Icons may appear on the desktop and in windows. Icons are pictorial representations of objects. This goes beyond the use of icons in Windows 3.1, which only represented minimized windows. Your software should provide and register icons for its application file and any of its associated document or data files.
Note
For more information about the use of icons, see Chapter 10, "Integrating with the System." For information about icon design, see Chapter 13, "Visual Design."
Windows includes a number of icons that represent basic objects, such as the following.
Table 3.1 Icons
Icon |
Type |
Function |
System Folder |
Provides access to a user's private storage. | |
System Folder |
Provides access to the network. | |
Folder |
Provides organization of files and folders. | |
Shortcut |
Provides access to other objects. A shortcut icon uses the icon of the type of file it is linked to, overlaid with the link symbol. | |
Saved Search |
Locates files or folders. | |
Application |
Allows browsing of the content of a user's computer or the network. | |
System Folder |
Stores deleted icons. | |
System Folder |
Provides access to properties of installed devices and resources (for example, fonts, displays, and keyboards). |