WINDOWS SUPPORT SCRIPT
One of the major flaws with the design of Microsoft Windows and the majority of applications ported to it, is that there is no facility to drive the applications from a command prompt or batch file. The operation of the system in the main relies on visual precision targetting of a pointing device, as opposed to keystroke control.
This makes the system extremely difficult to support, in terms of providing instruction over the telephone, or providing verbal or written instructions to an end user.
Windows Support Script was developed in 1996 by Mark Hobley, as
a means of representing graphical user interface operations and
interactions
through written or spoken word, so that telephone support or written
assistance could be provided.
Windows Support Script was originally designed to describe
operations for Microsoft Windows users, however it can be used to
describe operation of other interfaces.
The purpose of this document is to provide a convention, to overcome
some of the difficulties in the provision of Microsoft Windows
related documentation.
Difficulties
The layering of screen components,
makes it extremely difficult to refer to screen components. References
to buttons and pull downs refer to the top (frontmost) layer.
Microsoft Windows does not have a consistent menuing system across different versions. These notes rely on the operator knowing the difference between the menu layouts, and being able to interpret the instructions accordingly.
For example:
Start, Control Panel, Display
On Microsoft Windows '95, this tells the operator to click the start button, then from the start menu choose settings, then choose control panel to open it, then double click the icon which corresponds to the display settings.
On Microsoft Windows XP, there is no settings sub menu, and the control panel may be in legacy format, or the control panel items may be on a submenu. The operator must have sufficient knowledge to interpret the instruction in both instances.
| Primitive |
Description |
| Administrative Tools | Opens the Windows Administrative Tools. |
| Border |
Refers to the window border |
| Button: foobar | This refers to the foobar button on the top layer. The displayed text on the button is foobar. |
| Click: foobar |
This indicates that the foobar
object should be clicked (or touched) |
| Control Panel | Open the windows Control Panel. |
| Desktop | This refers to an empty area of the desktop or wallpaper, visible with all objects minimized. |
| Display: foobar |
This refers to a message or text on the screen. foobar is a summary or the gist of the displayed information. |
| Doubleclick: foobar |
This indicates that a doubleclick operation follows, instead of a conventional click. |
| Drag: foobar |
This indicates that a drag
operation should take place as described by foobar |
| Frame: foobar |
This refers to a frame on the
top layer. |
| Greyed Out | The refers to an option that is disabled. |
| Hold: foobar |
This indicates the foobar object
should be clicked and that the button should remain held until an event
has taken place, or the next operation has been completed. |
| Icon: foobar |
This refers to an icon on the top layer. The
displayed text below the icon is foobar. |
| List Header: foobar |
This is button that appears at
the top of listed items to allow sorting. |
| Menu: |
The refers to a menu sequence. |
| Middleclick: foobar |
This indicates that a middleclick operation follows, instead of a conventional click. |
| Middledrag: foobar |
This indicates that a drag operation using the middle mouse button should take place as described by foobar |
| Middlehold: foobar |
This indicates the foobar object should be clicked with the middle button and that the button should remain held until an event has taken place, or the next operation has been completed. |
| Programs | This refers to the programs on the startup menu. (See 1 below) |
| Prompt: foobar> | This refers to a prompt displayed on the screen. A summary or the gist of the prompt is foobar. Information after the > sign is to be entered. |
| Pulldown: foobar> | This refers to a pulldown list. The name or gist of the pulldown list is foobar. |
| Start | Refers to the start button. |
| Systray | This refers to the system tray area. |
| Rightclick: foobar |
This indicates that a "Rightclick" operation is required, instead of a conventional click. |
| Rightdrag: foobar |
This indicates that a drag operation using the right mouse button should take place as described by foobar. |
| Righthold: foobar |
This indicates the foobar object should be clicked with the right button and that the button should remain held until an event has taken place, or the next operation has been completed. |
| Tab: foobar |
This refers to a tab. The
displayed tab name or gist is foobar. |
| Taskbar | This refers to an empty area of the taskbar or the gap between shown tasks. |
| Tickbox; foobar> |
This refers to a tickbox. |
| Touch: foobar |
This indicates that the foobar
object should be touched (or clicked). |
| Wait: foobar |
This refers to waiting for a
particular circumstance to exist. |
| Warning: foobar | This refers to a warning or text on the screen. A summary or the gist of the warning being given is foobar. |
| [foobar] | This deprecated syntax refers
to a tab. (Now written as Tab: foobar). |
If the operation is a system administrative operation (ie requiring Administrative rights), the instructions should commence:
As Administrator:
Documented operations should commence from the Start Menu, where
possible.
For an operation requiring elevated privileges, the instructions
should be prefixed with either:
As root:
or
With sufficient privileges:
Primitives
To indicate that operations can be performed without elevated
privileges, the instructions can be prefixed with:
As a normal user:
Primitives can be written entirely in lower case in documentation.