Slider (computing): Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Graphical control element}}

{{Dablink|This article is about the GUI element. For other possible meanings see [[Slider (disambiguation)]].}}[[Image:Slider (computing) example.PNG|thumb|288px|A slider widget (one of many styles)]]

[[Image:Slider (computing) example.PNG|thumb|upright=1.2|An example of a slider widget with values 0 through 9, currently set to 3]]

A '''slider''', also known as '''track bar''' in Microsoft literature, is an object in a [[GUI]] with which a user may set a value by moving an indicator, usually in a horizontal fashion. In some cases the user may also click on a point on the slider to change the setting. It is different from a [[Scrollbar]] in that it is typically used to adjust a value without changing the format of the display or the other information on the screen.

A '''slider''' or '''track bar''' is a [[graphical control element]] with which a user may set a value by moving an indicator.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eick |first=Stephen G. |chapter=Data visualization sliders |date=1994-11-02 |title=Proceedings of the 7th annual ACM symposium on User interface software and technology - UIST '94 |chapter-url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/192426.192472 |___location=New York, NY, USA |publisher=Association for Computing Machinery |pages=119–120 |doi=10.1145/192426.192472 |isbn=978-0-89791-657-8 |quote=Sliders are a general-purpose user input mechanism enabling users to specify a single input value from a well-defined range. They are widely used in all graphical user-interface systems.... Sliders are easy to use, intuitive, and provide a sensitive mechanism for specifying values. Sliders have a threshold bar positioned within a scale that the user manipulates with a mouse to select a value. Graphical input tools with similar function include dials, bars, pointers, gauges, and potentiometers.}}</ref> In some cases the user may also click on a point on the slider to change the setting. It is different from a [[scrollbar]] in that it is not continuous but used to adjust a value without changing the format of the display or the other information on the screen.

Its most popular use is for viewing and jumping to a playback position in [[media player software]].{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In the [[Microsoft Windows]] series of operating systems, sliders first appeared in [[Windows 95]]. Previous versions of Windows, up to and including [[Windows 3.x]], used scrollbars for this purpose.

== Usage with progress bars ==

Sliders are also combined with [[progress bar]]s in the playback of [[streaming media]] over a network connection (e.g., YouTube videos) in order to show the content buffering position versus the playback position.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} This is done by superimposing a colored shaded area (progress bar) on top of the slider, indicating whether the user can "jump" forward or not.

Sliders are also extensively combined with [[progress bar]]s in the playback of [[streaming media]] over a network connection; the combination is primarily necessitated by the need for the designer or developer of the [[Media player (application software)|media player]]'s (or media player plug-in, if the media is being played in a browser by itself or through a webpage-embedded applet) user interface to indicate the current progress of the download that is accessible to the user. The progress inside the slider is usually indicated with a color that distinguishes it from the rest of the slider, including the indicator, and is usually shown to inch slightly faster than the indicator; if the connection with the server of the media is constantly forthcoming or has stalled, the progress stalls in the last position of progress, and the indicator is prevented from moving any further save for the user's own movement of the indicator (which does not result in any further playback if moved forward past the current progress limit, but does result in rewinding of the playback if moved backward in the diagonal extent of progress).{{clarify}}

== References ==

{{reflist}}

== External links ==

* [http://developer.yahoo.com/yui/examples/slider/index.html Yahoo! UI Library]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070503124527/http://ajax.asp.net/ajaxtoolkit/Slider/Slider.aspx ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit]

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070502220553/http://wiki.script.aculo.us/scriptaculous/show/SliderDemo script.aculo.us wiki]

{{Graphical control elements}}

[[Category:Graphical control elements]]

{{GUI widgets}}

[[Category:Widgets]]

{{GUI widgets-stub}}

[[fr:Slider (informatique)]]

[[it:Slider]]