Tab (interface)#Development

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File:Language tabs on en wiktionary.gif website. Vertical tabs, to the left, represent languages in which a given spelling occurs, where the selected tab shows the word jam ('already') in Esperanto.]]

In interface design, a tab is a graphical user interface object that allows multiple documents or panels to be contained within a single window, using tabs as a navigational widget for switching between sets of documents.{{Cite web |last=Khola |first=Vivek |date=2023-02-17 |title=Tab (interface) |url=https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6582574524271522717/8279353370664220742 |website=www.blogger.com }} It is an interface style most commonly associated with web browsers, web applications, text editors, and preference panels, with window managers and tiling window managers.

Tabs are modeled after traditional card tabs inserted in paper files or card indexes (in keeping with the desktop metaphor). They are usually graphically displayed on webpages or apps as they look on paper.

Tabs may appear in a horizontal bar or as a vertical list. Horizontal tabs may have multiple rows. In some cases, tabs may be reordered or organized into multiple rows through drag and drop interactions. Implementations may support opening an existing tab in a separate window or range-selecting multiple tabs for moving, closing, or separating them.{{cite web |last1=Elliott |first1=Matt |title=How to manipulate multiple tabs in Chrome or Firefox |url=https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-manipulate-multiple-tabs-in-chrome-or-firefox/ |website=CNET |access-date=29 October 2021 |language=en |date=2014-01-28}}

History

The WordVision DOS word processor for the IBM PC in 1982 was perhaps the first commercially available product with a tabbed interface.

Image:HyperTIESAuthoring.jpg browser and Gosling Emacs authoring tool with pie menus on the NeWS window system]]

Don Hopkins developed and released several versions of tabbed window frames for the NeWS window system as free software, which the window manager applied to all NeWS applications, and enabled users to drag the tabs around to any edge of the window.{{cite web|url=http://www.donhopkins.com/drupal/node/97|title=The Shape of PSIBER Space: PostScript Interactive Bug Eradication Routines|author-first=Don|author-last=Hopkins|author-link=Don Hopkins|date=October 1989|work=Don Hopkins' Web Site|access-date=2010-03-01}}

The NeWS version of UniPress's Gosling Emacs text editor was another early product with multiple tabbed windows in 1988.{{cite web|url=http://www.donhopkins.com/home/archive/emacs/to.jag.txt|title=Email from Don Hopkins to James Gosling, David S H Rosenthal, Owen Densmore, Jerry Farrell about Text selection in NeMACS.|author-first=Don|author-last=Hopkins|author-link=Don Hopkins|date=1988-08-17|work=Don Hopkins' Web Site}} It was used to develop an authoring tool for Ben Shneiderman's hypermedia browser HyperTIES (the NeWS workstation version of The Interactive Encyclopedia System), in 1988 at the University of Maryland Human-Computer Interaction Lab.{{cite web|url=http://www.donhopkins.com/drupal/node/101|title=HyperTIES Hypermedia Browser and Emacs Authoring Tool for NeWS|author-first=Don|author-last=Hopkins|author-link=Don Hopkins|date=2005-09-29|work=Don Hopkins' Web Site|access-date=2010-03-01}}{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhmU2B79EDU|title= HCIL Demo - HyperTIES Authoring |author-first=Don|author-last=Hopkins|website= YouTube |author-link=Don Hopkins}} HyperTIES also supported pie menus for managing windows and browsing hypermedia documents with PostScript applets.

