button (computing)
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computing Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, e ...
, the term button (sometimes known as a ''command button'' or ''
push button A push-button (also spelled pushbutton) or simply button is a simple switch mechanism to control some aspect of a machine or a process. Buttons are typically made out of hard material, usually plastic or metal. The surface is usually flat or sh ...
'') refers to any
graphical control element A graphical widget (also graphical control element or control) in a graphical user interface is an element of interaction, such as a button or a scroll bar. Controls are software components that a computer user interacts with through direct ...
that provides the user a simple way to trigger an
event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of e ...
, like searching for a query at a
search engine A search engine is a software system designed to carry out web searches. They search the World Wide Web in a systematic way for particular information specified in a textual web search query. The search results are generally presented in a ...
, or to interact with
dialog box The dialog box (also called dialogue box (non-U.S. English), message box or simply dialog) is a graphical control element in the form of a small window that communicates information to the user and prompts them for a response. Dialog boxes ar ...
es, like confirming an action.


Overview

A typical button is a rectangle or rounded rectangle, wider than it is tall, with a descriptive caption in its center. The most common method of pressing a button is clicking it with a pointer controlled by a
mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus' ...
, but other input such as keystrokes can be used to execute the command of a button. However, a button is not always restricted to a rectangular shape. The sole requirement of button interaction is that the user can execute a command by a click action. Thus pictures and background areas can be programmed as buttons. When pressed, in addition to performing a predetermined task, buttons often undergo a graphical change to mimic a mechanical button being depressed. Depending on the circumstance, buttons may be designated to be pushed only once and execute a command, while others may be used to receive instant feed back and may require the user to click more than once to receive the desired result. Other buttons are designed to toggle behavior on and off like a
check box A checkbox (check box, tickbox, tick box) is a graphical widget that permits the user to make a binary choice, i.e. a choice between one of two possible mutually exclusive options. For example, the user may have to answer 'yes' (checked) or 'n ...
.checkState button attribute
in
Mozilla Mozilla (stylized as moz://a) is a free software community founded in 1998 by members of Netscape. The Mozilla community uses, develops, spreads and supports Mozilla products, thereby promoting exclusively free software and open standards, wi ...
's
XUL XUL ( ), which stands for XML User Interface Language, is a user interface markup language developed by Mozilla. XUL is an XML dialect for writing graphical user interfaces, enabling developers to write user interface elements in a manner sim ...
These buttons will show a graphical clue (such as staying depressed after the mouse is released) to indicate the state of the option. A button often displays a
tooltip The tooltip, also known as infotip or hint, is a common graphical user interface (GUI) element in which, when hovering over a screen element or component, a text box displays information about that element, such as a description of a button's f ...
when a user moves the pointer over it. The tooltip serves as built-in documentation that briefly explains the purpose of the button. Some very common incarnations of the button widget are: * An ''OK button'' for confirming actions and closing the windows * A ''Cancel button'' for canceling actions and closing the
window A window is an opening in a wall, door, roof, or vehicle that allows the exchange of light and may also allow the passage of sound and sometimes air. Modern windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent materia ...
* An ''Apply button'' for confirming actions without closing the window * A ''Close button'' for closing windows after changes have already been applied


Appearance


macOS

Buttons in
macOS macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
's
Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...
interface are usually depicted as rounded-rectangles of crystallised glass. Normally these buttons are light grey in color, and turn blue when pressed. The button with keyboard focus (selectable with the spacebar) appears with a blue glow surrounding it. The default button in an
active window A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment. They work in conjunction ...
(selectable with the return key) animates between a bright blue and a darker blue (the same color as a pressed button). Also used, primarily within application toolbars, are slightly rounded rectangles with a light grey metallic appearance. These buttons appear darker and "pushed inward" when pressed. Window management controls appear in the top left corner of each window. These buttons are similar in style to standard aqua buttons, but are color-coded as a memory aid. From left to right, these are: "Close Window", shown in red; "Minimize Window", shown in yellow; and "Zoom", shown in green, which causes the window to resize to best fit its contents.


Windows shell

Buttons in
Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
are usually rectangular, with mildly rounded corners in
Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...
,
Vista Vista usually refers to a distant view. Vista may also refer to: Software *Windows Vista, the line of Microsoft Windows client operating systems released in 2006 and 2007 * VistA, (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) ...
, and 7, with a return to form in
Windows 11 Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...
. In
Windows 8 Windows 8 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was Software release life cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on August 1, 2012; it was subsequently made available for downl ...
, the buttons are rectangular with sharp corners. A button with active
focus Focus, or its plural form foci may refer to: Arts * Focus or Focus Festival, former name of the Adelaide Fringe arts festival in South Australia Film *''Focus'', a 1962 TV film starring James Whitmore * ''Focus'' (2001 film), a 2001 film based ...
is shown with a black dotted line just inside the border of the button. In addition, more recent versions, the default button is shown with a blue border. In
Windows Vista Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
and
Windows 7 Windows 7 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on July 22, 2009, and became generally available on October 22, 2009. It is the successor to Windows Vista, released nearly ...
, the default button will slowly fade between its normal appearance and the blue border. Window management controls are in the upper right-hand corner of the application window, and, from left to right: "minimize" the window (causing it to disappear into the
taskbar A taskbar is an element of a graphical user interface which has various purposes. It typically shows which programs are currently running. The specific design and layout of the taskbar varies between individual operating systems, but generally a ...
at the bottom of the screen); ''maximize'' the window (causing it to expand to cover the whole screen; if the window is already maximized, the button will restore it to its previous size and position); and close the window.


Linux and other Unix-like systems

The appearance and behavior of buttons in
Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
and other Unix-like operating systems is defined primarily by which
widget toolkit A widget toolkit, widget library, GUI toolkit, or UX library is a library or a collection of libraries containing a set of graphical control elements (called ''widgets'') used to construct the graphical user interface (GUI) of programs. Most widg ...
is being employed, the most popular being
GTK GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+) is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, allowing both free and propriet ...
and Qt, though other toolkits are used as well. The use of multiple toolkits can lead to less uniform
look and feel In software design, the look and feel of a graphical user interface comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces (the "look"), as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes ...
across applications. Most widget toolkits also have theming capabilities, so there is no single standard appearance as there is with Mac OS and Windows.


HTML

Buttons appear as elements of
HTML forms A webform, web form or HTML form on a web page allows a user to enter data that is sent to a Server (computing), server for processing. Forms can resemble form (document), paper or database forms because web users fill out the forms using checkboxe ...
to carry out actions such as clearing user input or submitting the form contents to the server. Buttons specified in HTML may be rendered by
web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
s in different ways, typically either using the native button appearance of the underlying OS, or by using a button definition from within the browser. Buttons may also be styled by the developer of the
web site A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Wikipe ...
the form appears on by using
cascading style sheets Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...
. HTML links are sometimes represented by a graphic closely resembling a button. Sometimes this type of link is used in advertisements to induce the user to click the ad and visit the advertiser's site.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Button (Computing) Graphical control elements