Preview +pop-up

Preview pop-up is a floating component used for displaying more detailed +data about an item that has focus in the main pane.

The preview is displayed with a 0.6 second delay after the focus is moved +(for example, scrolling down a list with the Arrow keys) to avoid too rapid +and continuous flicker. The default time-out for closing the preview pop-up +is the same as for the Information pop-up, but it is possible to adjust it +if necessary.

Preview pop-up contents cannot be scrolled and the component must not contain +any buttons or other elements that make it appear interactive: the component +is the same in both standard and touch-enabled devices and should the component +be used in a standard non-touch device, its elements should not look touch-enabled. +There can be a maximum of five text rows in a preview pop-up, and it is possible +to place a small icon in the start of the rows. It is even possible to have +more than one icon on a row instead of text, if necessary. The number of images +in a single preview pop-up is limited to one, and it can be accompanied by +up to two rows of text.

Preview pop-up shows always duplicate data in a given application to ensure +that the user will not miss any content or functionality even if a given product +does not utilize preview pop-up (that is, it has been switched OFF). Owing +to the special nature of preview pop-up, it is important to thoroughly consider +its genuine usefulness in various applications. Furthermore, the component +should not be confused with the Information pop-up note even though the data +displayed in these two components can at times be identical.

Preview pop-up +in a touch interface

Preview pop-up is a floating component used +for displaying more detailed data about an item that has the focus in the +main pane. It is not a touch-only component, and its basic functionality is +described above. Although it is not recommended to place buttons or other +items that appear touch-enabled into the preview pop-up, it is still possible +to give some items touch-only functions. It is up to each application to decide +whether to make use of this support in some sensible way. For example, a tap +on a www hyperlink displayed in the preview pop-up would open Browser and +open the Web site in question. However, it should be noted that using touch-enabled +items in the preview pop-up is an advanced, heavy-user feature.

A tap +on an item in the preview pop-up can also open the stylus pop-up menu, when +there is no obvious direct function for that item. For more information, see Stylus pop-up menu.

Preview pop-up +for touch only

The above section describes the general case for +touch and the preview pop-up. There is, however, a variance possibility for +the preview pop-up, which is to limit it strictly for touch. In this case, +the guideline for having no buttons or other obvious touch items in the preview +pop-up can be ignored for the most part: if the preview pop-up can only be +opened with a stylus, it is perfectly acceptable to make touch functions plainly +touch-enabled.

Using +preview pop-ups in C++ applications

The API to use for creating +the preview pop-up component is the Information preview pop-up API.

Preview pop-ups +can be used in two modes: in the default mode where the pop-up is hidden automatically +as a result of time-out or input event (either a key press or a pointer event), +or in permanent mode where the pop-up stays visible until it is dismissed +by the application code.

For implementation information, see Using the Information Preview Pop-up API.