Use of ellipsis ("...") in menu items

[Jörg Rathlev <joerg jrsoftware de>]

> Colour or mark certain menu items [...] the same
> way the "..." tells you it will open a new window.

This is a common misunderstanding, the "..." does *not* indicate a new
window will be opened, it indicates that additional information is
required (usually, this information is entered using a dialog box)
before the command can be executed.

Unfortunately, most systems aren't really consistent in the use of the
ellipsis, often because they don't use verbs in menu items. For
example, should Options be "Options..." (i.e. change options) or
"Options" (i.e. show options)?

For example, Windows explorer uses "Folder Settings...", but
"Properties" and "Rename" (rename doesn't open a dialog, it displays
an input box directly in the file list, but still it's a command that
requires additional input so IMHO it should be "Rename..."). Many
applications also use "About..." instead of "About".

I'd love to see a system that uses a verb in every menu item, and
consistently uses hints like "...". For example, "Folder settings..."
should be either "Show Folder settings" (no ellipsis) or "Change
Folder Settings..." (with ellipsis).


Joerg