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84-505: Until 2021, Adwaita's theme was included as a part of the GTK widget toolkit , but in an effort to further increase independence and divergent release schedules of GTK from that of GNOME , it has since been migrated to libadwaita, which as an overall project, serves to extend GTK 's base widgets with those specifically conforming to the GNOME human interface guidelines . Prior to version 3.0,

168-405: A TUI using special characters such as MouseText or PETSCII . The design of all computer icons is constricted by the limitations of the device display. They are limited in size, with the standard size of about a thumbnail for both desktop computer systems and mobile devices. They are frequently scalable, as they are displayed in different positions in the software, a single icon file such as

252-434: A default was Fedora Linux when it released version 15 on May 24, 2011. Due to GTK 's strong ties with GNOME , Adwaita's theme had replaced "Raleigh" as the default GTK theme in 2014; however, in preparation for the release of libadwaita, the theme was removed from GTK in favor of a divergent, simpler one on January 14, 2021. This clear demarcation allowed for both GNOME, with its own design needs, and GTK, with its need for

336-431: A detailed illustration of the actual entity it represents. It can serve as an electronic hyperlink or file shortcut to access the program or data. The user can activate an icon using a mouse, pointer, finger, or voice commands . Their placement on the screen, also in relation to other icons, may provide further information to the user about their usage. In activating an icon, the user can move directly into and out of

420-510: A document which displays IEC standardized icons. Another organization invested in the promotion of effective icon usage is the ICT (information and communications technologies), which has published guidelines for the creation and use of icons. Many of these icons are available on the Internet, either to purchase or as freeware to incorporate into new software. An icon is a signifier pointing to

504-510: A document, drawn from a broad consensus of collaborative effort, that aimed to set standards and direction for GNOME's design. In February 2010, GNOME designers met again, and produced several more publicly-available mockups. Also produced from the 2010 meeting was the decision to use Cantarell as the default typeface. Cantarell had been designed by Dave Crossland during his studies in the Department of Typography and Graphic Communication at

588-555: A file type, click on Advanced and select an icon to be associated with that file type. Developers also use icon editors to make icons for specific program files. Assignment of an icon to a newly created program is usually done within the Integrated Development Environment used to develop that program. However, if one is creating an application in the Windows API he or she can simply add a line to

672-408: A file) a certain additional subsystem can add a smaller secondary icon, laid over the primary icon and usually positioned in one of its corners, to indicate the status of the object which is represented with the primary icon. For instance, the subsystem for locking files can add a "padlock" overlay icon on an icon which represents a file in order to indicate that the file is locked. In order to display

756-494: A file, file folder, trashcan, inbox, together with the spatial real estate of the screen, i.e. the electronic desktop. This model originally enabled users, familiar with common office practices and functions, to intuitively navigate the computer desktop and system. (Desktop Metaphor, pg 2). The icons stand for objects or functions accessible on the system and enable the user to do tasks common to an office space. These desktop computer icons developed over several decades; data files in

840-399: A monospaced style that is chosen by the operating system shipping GNOME. Adwaita defines two separate style classes of icons that are meant to differentiate between concepts used for applications and user interfaces . Whereas applications use full-color in their primary icons, "symbolic" icons, monochromatic by design, are meant for user interfaces. Each app targeted for GNOME should have

924-575: A new theme engine, improved accessibility using the Accessibility Toolkit , transition to Unicode using UTF-8 strings, and a more flexible API. Starting with version 2.8, GTK 2 depends on the Cairo graphics library for rendering vector graphics. GTK version 3.0.0 included revised input device handling, support for themes written with CSS -like syntax, and the ability to receive information about other opened GTK applications. The '+'

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1008-400: A picture, delete, rewind, connect/disconnect etc...), action in the physical world (e.g. print, eject DVD, change volume or brightness etc...) as well as physical objects (e.g. monitor , compact disk , mouse , printer etc...). A subgroup of the more visually rich icons is based on objects lifted from a 1970 physical office space and desktop environment. It includes the basic icons used for

1092-724: A post on the GTK development blog denoted, among other things, the future numbering scheme of GTK. GTK version 3.22, released in Autumn 2016, was planned to be the last 3.x release, although version 3.24 followed in Fall 2018 with the delay of GTK 4. The development of GTK 4 used version names 3.90, 3.92, etc. until the first GTK 4.0 stable release was launched in December 2020. Despite the first stable GTK 4 release, some applications using GTK still rely on GTK 2. For example, as of January 2022, GIMP

