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We have this in our application specs as well, which thoroughly drove me
nuts until my long-term memory kicked in. I recall that, numerous years ago
(Windows 3.11 era), the question mark alone did refer to the "About"
information, while the question mark with a pointer or with a book led to
the help. It's somewhat analogous to the door and door with arrow icons that
differentiated close and exit.
I'm not sure, but you may be able to find references to this in older
versions of the MS Manual of Style. I would try to locate a different icon
using the question mark if they're allowing the help to be called from the
toolbar, and suggest that ToolTips be used to help the user see the
distinction.
HTH,
Connie Giordano
-----Original Message-----
From: Becca Price [mailto:becca_price -at- yahoo -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, March 14, 2000 2:13 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: QUERY: question mark icon on toolbar button
In the Windows-based application I'm documenting,
there is a button on the toolbar with a question mark
as the icon. When you click the button, you get the
"About this program" information screen. I can't find
anything specific in my reference books, but I thought
that the question mark button was usually used as a
shortcut to the online help -- or am I (as in so many
other things!) mistaken?
Thanks,
Becca
wondering whether to enter a bug report or not.
