Cycling softkeys

A description is given of cycling softkeys, a user interface technique that combines menus and keyboard function keys. Function keys, or softkeys, are keyboard keys with no standard bindings. Application can use these keys to represent specific commands or actions without changing the use of the keys in the normal typing array. Cycling softkeys provide the user with multiple options on a single function key, since each keyboard function key can have an associated displayed menu of commands or parameters. An implementation of cycling softkeys, the Xerox ViewPoint Free-Hand Drawing application, is presented.<>