I've seen this occasionally on the Mac, most often in Custom Install
dialogs. Generally, it's used to mean "Some but not all of the options in
this category are currently turned on." (Custom Install can offer several
choices, and each choice can have its own subhierarchy, so you can choose
which specific files you want to install.)
For example, suppose the custom install has one checkbox to install the
application, another to install some AppleScripts, and a third to install
documentation. The documentation might have a hierarchy:
Application
Documentation
AppleGuide
Shortcuts
Read Me First
Balloon Help
AppleScripts
Each of these items has a checkbox. The Documentation checkbox has three
states: on, off, and partly-on (marked with a dash - in the box). If some
but not all of its sub-items are checked, the Documentation checkbox is in
the partly-on state. (Clicking it turns it and all its sub-items on.
Clicking again turns them all off.) You can't set it directly to the
partly-on state.
--
jeanne a. e. devoto ~ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.jaedworks.com