1176-452: A powerful and reliable visual cue, a critical property for icons to embody. In its primary function as a symbolic image, the icon design should ideally be divorced from any single language. For products which are targeting the international marketplace, the primary design consideration is that the icon is non-verbal; localizing text in icons is costly and time-consuming. Beyond text, there are other design elements which can be dependent upon

1260-464: A primary icon. The GNOME Human Interface Guidelines prescribe that an app's icon should correspond to a simple, recognizable metaphor. They are not meant to be flat, but rather simplistic, and can contain some depth. However, shadows are to be avoided. In user interfaces, even simpler, monochromatic icons that work well when viewed at small sizes are used. If color is needed, it is expected that they should be programmatically re-colored. The GNOME Shell

1344-457: A problem can arise with custom icons which are mismatched in style to the other icons included on the system. Icons underwent a change in appearance from the early 8-bit pixel art used pre-2000 to a more photorealistic appearance featuring effects such as softening, sharpening, edge enhancement, a glossy or glass-like appearance, or drop shadows which are rendered with an alpha channel . Icon editors used on these early platforms usually contain

1428-451: A road sign for falling rocks). This category includes stylized drawings of objects from the office environment or from other professional areas such as printers, scissors, file cabinets and folders. Index , which is associated with its referent (smoke is a sign of fire). This category includes stylized drawings used to refer to actions " printer " and "print", " scissors " and " cut " or " magnifying glass " and "search". Symbol , which

1512-405: A rudimentary raster image editor capable of modifying images of an icon pixel by pixel, by using simple drawing tools, or by applying simple image filters. Professional icon designers seldom modify icons inside an icon editor and use a more advanced drawing or 3D modeling application instead. The main function performed by an icon editor is generation of icons from images. An icon editor resamples

1596-421: A simple theme that could be extended by downstream projects, to simultaneously prosper. Libadwaita first shipped with the release of GNOME 42. Adwaita is characterized by its clean, modern aesthetic and focus on usability. Adwaita's design principles are rooted in simplicity, consistency, and accessibility. The libadwaita library was created to further develop Adwaita as a more closely-adherent component of

1680-412: A source image to the resolution and color depth required for an icon. Other functions performed by icon editors are icon extraction from executable files (exe, dll), creation of icon libraries, or saving individual images of an icon. All icon editors can make icons for system files (folders, text files, etc.), and for web pages. These have a file extension of . ICO for Windows and web pages or . ICNS for

1764-413: A system with the software. They function in the same way as the hyperlink icons described above, representing functionality accessible on the system and providing links to either a software program or data file. Over and beyond this, they act as a company identifier and advertiser for the software or company. Because these company and program logos represent the company and product itself, much attention

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1848-490: A user is able to define and manipulate the data and the display for the software program they are working with. The first set of computer widgets was originally developed for the Xerox Alto. Now they are commonly bundled in widget toolkits and distributed as part of a development package. These control widgets are standardized pictograms used in the graphical interface, they offer an expanded set of user functionalities beyond

1932-434: A user to more easily navigate an unfamiliar system. As a subset of electronic devices, computer systems and mobile devices use many of the same icons; they are corporated into the design of both the computer hardware and on the software. On the hardware, these icons identify the functionality of specific buttons and plugs. In the software, they provide a link into the customizable settings. System warning icons also belong to

2016-494: A widget toolkit include: GTK programs can be run on desktop environments based on X11 and Wayland , or others including ones not made with GTK, provided the needed libraries are installed; this includes macOS if X11.app is installed. GTK can be also run on Microsoft Windows . It is used by some popular cross-platform applications like Pidgin and GIMP . wxWidgets , a cross-platform GUI toolkit, uses GTK on Linux by default. Other ports include DirectFB (for example used by

2100-549: Is a selection of GTK GUI designers: The GTK Inspector is a built-in interactive debugging tool in GTK, allowing developers to inspect and modify UI elements, test CSS changes, and analyze widget structure in real time. It can be enabled using the Control + Shift + I or Control + Shift + D shortcuts, or by setting the GTK_DEBUG=interactive environment variable. It was introduced with GTK version 3.14. GTK

