kicad/Documentation/development/ui-policy.md

# User Interface Guidelines #

This document defines the guidelines for user interface development in
KiCad.  Developers are expected to following these guidelines as closely
as possible when contributing user interface code to the KiCad project.

[TOC]

# Text Capitalization # {#capitalization}
For all visible text used within KiCad, follow recommendations in the
capitalization section in the [writing style section of the GNOME User
Interface Guidelines][gnome-ui-style].  This applies to all Menus, Titles,
Labels, Tooltips, Buttons, etc.

The capitalization for the application names is KiCad, Eeschema, CvPcb,
GerbView, and Pcbnew.  All strings that have application names that are
visible to the user should be capitalized this way.  It's also a good
idea use this capitalization in source code comments as well to prevent
confusion of new contributors.

## Capitalization Styles ## {#cap-styles}
There are two styles of capitalization are used in GNOME user interface
elements: header capitalization and sentence capitalization.  This
section defines the capitalization style and when each type of capitalization
should be used.

### Header Capitalization ### {#cap-header}

When using header capitalization all words are capitalized with the following
exceptions:
* Articles: a, an, the.
* Conjunctions: and, but, for, not, so, yet ...
* Prepositions of three or fewer letters: at, for, by, in, to ...

### Sentence Capitalization ### {#cap-sentence}
When capitalizing sentences, capitalize the first letter of the first word,
and any other words normally capitalized in sentences such as proper nouns.

## Capitalization Table ## {#cap-table}
The following table indicates the capitalization style to use for each type
of user interface element.

Element | Style
------- | -------------------------------------------
Check box labels | Sentence
Command button labels | Header
Column heading labels | Header
Desktop background object labels | Header
Dialog messages | Sentence
Drop-down combination box labels | Sentence
Drop-down list box labels | Sentence
Field labels | Sentence
Text on web pages | Sentence
Group box and window frame labels | Header
Items in drop-down and list controls | Sentence
List box labels | Sentence
Menu items | Header
Menu items in applications | Header
Menu titles in applications | Header
Radio button labels | Sentence
Slider labels | Sentence
Spin box labels | Sentence
Tabbed section titles | Header
Text box labels | Sentence
Titlebar labels | Header
Toolbar button labels | Header
Tooltips | Sentence
Webpage titles and navigational elements | Header

# Dialogs # {#dialogs}

This section defines how dialog boxes should be designed.  The KiCad project
uses the [GNOME User Interface Guidelines][gnome-ui-guidelines] for laying out
dialogs.  When designing dialogs, follow the [visual layout section of the GNOME
User Interface Guidelines][gnome-ui-layout].  KiCad's dialogs may either be
designed with [wxFormBuilder][wxformbuilder] or created by hand.  However,
existing dialogs must be maintained in the same way as they have been
implemented.  Please use [wxFormBuilder v3.8.0 or later][wxformbuilder-releases]
to avoid version mismatch between developers.

## Escape Key Termination ## {#dialogs-esc-key}
Please note that the escape key termination only works properly if there is a
dialog button defined with an ID of wxID_CANCEL or setting the escape button
ID using [wxDialog::SetEscapeID( MY_ESCAPE_BUTTON_ID )][wxdialog-setescapeid]
is called during dialog initialization.  The former is the preferred method for
handling escape key dialog termination.  There is a checkbox in wxFormBuilder
for setting the "default" control, and this is the one fired when the "enter"
key is pressed.

## Dialog Layout with Sizers ## {#dialogs-sizers}
Use wxWidgets "sizers" in all dialogs, no matter how simple they are.  Using
absolute sizing in dialogs is forbidden in KiCad.  See the [wxWidgets sizer
overview][wxwidgets-sizers] for more information on using sizers.  Configure
the sizers so that as the dialog window is expanded, the most sensible use of
the increased dialog window occurs automatically by the sizers. For example,
in the DRC dialog of Pcbnew, sizers should be used to expand the text control
to use the full available free window area, so that the user's view of the
items in the text control is maximized as he/she expands the dialog window,
making it easier to read more DRC error messages.  In other dialogs without
one component more important than the others, the sizers might be configured
to position the controls to sensible positions near the perimeter of the
increasingly larger dialog box, not necessarily leaving them all bundled
tightly together.  The dialog box should look nice at any size large enough
to show all the user interface elements.

