Software Standards, MIS 333K, Fall 2006
Form Standards
Every form in a given application should:
1. Use an Form suffix or frm prefix in the name of the form (remember the form name is in more than one
place)
2. Have a title bar (blue bar at top of form) description that contains the company name.
3. Each form must have a form title (in the body of the form) that relates to the function of the form. This is
different than the title bar (blue bar at top). This title should be centered on the form as much as possible
4. Exhibit consistency of size, shape, color
5. Data displayed on a form should be formatted properly, meaning currency should show with $ commas,
and decimal points. Phone numbers should show in a recognizable format, SSN, etc.
6. Data displayed should be lined up (left justified), and any labels for textboxes should be lined up (right
justified) and be close to the textboxes.
7. Users should not be allowed to enter data into calculated fields, and other fields that are not appropriate
to an application.
8. Student’s name must appear on the form in a label.
Button Standards
1. Use button captions (or text) and not icons.
2. Provide an Exit or Close button on all forms
3. End all button names with Button or use btn prefix.
4. Do not abbreviate names, but spell them out (e.g., PreviousButton or btnPrevious, not PrevButton or
btnPrev).
5. Buttons should be the same size, should be aligned properly, and have equal spacing on the form.
Control Naming Standards
1. You may not use default textbox names for text boxes.
2. Provide tool tips for every important control
3. Using default names for Labels and the other unimportant controls is permissible. If you are
displaying data inside a label, then you must rename it with a Label suffix or a lbl prefix. You may
only use the default if it is a simple information type label.
4. Use the appropriate suffix or prefix on all form controls. (E.g., FirstButton, or ResultTextbox or
btnFirst or txtResult)
Variable Naming Standards
1. Use a suffix or prefix to indicate a variable’s type (such as Integer or String or int or str for the prefix)
2. Do not abbreviate names, but spell them out (e.g., LastNameString, strLastName, not LNString,
LastNamString, or LNameString or strLName).
3. Concatenate and capitalize all component words within variable names. Do not connect the
component words with the underscore (e.g., InvoiceDate, not Invoice_Date).
4. Avoid confusion among variable names, control names, and field names
5. Use m and p before the variable name to indicate module and public level variables
