Re: Radio Button

[Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM>]

On 14 Oct 96,  you wrote:

> What do you call the round buttons that appear in some GUIs? There
> are checkboxes, which are square and can have an X or be blank,

(snipped)

> >only one of the options. Apparently, the official name for these
> >round checkboxes is "radio buttons", but that name

Rebecca,

From the newest Microsoft Manual of Style:

Radio button:
"Refers to option button, the round button in dialog boxes that users
select to make one choice from among several items. Do not use in
end-user documentation; use option or the specific name of the option
instead. Avoid in technical documentation. If necessary for a
particular technical audience or to maintain consistency with previous
documentation, use option button, noting on first use that it's also
called radio button, and include in the index as a synonym for option
button."

Option button makes the most sense since there is almost always two
of these "options" to choose from. Technically, these buttons
represent an either-or option selection. If you can select several
options simultaneously, most GUI designers use check boxes.

Hope this helps.

Jane Bergen
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
 janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
 AnswerSoft, Inc.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^