While Boeing Calc already utilized tabbed sheets (as so-called word pads) since at least 1987, Borland's Quattro Pro popularized tabs for spreadsheets in 1992. Microsoft Word in 1993 used them to simplify submenus.{{r|seymour19940315}} In 1994, BookLink Technologies featured tabbed windows in its InternetWorks browser. That same year, the text editor UltraEdit also appeared with a modern multi-row tabbed interface. The tabbed interface approach was then followed by the Internet Explorer shell NetCaptor in 1997. These were followed by several others like IBrowse in 1999, and Opera in 2000 (with the release of version 4 - although an MDI interface was supported before then), MultiViews October 2000, which changed its name into MultiZilla on April 1st, 2001 (an extension for the Mozilla Application Suite{{cite web|url=http://multizilla.mozdev.org/history.html|title=Mozdev.org - multizilla: history|last=van Rantwijk|first=HJ|publisher=Mozilla|access-date=2010-03-01|archive-date=2008-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207023540/http://multizilla.mozdev.org/history.html|url-status=dead}}), Galeon in early 2001, Mozilla 0.9.5 in October 2001, Phoenix 0.1 (now Mozilla Firefox) in October 2002, Konqueror 3.1 in January 2003, and Safari in 2003. With the release of Internet Explorer 7 in 2006, all major web browsers featured a tabbed interface.

Users quickly adopted the use of tabs in web browsing and web search. A study of tabbed browsing behavior in June 2009 found that users switched tabs in 57% of tab sessions, and 36% of users used new tabs to open search engine results at least once during that period.{{cite conference | author = Jeff Huang, Ryen W. White | year = 2010 | title = Parallel Browsing Behavior on the Web | book-title = Proceedings of the 21st ACM Conference on Hypertext and Hypermedia (HT '10) | url =http://jeffhuang.com/ParallelBrowsing_Final.pdf }}

Numerous additional browser tab capabilities have emerged since then. One example is visual tabbed browsing in OmniWeb version 5, which displays preview images of pages in a drawer to the left or right of the main browser window. Another feature is the ability to re-order tabs and to bookmark all of the webpages opened in tab panes in a given window in a group or bookmark folder (as well as the ability to reopen all of them at the same time). Microsoft Internet Explorer marks tab families with different colours.

Development

Tab behavior in an application is determined by the underlying widget toolkit (for example Firefox uses GTK) framework. Due to lack of standardization, behavior may vary from one application to the next, which can result in usability challenges.

Tab hoarding

File:Tab Hoarder Bar.png

Tab hoarding is digital hoarding of web browser tabs. Users may accumulate tabs as reminders of tasks to research or complete{{cite web | last=Ramis | first=Ali Jaffe | title=Stop, Before You Close This Tab (or Any Others) … | website=The New York Times | date=October 24, 2023 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/24/magazine/browser-tabs-forever.html | access-date=September 25, 2024}} (rather than using dedicated reminder software). They may use multiple browser windows to organize tabs or direct focus; however, leaving multiple windows open can exacerbate tab clutter.{{cite conference | last=Ma | first=Rongjun | last2=Lassila | first2=Henrik | last3=Nurgalieva | first3=Leysan | last4=Lindqvist | first4=Janne | title=When Browsing Gets Cluttered: Exploring and Modeling Interactions of Browsing Clutter, Browsing Habits, and Coping | publisher=ACM | date=April 19, 2023 | isbn=978-1-4503-9421-5 | doi=10.1145/3544548.3580690 | page=1–29}}

