Frames and Separators

A frame is a box with a title that you can draw around controls to organise them into functional groups. A separator is a single horizontal or vertical line that you can use to divide windows into functional groups.

Frames with a border around their perimeter have traditionally been used for denoting groups of related controls. This is advantageous because it physically seperates disimilar controls, and also avoids repitition of the frame's label in individual member control labels. Unfortunately, they add visual noise that can both make a window appear more complex than it really is, and reduce the ability to quickly scan window elements.

Rather than using bordered frames, use frames without borders, bold labels to make the categories stand out, and indented contents. This, combined with good layout and spacing, is usually a better alternative to bordered frames.

Figure 6.31. Preferred frame style, using bold labels, spacing and indentation

Frame showing the preferred style described above

Figure 6.32. Traditional frame style, using borders (deprecated)

Frame showing the traditional style described above

Guidelines