Home · All Classes · Grouped Classes · Annotated · Functions

Qtopia Style Guide: Naming

• Application Naming
• Labelling
• Abbreviations
• Acronyms
• Using the "..." label
• Examples of when to use "..."
• Examples of when not to use "..."
• Currently used label names

Application Naming

Application names are based on established application names used in the current phone market. They are nouns and need to be obvious to a user from any background. Applications that show or edit specific types of data should be named simply by that data, as if the application was the data.

Note: An application's title should be the same as its launcher name.

Labelling

All words in labels should start with a capital letter with the exception of words that are usually excluded from acronyms such as of, and, or to. These extremely common words are referred to as stop words.

Once a certain name is used for a specific item it should be re-used in each and every application. For example: if Contacts and Calendar both have a company information field they should use the same label. This means both applications use either Company, Cmpny, or Comp.

Refer to: used label names table for further information.

Abbreviations

The rules listed below are to be followed when using abbreviations:

• abbreviations should be avoided. Icons are better where space is short
• abbreviations are meant to be self explanatory
• an abbreviation point should occur at the end of a word For example: etc.
• abbreviations consisting of initial letters are written as un-spaced and undivided sequences with abbreviation points after each letter. For example: e.g.
• abbreviations should not consist of any characters except a-z A-Z.

NOTE: No abbreviation point is required if the last letter of the word is displayed such as cmpny.

Acronyms

Acronyms follow the same set of rules as those found in the abbreviations section. Always check existing acronyms before creating a new one.

Using the "..." label

The following rules define the use of the ... in association with menu items.

• if the command has to be refined before a user can initiate an action then yes, use ...
• if the command does not need to be refined before a user can initiate an action then do not use ...
• if in doubt, do not apply ... to the menu

Examples of when to use "..."

Use ... only when the menu is followed by another dialog that is a direct and integral continuation of the command.

• Send All... is appropriate since the next dialog requires the user to select one of Email/Infrared/SMS before anything is sent.
• View Category... is appropriate since the next dialog requires the user to select which category they want to view.

Examples of when not to use "..."

Do not use "..." when the menu is followed by another dialog that is related to but not a continuation of the command.

• Edit (without ...) is appropriate if the user is immediately shown the entire record and is free to edit any aspect of it.
• Delete (without ...) is appropriate since the user does not have to refine the delete command in order for it to work. A please confirm dialog does not specify additional parameters; it is associated with the command but does not refine its functionality.
• Settings (without ...) should be used when a user is immediately given access to all the features that can be set, such as in the Calendar application.

Currently used label names