Tab hoarding can lead to stress and information overload, distraction, and reduced computer performance. It can develop into emotional attachment to the set of open tabs,{{cite news |title=Overcoming tab overload: Researchers develop tool to better manage browser tabs |url=https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-tab-overload-tool-browser-tabs.html |access-date=14 June 2021 |work=techxplore.com |language=en}} including fear of losing them upon a crash or other reboot, and conversely, relief when tabs are properly restored.{{cite web | last=Ahmed | first=Zo | title=Zero regrets: Firefox power user kept 7,500 tabs open for two years | website=TechSpot | date=May 5, 2024 | url=https://www.techspot.com/news/102871-zero-regrets-firefox-power-user-kept-7500-tabs.html | access-date=September 25, 2024}} Tab hoarders have attributed the behavior to anxiety,{{cite web | last=Koebler | first=Jason | title=I Live in a Digital Dumpster Fire | website=VICE | date=April 3, 2015 | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/i-live-in-a-digital-dumpster-fire/ | access-date=September 25, 2024}} fear of missing out,{{cite web | last=Cassella | first=Carly | title=We're Getting Buried in Browser Tabs And Scientists Want to Fix It | website=ScienceAlert | date=May 9, 2021 | url=https://www.sciencealert.com/tab-overload-is-a-common-problem-for-people-browsing-the-internet-survey-finds | access-date=September 25, 2024}} procrastination,{{cite web | last=Kehayias | first=John | title=Death by 1,000 Tabs: Confessions of a Tab Hoarder | website=VICE | date=January 21, 2021 | url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/death-by-1000-tabs-confessions-of-a-tab-hoarder/ | access-date=September 25, 2024}} and poor personal information management practices.{{cite web | last=Samuel | first=Alexandra | title=Browser Tab Clutter Is The New Hoarding | website=JSTOR Daily | date=July 11, 2017 | url=https://daily.jstor.org/browser-tab-clutter-is-the-new-hoarding/ | access-date=September 25, 2024}}{{cite news |title=Overcoming tab overload: Researchers develop tool to better manage browser tabs |url=https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-tab-overload-tool-browser-tabs.html |access-date=14 June 2021 |work=techxplore.com |language=en}}

The prevalence of tab hoarding is acknowledged by browser vendors such as Mozilla, and has inspired memory and tab management features in browsers and extensions. Such features include tab grouping, which allows related tabs to be visually organized{{cite web | last=Navigation | first=Social Links | title=Google is giving Chrome users a way out of tab overload hell | website=TechRadar | date=May 13, 2020 | url=https://www.techradar.com/news/google-is-giving-chrome-users-a-way-out-of-tab-overload-hell | access-date=September 25, 2024}} and collapsed; conversion of tabs into a list of hyperlinks; and alternative interface paradigms, such as framing high-level tasks as first-class objects instead of tabs.{{cite conference | last=Kulkarni | first=Minchu | last2=Kapoor | first2=Kshitij | last3=Madala | first3=Deva Surya Vivek | last4=Bansal | first4=Sanchit | last5=Hangal | first5=Sudheendra | title=Compartmentalizing web browsing with Sailboat | publisher=ACM | date=2019 | isbn=978-1-4503-7716-4 | doi=10.1145/3364183.3364187 | page=1–8}}{{cite news |title=Overcoming tab overload: Researchers develop tool to better manage browser tabs |url=https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-tab-overload-tool-browser-tabs.html |access-date=14 June 2021 |work=techxplore.com |language=en}} A 2021 study developed UI design considerations which could enable better tools and changes to the code of web browsers that allow knowledge workers and other users to better manage and utilize their browser tabs.{{cite book |last1=Chang |first1=Joseph Chee |title=Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems |last2=Hahn |first2=Nathan |last3=Kim |first3=Yongsung |last4=Coupland |first4=Julina |last5=Breneisen |first5=Bradley |last6=Kim |first6=Hannah S |last7=Hwong |first7=John |last8=Kittur |first8=Aniket |date=2021-05-06 |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |isbn=9781450380966 |pages=1–15 |chapter=When the Tab Comes Due:Challenges in the Cost Structure of Browser Tab Usage |doi=10.1145/3411764.3445585 |doi-access=free |s2cid=233987809}} 50x50px Available under [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/]{{explain|date=September 2024}}

Implementations

File:Screenshot of tabs in GNOME Text Editor.png]]

File:Screenshot of tabs in GNOME Web.png]]

CSS frameworks which have tabs include Bootstrap,{{cite web |title=Navs and tabs |url=https://getbootstrap.com/docs/5.3/components/navs-tabs/#tabs |website=getbootstrap.com |access-date=27 January 2025 |language=en}} Tailwind CSS{{cite web |title=Tailwind CSS Tabs - Official Tailwind UI Components |url=https://tailwindui.com/components/application-ui/navigation/tabs |website=www.tailwindui.com |access-date=27 January 2025 |language=en}} and Foundation.{{cite web |title=Tabs {{!}} Foundation for Sites 6 Docs |url=https://get.foundation/sites/docs/tabs.html |website=get.foundation |access-date=27 January 2025 |language=en}}

