Symbian3/SDK/Source/GUID-0F593BE1-1220-4403-B04E-B8E8A9A49701.dita
author Dominic Pinkman <Dominic.Pinkman@Nokia.com>
Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:18:20 +0000
changeset 0 89d6a7a84779
permissions -rw-r--r--
Initial contribution of Documentation_content according to Feature bug 1266 bug 1268 bug 1269 bug 1270 bug 1372 bug 1374 bug 1375 bug 1379 bug 1380 bug 1381 bug 1382 bug 1383 bug 1385

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<!DOCTYPE concept
  PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">
<concept id="GUID-0F593BE1-1220-4403-B04E-B8E8A9A49701" xml:lang="en"><title>UI concepts</title><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>
<p>The UI (User Interface) in devices based on the Symbian platform consists
of at least one display for showing output to mobile device users and keys
that allow mobile device users to enter input. The number, size, and resolution
of displays varies among <xref href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/devices/matrix_s60_1.html" scope="external">devices based on the Symbian platform</xref>, as do the keys available for input.</p>
<fig id="GUID-84A0AF11-85F9-45E1-B723-47A696C42619"><title>Symbian UI</title><image href="GUID-FE89E799-4F19-4C22-96B7-8006EB55812E_d0e41980_href.png"/></fig>
<p>The display consists of different elements, for which the following
terms are used:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>window - an area on the display. There are windows that take
up the entire display, and other windows that only take up part of the display.
For example, pop-up windows do not cover the entire display. Pop-up windows
have frames and typically the underlying window is partly visible behind the
pop-up window. Access to windows is gained through <xref href="GUID-5944FFF1-79C6-4F5E-95C8-F4833AFC64AB.dita"><i>controls</i></xref>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>pane - this is a subelement of a window that is dedicated
to a specific purpose. Windows may contain several panes, and panes may contain
subpanes. </p></li>
</ul>
<section id="GUID-4D941E4F-5954-4132-AAB4-CD4A725862EE"><title>Windows</title>
<p>The following figure illustrates a typical window for an application:</p>
<fig id="GUID-0E232F07-32AC-42B7-B94C-D959FF35AB68"><title>Symbian UI window</title><image href="GUID-657CAC8A-5524-4D76-9CAB-056191D3A318_d0e42011_href.png"/></fig>
<p>Typically, windows contain a status pane, a main pane, and a control
pane.</p>
<p>Note that the Symbian UI can rotate between portrait and landscape layouts.
For more information on the design implications of this feature, see Chapter
7 of the S60 UI Style Guide available for download from <xref href="http://www.forum.nokia.com/info/sw.nokia.com/id/04c58d5a-84c3-42db-83d5-486c1cf3e6b3/S60_UI_Style_Guide_v1_3_en.pdf.html" scope="external">Forum Nokia</xref>.</p>
<p>By default, the <i>status</i> pane:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>occupies the top part of the display</p></li>
<li><p>shows information on the current application and state, and
general information about the device status, such as signal and battery strength</p>
</li>
<li><p>contains five subpanes: <i>title pane</i>, <i>context pane</i>, <i>navi
pane</i>, <i>signal pane</i>, and <i>battery pane/universal indicator pane</i></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The <i>main</i> pane is in the middle of the display and is where applications
show their application state.</p>
<p>By default, the <i>control</i> pane:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>occupies the bottom part of the display</p></li>
<li><p>displays the labels associated with the two softkeys</p>
</li>
<li><p>appears even when pop-up windows are on the display, although
they are not contained in the pop-up window.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Mobile device users navigate through applications based on input from
selections in the <i>control pane</i> or key presses. The traditional hierarchical
tree structure forms the basis for navigation, with mobile device users moving
from one node, which represents a state, to another. </p>
<p>The figure below illustrates an example of a basic state hierarchy.</p>
<fig id="GUID-C8A1E4B5-8737-4378-A44A-21EB14882EF5"><title>Example of a basic state hierarchy in an application</title><image href="GUID-7BE7AC77-4EF5-46BD-A491-1DDBBA20AFE6_d0e42099_href.png"/></fig>
</section>
<section id="GUID-1ADE27AA-CFB6-42C2-8AE2-E7EDD4EC627A"><title>Tabs</title>
<p>The Symbian UI supports tabs, which allow you to collect information
for a state onto different pages. These tabs exist in the same node of the
navigation hierarchy. The concept of tabs is related to the term <xref href="GUID-DAC32BB9-C0EB-42FF-A596-C2F1A90A4BD7.dita"><i>view</i></xref>.</p>
<p>The following figure illustrates the use of tabs in an application.</p>
<fig id="GUID-19AFDF8B-AC92-4214-BC40-DFEC8F32B6FE"><title>Windows with tabs</title><image href="GUID-BA13D0D6-DE42-43D3-BCA8-5B83181B009E_d0e42119_href.png"/></fig>
<p>The following figures indicates how tabs appear in the navigation hierarchy.</p>
<fig id="GUID-F595A77A-00A2-484F-85E5-3318749979E7"><title>Example of a hierarchy with tabs</title><image href="GUID-ADB3FA27-1DC0-4A04-A443-A174EDADF49D_d0e42127_href.png"/></fig>
<p>See also:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-A4560E99-C124-49A1-ADA1-D1B1F18EE539.dita">Relationship
between framework and applications</xref></p>
</li>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-B02C762B-C452-4184-ABEA-4753E6CD47D2.dita">Scalability</xref></p>
</li>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-A1DBE03F-728E-4F31-BE74-5BDA3906C8DD.dita">Themes</xref></p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>The following concepts are also relevant in this context:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-FD2CDEB8-0784-4BE5-A775-170F57D71BBC.dita">UI controller</xref></p>
</li>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-5944FFF1-79C6-4F5E-95C8-F4833AFC64AB.dita">Controls</xref></p>
</li>
<li><p><xref href="GUID-DAC32BB9-C0EB-42FF-A596-C2F1A90A4BD7.dita">Views</xref></p>
</li>
</ul>
</section>
</conbody></concept>