2184-546: Is a wrapper for ispell, hunspell , etc., the actual spell checker engine/software. GtkSpell uses GTK's GtkTextView widget, to highlight misspelled words and offer replacement. GTK was originally designed and used in the GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) as a replacement of the Motif toolkit; at some point Peter Mattis became disenchanted with Motif and began to write his own GUI toolkit named

2268-508: Is an object-oriented widget toolkit written in the programming language C ; it uses GObject , that is the GLib object system, for the object orientation. While GTK is mainly for windowing systems based on X11 and Wayland , it works on other platforms, including Microsoft Windows (interfaced with the Windows API ), and macOS (interfaced with Quartz ). There is also an HTML5 back-end named Broadway . GTK can be configured to change

2352-473: Is different from an icon with animated graphics, such as a Throbber . In contrast to static icons and icons with animated graphics, kinetic behaviors do not alter the visual content of an element (whereas fades, blurs, tints, and addition of new graphics, such as badges, exclusively alter an icon's pixels). Stated differently, pixels in an icon can be moved, rotated, stretched, and so on - but not altered or added to. Research has shown iconographic motion can act as

2436-479: Is given to their design, done frequently by commercial artists. To regulate the use of these brand icons, they are trademark registered and are considered part of the company's intellectual property. In closed systems such as iOS and Android , the use of icons is to a degree regulated or guided to create a sense of consistency in the UI . On some GUI systems (e.g. Windows), on an icon which represents an object (e.g.

2520-707: Is mainly developed by The GNOME Project , which also develops the GNOME Development Platform and the GNOME Desktop Environment . GTK is mainly written in C . Many language bindings are available . GTK development is loosely managed. GNOME developers and users gather at an annual GNOME Users And Developers European Conference GUADEC meeting to discuss GNOME's current state and future direction. GNOME incorporates standards and programs from freedesktop.org to better interoperate with other desktops. On September 1, 2016,

2604-539: Is one of the most popular toolkits for the Wayland and X11 windowing systems . The GTK team releases new versions on a regular basis. GTK 4 and GTK 3 are maintained, while GTK 2 is end-of-life . GTK1 is independently maintained by the CinePaint project. The GTK library contains a set of graphical control elements ( widgets ); version 3.22.16 contains 186 active and 36 deprecated widgets. GTK

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2688-451: Is related to its referent only by convention (letters, musical notation, mathematical operators etc.). This category includes standardized symbols found across many electronic devices , such as the power on/off symbol and the USB icon. The majority of icons are encoded and decoded using metonymy , synecdoche , and metaphor . An example of metaphorical representation characterizes all

2772-539: Is still being ported to GTK 3. The master branch of GTK utilizes Meson for its build automation. GTK (and GNOME, GLib, etc.) formerly utilized the GNU Build System (named Autotools) as the build automation system of choice. Since August 14, 2017, the Autotools build system files have been dropped. The most common criticism of GTK is the lack of backward-compatibility in major updates, most notably in

2856-423: Is still recognized as "the save icon". Metonymy is in itself a subset of metaphors that use one entity to point to another related to it such as using a fluorescent bulb instead of a filament one to represent power saving settings. Synecdoche is considered as a special case of metonymy, in the usual sense of the part standing for the whole such as a single component for the entire system, speaker driver for

2940-423: Is to identify and advertise the program and functionality available. This need for recognition in turn sets specific design restrictions on effective computer icons. In order to maintain consistency in the look of a device, OS manufacturers offer detailed guidelines for the development and use of icons on their systems. This is true for both standard system icons and third party application icons to be included in

3024-436: Is used in design of application icons and in illustrations. It consists of several color shade families that are not named beyond their number designations. Those lacking saturation are known as "light" and "dark". This naming convention extends into the applied concept of user interface styles, where users can choose a base style for on-screen widget components that creates a light or dark overall look and feel. Adwaita uses

3108-434: The signified . Easily comprehendible icons will make use of familiar visual metaphors directly connected to the signified : actions the icon initiate or the content that would be revealed. Metaphors , metonymy and synecdoche are used to encode the meaning in an icon system. The signified can have multiple natures: virtual objects such as files and applications , actions within a system or an application (e.g. snap