Widget toolkits which have tabs include GTK using the {{Mono|Notebook}}{{cite web |title=Gtk.Notebook |url=https://docs.gtk.org/gtk4/class.Notebook.html |website=docs.gtk.org |access-date=27 January 2025 |language=en}} widget as well as the Adwaita library using the {{Mono|TabBar}}{{cite web |title=Adw.TabBar |url=https://gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org/libadwaita/doc/1-latest/class.TabBar.html |website=gnome.pages.gitlab.gnome.org |access-date=27 January 2025 |language=en}} widget. Qt using the {{Mono|QTabWidget}} widget.{{cite web |title=QTabWidget Class {{!}} Qt Widgets 6.8.1 |url=https://doc.qt.io/qt-6/qtabwidget.html |website=doc.qt.io |access-date=27 January 2025}}

References

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite magazine |title=Taking A Gamble With Word Vision |author-last=Manes |author-first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Manes |magazine=PC Magazine - The Independent Guide To IBM Personal Computers |publisher=PC Communications Corp. |issn=0745-2500 |date=1984-04-03 |volume=3 |number=6 |pages=211–221 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e-gI2W-3JwkC&pg=PA211 |access-date=2015-02-15 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317045015/https://books.google.com/books?id=e-gI2W-3JwkC&lpg=PA212&pg=PA211 |archive-date=2015-03-17}}

{{cite magazine |title=Everything Old Is New Again |author-last=Seymour |author-first=Jim |magazine=PC Magazine |publisher=Ziff-Davis Publishing Company |issn=0888-8507 |date=1994-03-15 |volume=13 |number=5 |pages=99–100 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_7aEwukQQ0AC&pg=PA99 |access-date=2015-02-15 }}

{{cite web |title=Boeing Calc - The first truly 3-D spreadsheet. |author=corwyn |url=http://www.boeingcalc.com/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219103549/http://www.boeingcalc.com/ |archive-date=2006-02-19}}

{{cite web |title=Spreadsheets - This new crop of advanced programs offers multidimensionality and natural language |author-first=Rich |author-last=Malloy |series=Review |magazine=BYTE |date=June 1987 |edition=Sommer 1987 Bonus |volume=12 |number=7 |pages=69–75 |url=https://archive.org/details/198706ByteMagazineVol1207BonusEditionApplicationSoftwareToday/198706%20Byte%20Magazine%20Vol%2012-07%20Bonus%20Edition%20-%20%20Application%20Software%20Today |access-date=2020-02-12}} [https://archive.org/stream/198706ByteMagazineVol1207BonusEditionApplicationSoftwareToday/198706%20Byte%20Magazine%20Vol%2012-07%20Bonus%20Edition%20-%20%20Application%20Software%20Today_djvu.txt][https://archive.org/download/198706ByteMagazineVol1207BonusEditionApplicationSoftwareToday/198706%20Byte%20Magazine%20Vol%2012-07%20Bonus%20Edition%20-%20%20Application%20Software%20Today_text.pdf][http://www.aresluna.org/attached/computerhistory/articles/spreadsheets/newcrop]

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External links

[https://tabpanelwidget.com/ TabPanel Widget]
[http://ajax.asp.net/ajaxtoolkit/Tabs/Tabs.aspx ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit]
[https://wiki.github.com/madrobby/scriptaculous/tabs Scriptaculous AJAX tabs]
[http://www.donhopkins.com/home/movies/TabWindowDemo.mov Tab Window Demo] deDevelopmentmo of the Pie Menu Tab Window Manager for The NeWS Toolkit 2.0 (1991).

Category:Graphical user interface elements

Category:Document interface

Category:Graphical control elements