future releases of Mac OS X, you can continue to receive appropriate on-state processing if you configure these two controls as described here.

To provide a segmented control that displays an on-state appearance (similar to the segmented control in the iCal bottom bar), use an NSSegmentedControl object with style NSSegmentStyleTexturedRounded and mode NSSegmentSwitchTrackingSelectAny. If you’re using Interface Builder, place a Segmented Control object in your toolbar or bottom bar; in the Attributes pane of the inspector, set the style to Textured Rounded and the mode to Select Any. Be sure to provide an image for the control (in Interface Builder, select an image from the Image combo box in the Attributes pane of the inspector).

To provide a toggle-style button that displays an on-state appearance, use an NSButton object with style NSTexturedRoundedBezelStyle, with which you’ve associated an image. Be sure the button cell’s showsStateBy mask contains NSContentsCellMask. This means that Application Kit uses the alternate image and title when the cell’s state is NSOnState. However, to get the on-state glow do not provide an alternate image. If you’re using Interface Builder, place a Rounded Textured Button object in your toolbar or bottom bar; in the Attributes pane of the inspector, set the mode to Toggle, provide an image, and do not provide an alternate image.

Capsule-Style Toolbar Controls

The capsule-style toolbar control can be used in toolbars, but should not be used in bottom bars. The capsule-style toolbar control is a versatile control that can be used as a push button, a toggle button, or a segmented control. Figure 15-5 highlights one of the variations of the capsule-style toolbar control in a Preview window.

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Figure 15-5 A capsule-style toolbar control used as a segmented control

Capsule-style toolbar controls

Capsule-Style Toolbar Control Usage

Use capsule-style toolbar controls in a toolbar to give users access to frequently used objects and commands (for guidelines on designing the contents of a toolbar, see “Designing a Toolbar” (page 199)). For example, Mail uses capsule-style toolbar buttons and segmented controls to provide a myriad of functions to the user, such as getting new mail, creating notes or to-do items, and flagging messages. Figure 15-6 shows these controls in the Mail toolbar.

Window-Frame Controls

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Figure 15-6 Capsule-style toolbar controls in a toolbar

Do not use capsule-style toolbar controls in a bottom bar. If you use capsule-style toolbar controls in the toolbar, but you also need to provide bottom-bar controls, instead use rectangular-style toolbar controls in both areas to avoid mixing the styles in a single window. See “Rectangular-Style Toolbar Controls” (page 250) for more information about the rectangular-style toolbar controls.

Capsule-Style Toolbar Control Contents and Labeling

Capsule style toolbar buttons can contain text or images. If you provide a capsule-style segmented control, avoid displaying text in some segments and icons in others. Instead, make sure every segment in the control has the same type of content.

If you display an icon in a capsule-style toolbar control, be sure the meaning of the icon is clear and unambiguous (see “Cultural Values” (page 47) for some advice on choosing appropriate imagery). In Mac OS X v10.5 and later, Interface Builder makes it easy to add system-provided images, such as the plus sign, the accounts symbol, and the Action menu symbol. See “System-Provided Images” (page 151) for more information on images available in Mac OS X v10.5 and later.

If you decide to create your own icons to display in a capsule-style toolbar control, see “Designing Icons for Capsule-Style Toolbar Controls” (page 150) for some tips and guidelines.

If you want to display text in a capsule-style toolbar control, use a noun (or noun phrase) that describes an object, setting, or state, or use a verb (or verb phrase) that describes an action. Text in capsule-style toolbar controls has title-style capitalization (see “Capitalization of Interface Element Labels and Text” (page 131) for more on this style).

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2008-06-09 | © 1992, 2001-2003, 2008 Apple Inc. All Rights Reserved.