Re: Usability: Which (menu) button?

Karsten Wutzke wrote:
Hello!

I have a few settings that are controlled via menu items.

For binary values (true/false or on/off):
Is it better to have regular menu items (JMenuItem) with changing text
or better use toggle menu items (JCheckBoxMenuItem) with constant text
where the check represents on/off state?

If they are really on/off yes/no options (eg "Show Detail") then I would use a check box in the menu. If it is switching between two modes ("Simple", "Detailed") then I'd change the text of the option.


For 1 out of n selections:
Basically the same question as above, just with JMenuItem/s vs.
JRadioButtonMenuItem's... (I have to check whether using regular
JMenuItems makes sense at all...)

I think the use of regular menu items doesn't work in this situation.


What are the pros/cons here?

As long as you only have a few options like these then menu items are fine. What I find frustrating is if one needs to set a number of these options at the same time. Placing them in a menu requires the user to navigate to the options one by one as clicking on the menu option closes the menu. For anything over 3 options I would place them in a settings form and access this through a menu item which I would find far more user friendly.

Ed!
.