2.28.3 Converting a Work with... Type of Application

In the iSeriiesworld the Work with... type of applications are very common. In them you are presented with a list of items and several options (represented by numbers) for actions that can be performed on any of the list items.

A List and Menus

In a GUI environment, this basic paradigm is typically presented as a list view and menu options. The menu options apply to the currently selected option and when selected they bring up additional windows..

The basic approach is the same as with the Work with… interface, only the way of invoking the actions is different.

Explorer-like Interface

This kind of interface can easily be extended to handle more complex views of data by adding a tree view to the left. The tree view is used to navigate through hierarchies of data.

Again, the actions are performed using menu bars or popup menus. Another example of this kind of interface is the Windows Explorer.

The GUI list interface has several advantages over the Work with… interface:

• You can precede the list items with icons to make it easier to distinguish between different objects

• In a list view, you can offer the end user four views of the list items:

• big icons

• small icons

• list

• report

• You can represent hierarchical relationships visually

• The user does not need to match an action to a number

• The user can sort information by any column in the list simply by clicking on the column heading.