GadTools is the easy way to program gadgets and menus. With GadTools, the system handles the detail work required to control gadgets and menus so the application uses less code and simpler data structures. Another key benefit of GadTools is its standardized and elegant look. All applications that use GadTools will share a similar appearance and behavior. Users will appreciate a sense of instant familiarity even the first time they use a product. GadTools provides a significant degree of visual consistency across multiple applications that use it. For instance, in Release 2, the Preferences editors, the Workbench "Information" window and Commodities Exchange share the same polished look and feel thanks to GadTools. There is also internal consistency between different elements of GadTools; the look is clean and orderly. Depth is used not just for visual embellishment, but as an important cue. For instance, the user is free to select symbols that appear inside a "raised" area, but "recessed" areas are informational only, and clicking in them has no effect. GadTools is not amenable to creative post-processing or hacking by programmers looking to achieve a result other than what GadTools currently offers. Software developers whose needs extend beyond the standard features of GadTools should create custom gadgets that share the look and feel of GadTools by using either BOOPSI or by directly programming gadgets at a lower level. See the chapters on "intuition gadgets" and "boopsi" for more information. Follow the GadTools rules. Only in this way may GadTools grow and improve without hindrance, even allowing new features to automatically appear in future software when reasonable. gadtools tags