3192-707: The Apple Icon Image format can include multiple versions of the same icon optimized to work at a different size, in colour or grayscale as well as on dark and bright backgrounds. The colors used, for both the image and the icon background, should stand out on different system backgrounds and among each other. The detailing of the icon image needs to be simple, remaining recognizable in varying graphical resolutions and screen sizes. Computer icons are by definition language-independent but often not culturally independent; they do not rely on letters or words to convey their meaning. These visual parameters place rigid limits on

3276-480: The Debian installer ). Several desktop environments utilize GTK as the widget toolkit. The following window managers use GTK: For syntax highlighting there is GtkSourceView , "source code editing widget". GtkSourceView is maintained by GNOME separately from GTK as a library: gtksourceview. There are plans to rename to gsv. GtkSpell is a library separate from GTK. GtkSpell depends on GTK and Enchant . Enchant

3360-659: The GNOME desktop environment utilized the Clearlooks theme. In October 2008, designers and developers met at the GNOME User Experience Hackfest in Boston. During this event, the concept of a GNOME Shell was conceived. Some very early mockups were produced that entertained the possibility of differing design from the previous incarnation of GNOME. Red Hat designers Jon McCann and Jeremy Perry authored

3444-581: The University of Reading the previous year. It was officially added to GNOME Shell in February 2011, and the GNOME Project agreed to maintain and extend the font as needed. On January 19, 2011, Carlos Garnacho announced his completion of a tangible GTK theme implementation of Adwaita that could then be utilized by GNOME. The first major Linux distribution to ship with GNOME 3.0 and Adwaita as

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3528-478: The application programming interface (API) and theming. The result is that application developers or theme developers have to rewrite parts of their code to make it work with a newer version of GTK. The compatibility breaks between minor releases during the GTK 3.x development cycle was explained by Benjamin Otte as due to strong pressures to innovate, such as providing the features modern users expect and supporting

3612-471: The 1950s, the hierarchical storage system (i.e. the file folder and filing cabinet) in the 1960s, and finally the desktop metaphor itself (including the trashcan) in the 1970s. Dr. David Canfield Smith associated the term "icon" with computing in his landmark 1975 PhD thesis "Pygmalion: A Creative Programming Environment". In his work, Dr. Smith envisioned a scenario in which "visual entities", called icons, could execute lines of programming code, and save

3696-550: The GIMP toolkit and had successfully replaced Motif by the 0.60 release of GIMP. Finally GTK was re-written to be object-oriented and was renamed GTK+. This was first used in the 0.99 release of GIMP. GTK was subsequently adopted for maintenance by the GNOME Foundation , which uses it in the GNOME desktop environment. The GTK 2.0.0 release series introduced new features which include improved text rendering using Pango ,

3780-665: The GNOME Human Interface Guidelines . Libadwaita is a library augmenting the GTK widget toolkit in a manner conformant with the GNOME Human Interface Guidelines . It lets applications change their layout based on the available screen space, integrates the Adwaita stylesheet, allows runtime recoloring with named colors and adds APIs to support the cross-desktop dark style preference. Libadwaita offers tools for creating applications with responsive design , allowing applications to adapt their layouts based on

3864-468: The Macintosh. If the editor can also make a cursor, the image can be saved with a file extension of . CUR or . ANI for both Windows and the Macintosh. Using a new icon is simply a matter of moving the image into the correct file folder and using the system tools to select the icon. In Windows XP you could go to My Computer, open Tools on the explorer window, choose Folder Options, then File Types, select

3948-485: The Microsoft MSDN defines the standard icon use of error, warning, information and question mark icons as part of their software development guidelines. Different organizations are actively involved in standardizing these icons, as well as providing guidelines for their creation and use. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has defined "Graphical symbols for use on equipment", published as IEC 417,

4032-602: The available screen space, which aids in the development of smartphone -compatible GNOME applications. Libhandy is a library sponsored by Purism , which was the predecessor of Libadwaita. The libhandy project was used as the basis for libadwaita. The GNOME Human Interface Guidelines (HIG) serve as a comprehensive guide to designing applications for the GNOME desktop environment . It helps with creation of user interfaces that align with GNOME 's design philosophy. The GNOME Human Interface Guidelines can be found on developer.gnome.org/hig Adwaita's color palette

