Editing Menu (computing) (section)

== Types of menus ==
[[Image:Text menu.png|thumb|351px|Text-based menu in an application program]]
[[Image:Menu-cursor-anim.gif|thumb|351px|Text-based menu (German) with selection by cursor keys or mouse]]

A computer using a [[command line interface]] may present a list of relevant commands with assigned short-cuts (digits, numbers or characters) on the screen. Entering the appropriate short-cut selects a menu item. A more sophisticated solution offers navigation using the cursor keys or the mouse (even in two dimensions; then the menu items appear or disappear similarly to the menus common in GUIs). The current selection is highlighted and can be activated by pressing the enter key.

A computer using a [[graphical user interface]] presents menus with a combination of [[Plain text|text]] and [[icon (computing)|symbol]]s to represent choices.  By ''clicking'' on one of the symbols or text, the operator is selecting the instruction that the symbol represents.  A [[context menu]] is a menu in which the choices presented to the operator are automatically modified according to the current context in which the operator is working.

A common use of menus is to provide convenient access to various operations such as saving or opening a [[computer file|file]], quitting a [[computer program|program]], or manipulating data.  Most [[widget toolkit]]s provide some form of pull-down or [[Popup menu|pop-up menu]].  Pull-down menus are the type commonly used in [[menu bar]]s (usually near the top of a [[window (computing)|window]] or screen), which are most often used for performing actions, whereas pop-up (or "fly-out") menus are more likely to be used for setting a value, and might appear anywhere in a window.

According to traditional [[human interface]] guidelines, menu names were always supposed to be ''verbs'', such as "file", "edit" and so on.<ref>[https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/AppleHIGuidelines/XHIGDesignProcess/XHIGDesignProcess.html Apple Human Interface Guidelines – Menus]</ref> This has been largely ignored in subsequent user interface developments. A single-word verb however is sometimes unclear, and so as to allow for multiple word menu names, the idea of a vertical menu was invented, as seen in [[NeXTSTEP]].

Menus are now also seen in [[consumer electronics]], starting with [[TV set]]s and [[VCR]]s that gained [[on-screen display]]s in the early 1990s, and extending into [[computer monitor]]s and [[DVD player]]s.  Menus allow the control of settings like [[tint]], [[brightness]], [[display contrast|contrast]], [[bass (sound)|bass]] and [[Treble clef|treble]], and other functions such as [[channel memory]] and [[closed captioning]].  Other electronics with [[text display|text-only display]]s can also have menus, anything from [[business telephone system]]s with digital telephones, to [[weather radio]]s that can be set to respond only to specific [[weather warning]]s in a specific area.  Other more recent electronics in the 2000s also have menus, such as [[digital media player]]s.