Avoid defining initial dialog sizes if possible.  Let the sizers do their
job.  After the dialog is fit to the sizers, set the minimum size to the
current size to prevent the dialog controls from being obscured when
resizing the dialog.  If the labels or text of the dialog controls are,
set or changed at run time.  Rerun wxWindow::Fit() to allow the dialog to
re-size and adjust for the new control widths.  This can all be done after
the dialog is created but before it is shown or use class methods to
re-size the dialog as required.  Reset the minimum size to the updated
dialog size.

Dialog windows should not exceed 1024 x 768 when displayed in a 13 point font.
Note that the font used by end users is not something that you control from
within the dialog, but for testing purposes please do not exceed this dialog
size should the user have selected a font size of 13 points.  If your dialog
exceeds this limit, please redesign the dialog using tabs or some other
paging method to reduce the size of the dialog.

## Dialog Base Class ## {#dialog-base}
The KiCad project has a base class which most if not all dialogs should be
derived from.  When using wxFormBuilder, please add the following settings
to the "Dialog" tab:

* subclass.name   <- DIALOG_SHIM
* subclass.header <- dialog_shim.h

This will provide for an override of the Show( bool ) wxWindow() function
and provide retentive size and position for the session.  For more information,
see the [DIALOG_SHIM class source code][kicad-src-dialog-shim].

Use tooltips to explain the functionality of each non-obvious control.
This is important because the help files and the wiki often lag behind
the source code.

## Transferring Data To and From Controls ## {#dialogs-xfer}

Dialog data must be transferred to the dialog controls on dialog initialization
and transferred from controls when the dialog is dismissed by the default
affirmative action (typically clicking the wxID_OK button) or the clicking the
wxID_APPLY button.  The wxWidgets dialog framework has support for this by
using validators.  Please read the [wxValidator Overview][wxwidgets-validator]
in the [wxWidgets documentation][wxwidgets-doc].  In the past, data transfer
was handled in various default button handlers virtually all of which were
broken.  Do not implement default button handlers in your dialog code.  Use
validators to transfer data to and from controls and allow the default dialog
button handlers work the way they were designed.

## Internationalization ## {#dialog-i18n}

To generate a list of strings occurring in a dialog, one needs to enable
'internationalize' checkbox in the project properties.  Otherwise, it will not
be possible to translate the dialog.

# String Quoting # {#quoting}
Often text strings will be quoted for display which use may used in controls
that render HTML.  Using angle brackets will cause grief for HTML rendering
controls so text should be quoted with single quotes ''.  e.g.:

* 'filename.kicad_pcb'
* 'longpath/subdir'
* 'FOOTPRINTNAME'
* 'anything else'

[gnome-ui-guidelines]:https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/
[gnome-ui-layout]:https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/visual-layout.html.en
[gnome-ui-style]:https://developer.gnome.org/hig/stable/writing-style.html.en
[wxformbuilder]:https://github.com/wxFormBuilder/wxFormBuilder
[wxformbuilder-releases]:https://github.com/wxFormBuilder/wxFormBuilder/releases
[wxwidgets-doc]:http://docs.wxwidgets.org/3.0/
[wxdialog-setescapeid]:http://docs.wxwidgets.org/3.0/classwx_dialog.html#a585869988e308f549128a6a065f387c6
[wxwidgets-sizers]:http://docs.wxwidgets.org/3.0/overview_sizer.html
[wxwidgets-validator]:http://docs.wxwidgets.org/3.0/overview_validator.html
[kicad-src-dialog-shim]:http://bazaar.launchpad.net/~kicad-product-committers/kicad/product/view/head:/common/dialog_shim.cpp