4116-414: The broader area of ISO standard warning signs. These warning icons, first designed to regulate automobile traffic in the early 1900s, have become standardized and widely understood by users without the necessity of further verbal explanations. In designing software operating systems, different companies have incorporated and defined these standard symbols as part of their graphical user interface. For example,

4200-410: The contemporary humanist sans-serif Cantarell typeface that was designed by Dave Crossland. Corresponding with the 3.28 version release of GNOME in 2018, Cantarell was expanded to include light and extra bold weights . The Cantarell family does not contain a monospaced font , and Adwaita does not specify an alternative. Oftentimes, where a monospaced font is beneficial, GNOME calls for simply using

4284-459: The cultural context for interpretation. These include color, numbers, symbols, body parts and hand gestures. Each of these elements needs to be evaluated for their meaning and relevance across all markets targeted by the product. Other graphical devices used in the computer user interface fulfill GUI functions on the system similar to the computer icons described above. However each of these related graphical devices differs in one way or another from

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4368-458: The current state of GTK 4 development, including a high-level explanation of how rendering and input worked in GTK 3, what changes are being made in GTK 4 (>3.90), and why. On February 6, 2019 it was announced that GTK 4 will drop the “+” from the project's name. GDK acts as a wrapper around the low-level functions provided by the underlying windowing and graphics systems. GSK is the rendering and scene graph API for GTK. GSK lies between

4452-748: The delegation of functionality to ancillary objects instead of encoding it into the base classes provided by GTK. Other changes include: At the 2018 edition of DevConf.cz , Matthias Clasen gave an overview of the then-current state of GTK 4 development, including a high-level explanation of how rendering and input worked in GTK 3, what changes were being made to GTK 4, and the reasons for those changes. Examples of things that have become possible with GTK 4 were given as well. Overall support for UTF-8 The last to support Windows 98 / Me Print support: GtkPrintOperation Caps Lock warning in password entry Improvements on GtkScale, GtkStatusIcon, GtkFileChooser Improvement on file chooser, printing To remove much of

4536-439: The design of icons, frequently requiring the skills of a graphic artist in their development. Because of their condensed size and versatility, computer icons have become a mainstay of user interaction with electronic media. Icons also provide rapid entry into the system functionality. On most systems, users can create and delete, replicate, select , click or double-click standard computer icons and drag them to new positions on

4620-487: The design. Together with the other design details, the shape also needs to make it unique on the display and clearly distinguishable from other icons. The icon needs to be colorful enough to easily pick out on the display screen, and contrast well with any background. With the increasing ability to customize the desktop, it is important for the icon itself to display in a standard color which cannot be modified, retaining its characteristic appearance for immediate recognition by

4704-411: The display. Because they are used in multiple locations on the screen, the design must remain recognizable at the smallest size, for use in a directory tree or title bar, while retaining an attractive shape in the larger sizes. In addition to scaling, it may be necessary to remove visual details or simplify the subject between discrete sizes. Larger icons serve also as part of the accessibility features for

4788-450: The entire audio system settings. Additionally, a group of icons can be categorised as brand icons, used to identify commercial software programs and are related to the brand identity of a company or software. These commercial icons serve as functional links on the system to the program or data files created by a specific software provider. Although icons are usually depicted in graphical user interfaces , icons are sometimes rendered in

4872-418: The graphical control elements (widgets) and the rendering. GSK was finally merged into GTK version 3.90 released March 2017. GtkBuilder allows user interfaces to be designed without writing code. The interface is described in an Extensible Markup Language (XML) file which is written by hand or generated by a GUI designer, which is then loaded at runtime and the objects created automatically. The description of

4956-406: The hyperlink function of computer icons. Another GUI icon is exemplified by the smiley face, a pictogram embedded in a text message . The smiley, and by extension other emoticons , are used in computer text to convey information in a non-verbal binary shorthand, frequently involving the emotional context of the message. These icons were first developed for computers in the 1980s as a response to

5040-572: The icons themselves remain relatively constant in both appearance and function. Above all, the icon itself must remain clearly identifiable on the display screen regardless of its position and size. Programs might display their icon not only as a desktop hyperlink, but also in the program title bar, on the Start menu, in the Microsoft tray or the Apple dock. In each of these locations, the primary purpose

