Re: When should we use "..." for menu items?

[Matthew Thomas]

Charles Manske wrote:
> 
> Henri Sivonen wrote:
>...
> > Prefereces... is supposed to have the ellipsis according to the Mac
> > OS 8 HIG addition.
>
> Then I think that disagrees with the Mac guidlines that Simon pointed
> us to. Setting the preferences is the end goal, not "extra input"
> toward some other goal. Thus no "..." should be used, just like the
> "Info" example.
>...

Not at all. You don't Edit the Preferences simply by opening the window.
You have to manipulate the controls in the Preferences dialog in order
to change any of the preferences (and since the window is modal, you
need to click the `Ok' button too). More input is required, therefore an
ellipsis is necessary in the menu item.

`Get Info' does not have an ellipsis because once the window opens, the
Info has been Got. No further input is required to Get the Info. If the
item was `Change Info', or if `Info' was in the `Edit' menu or the
`Format' menu, then it would need an ellipsis.

-- 
Matthew `mpt' Thomas, Mozilla user interface QA