Platform Builder User Interface
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8/27/2008
The Microsoft® Platform Builder user interface (UI) consists of an integrated set of tools, context-sensitive menus, toolbars, and shortcut keys, that enable you to create, test, and refine OS designs and Catalog items.
The UI provides the following functionality to simplify your development environment:
- Context-sensitive menu bar
The menus on the menu bar change depending on what you are doing. For example, some commands are specific to an editor and are present only when you are using that editor. Commands that do not apply to the current task are dimmed. - Shortcut menus
For many windows and panes in the UI, you can display a shortcut menu by right-clicking an item in a list, or the background of the window or pane.
Using shortcuts enables you to execute a command with fewer steps. Many commands on the shortcut menus are also available on the menu bar. - Editable property pages
You can display the properties for an item by selecting the item, right-clicking it, and then choosing Properties from the shortcut menu.
The item properties are displayed in a property sheet, which might have a tabbed selection of property pages. You can use this sheet to change editable properties.
You can keep a property sheet on top of other windows by choosing the Push Pin button in the upper left corner of the Properties sheet. - Context-sensitive toolbar display
When you begin editing or start a new activity, the appropriate toolbars appear.
To display other available toolbars, from the Tools menu, choose Customize, choose the Toolbars tab, and then select the appropriate check box.
Many toolbar buttons are equivalent to menu commands, but you can also have toolbar buttons with no menu command counterpart. - Context-sensitive shortcut keys
Shortcut keys change dynamically, depending on your current task. You can display a list of current shortcut keys and assign different shortcut keys. - ToolTip functionality for toolbar buttons and commands
A ToolTip appears when you place the pointer over the toolbar button without clicking the mouse button.
The ToolTip displays the name of the toolbar button and a brief description appears in the status bar in the lower left corner of the application window.
To display a description of the action associated with a menu command, place the pointer over the menu command. The description appears in the status bar. - Context-sensitive Help documentation
Many dialog boxes have context-sensitive Help entries that describe how to use the dialog boxes and other user interface objects.
You can access context-sensitive Help for a user interface object by selecting the F1 key when the object has the focus. If the item has context-sensitive Help, the Platform Builder library will open and display the page describing the selected UI object. - Customizable toolbars and menus
You can change existing toolbars, create custom toolbars, add menus to toolbars, move or copy toolbar buttons and menu commands, rearrange menus, and change the appearance of buttons and commands.