5124-543: The identified function without knowing anything further about the location or requirements of the file or code. Icons as parts of the graphical user interface of a computer system, in conjunction with windows , menus and a pointing device (mouse), belong to the much larger topic of the history of the graphical user interface that has largely supplanted the text-based interface for casual use. The computing definition of "icon" can include three distinct semiotical elements: Icon , which resembles its referent (such as

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5208-487: The increasingly influential Wayland display server protocol . With the release of GTK 4, the pressure from the need to innovate will have been released and the balance between stability and innovation will tip toward stability. Similarly, recent changes to theming are specifically intended to improve and stabilise that part of the API, meaning some investment now should be rewarded later. Some notable applications that use GTK as

5292-445: The limited storage and transmission bandwidth used in electronic messaging. Since then they have become both abundant and more sophisticated in their keyboard representations of varying emotions. They have developed from keyboard character combinations into real icons. They are widely used in all forms of electronic communications, always with the goal of adding context to the verbal content of the message. In adding an emotional overlay to

5376-468: The look of the widgets drawn; this is done using different display engines. Several display engines exist which try to emulate the look of the native widgets on the platform in use. Starting with version 2.8, released in 2005, GTK began the transition to using Cairo to render most of its graphical control elements widgets . Since GTK version 3.0, all rendering is done using Cairo. On January 26, 2018 at DevConf.cz , Matthias Clasen gave an overview of

5460-494: The main components of the desktop metaphor GUI. This model of the desktop metaphor has been adopted by most personal computing systems in the last decades of the 20th century; it remains popular as a "simple intuitive navigation by single user on single system." It is only at the beginning of the 21st century that personal computing is evolving a new metaphor based on Internet connectivity and teams of users, cloud computing . In this new model, data and tools are no longer stored on

5544-406: The major desktop-based computer systems including the desktop that uses an iconic representation of objects from the 1980s office environment to transpose attributes from a familiar context/object to an unfamiliar one. This is known as skeuomorphism , and an example is the use of the floppy disk to represent saving data; even though floppy disks have been obsolete for roughly a quarter century, it

5628-853: The necessary IPC between the X11 application and the X11 server, GDK is rewritten (mainly by Alexander Larsson) to use "client-side windows", i.e., the GdkWindow, which every widget must have, belongs now to the client Improvement on file chooser, keyboard handling, GDK Introspection data is now included in GTK Most GDK drawing are based on Cairo Many internal data are now private and can be sealed in preparation to GTK 3 The CUPS print backend can send print jobs as PDF GtkBuilder has gained support for text tags and menu toolbuttons and many introspection annotation fixes were added Migrating from GTK+ 2.x to GTK+ 3 Completed mostly Project Ridley All

5712-429: The number of icons representing the growing complexity offered on a device, different systems have come up with different solutions for screen space management. The computer monitor continues to display primary icons on the main page or desktop, allowing easy and quick access to the most commonly used functions for a user. This screen space also invites almost immediate user customization, as the user adds favourite icons to

5796-536: The operation for later re-execution. Dr. Smith later served as one of the principal designers of the Xerox Star , which became the first commercially available personal computing system based on the desktop metaphor when it was released in 1981. "The icons on [the desktop] are visible concrete embodiments of the corresponding physical objects." The desktop and icons displayed in this first desktop model are easily recognizable by users several decades later, and display

5880-405: The rendering is done using Cairo GDK became more X11 agnostic Icon (computing) In computing , an icon is a pictogram or ideogram displayed on a computer screen in order to help the user navigate a computer system . The icon itself is a quickly comprehensible symbol of a software tool, function, or a data file , accessible on the system and is more like a traffic sign than

5964-610: The screen and groups related icons together on the screen. Secondary icons of system programs are also displayed on the task bar or the system dock . These secondary icons do not provide a link like the primary icons, instead, they are used to show availability of a tool or file on the system. Spatial management techniques play a bigger role in mobile devices with their much smaller screen real estate. In response, mobile devices have introduced, among other visual devices, scrolling screen displays and selectable tabs displaying groups of related icons. Even with these evolving display systems,

6048-512: The screen real estate. They are also displayed in text, either as the link itself or a friendly name, whereas icons are defined as being primarily non-textual. Because of the design requirements, icon creation can be a time-consuming and costly process. There are a plethora of icon creation tools to be found on the Internet, ranging from professional level tools through utilities bundled with software development programs to stand-alone freeware. Given this wide availability of icon tools and icon sets,

6132-423: The screen to create a customized user environment. A series of recurring computer icons are taken from the broader field of standardized symbols used across a wide range of electrical equipment. Examples of these are the power symbol and the USB icon, which are found on a wide variety of electronic devices. The standardization of electronic icons is an important safety-feature on all types of electronics, enabling

6216-471: The single system, instead they are stored someplace else, "in the cloud". The cloud metaphor is replacing the desktop model; it remains to be seen how many of the common desktop icons (file, file folder, trashcan, inbox, filing cabinet) find a place in this new metaphor. A further type of computer icon is more related to the brand identity of the software programs available on the computer system. These brand icons are bundled with their product and installed on

6300-407: The standard computer icon. The graphical windows on the computer screen share some of the visual and functional characteristics of the computer icon. Windows can be minimized to an icon format to serve as a hyperlink to the window itself. Multiple windows can be open and even overlapping on the screen. However where the icon provides a single button to initiate some function, the principal function of

6384-546: The system. The system icons currently in use have typically gone through widespread international acceptance and understandability testing. Icon design factors have also been the topic for extensive usability studies. The design itself involves a high level of skill in combining an attractive graphic design with the required usability features. The icon needs to be clear and easily recognizable, able to display on monitors of widely varying size and resolutions. Its shape should be simple with clean lines, without too much detailing in

6468-470: The text, they have also enabled electronic messages to substitute for and frequently supplant voice-to-voice messaging. These emoticons are very different from the icon hyperlinks described above. They do not serve as links, and are not part of any system function or computer software. Instead they are part of the communication language of users across systems. For these computer icons, customization and modifications are not only possible but in fact expected of

6552-445: The user interface is independent from the programming language being used. Language bindings are available for using GTK from languages other than C, including C++ , Genie, JavaScript , Perl , Python , Vala , and others . GTK supports various backends, which provides different ways to display GTK applications depending on the system and environment. Examples of GTK backends are: There are several GUI designers for GTK. Here

6636-444: The user. A text hyperlink performs much the same function as the functional computer icon: it provides a direct link to some function or data available on the system. Although they can be customized, these text hyperlinks generally share a standardized recognizable format, blue text with underlining. Hyperlinks differ from functional computer icons in that they are normally embedded in text, whereas icons are displayed as stand-alone on

6720-410: The user. Through color it should also provide some visual indicator as to the icon state; activated, available or currently not accessible ("greyed out"). The standard icon is generally the size of an adult thumb, enabling both easy visual recognition and use in a touchscreen device. For individual devices the display size correlates directly to the size of the screen real estate and the resolution of

6804-463: The visually impaired on many computer systems. The width and height of the icon are the same (1:1 aspect ratio ) in almost all areas of traditional use. Icons can also be augmented with iconographic motion - geometric manipulations applied to a graphical element over time, for example, a scale, rotation, or other deformation. One example is when application icons "wobble" in iOS to convey to the user they are able to be repositioned by being dragged. This

6888-577: The window is a workspace, which can be minimized to an icon hyperlink when not in use. Over time, certain GUI widgets have gradually appeared which are useful in many contexts. These are graphical controls which are used across computer systems and can be intuitively manipulated by the user even in a new context because the user recognises them from having seen them in a more familiar context. Examples of these control widgets are scroll bars, sliders, listboxes and buttons used in many programs. Using these widgets,

6972-599: Was dropped returning to simply 'GTK' in February 2019 during a Hackathon . HP stated that their goal was to merge the needed OpenVMS changes into the GTK Version 1.3 development stream, however this never materialised. The latest version of GTK for OpenVMS is version 1.2.10. One of the main changes made during the GTK 4 development cycle (i.e. GTK 3.92, etc.) was the removal of user customization options (like individual keyboard shortcuts that could be set in GTK+ 2), and

7056-579: Was the primary vehicle for the original development of Adwaita's theme and icons. It remains a major implementation. Similarly, Phosh , Purism's mobile shell, serves in the same role. GTK GTK (formerly GIMP ToolKit and GTK+ ) is a free software cross-platform widget toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is licensed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License , allowing both free and proprietary software to use it. It

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