windowcontrol

Window control refers to the user interface element and the associated system support that manages an application's window within a graphical user interface. It may denote a top‑level window created by an application or a control provided by a UI toolkit that abstracts a platform's window management facilities. In desktop environments, window controls typically include decorations such as a title bar and borders and provide controls for minimizing, maximizing/restoring, and closing the window. They also support moving the window by dragging the title bar, resizing by dragging edges or corners, and controlling the window’s state (maximized, minimized, restored). Window controls may also participate in modality (dialog windows) and taskbar or dock integration, enabling activation, grouping, and switching.

Implementation varies by platform and toolkit. In many desktop toolkits, a Window object encapsulates properties for size, position, state, and visibility, and emits events for move, resize, and close. The actual rendering of decorations can be performed by the operating system’s window manager or by the toolkit itself in undecorated windows. Security and focus policies are enforced by the window manager, with applications allowed to request focus or present modal dialogs.

In web applications, the term window control is less formal but may refer to browser windows or in‑app window‑like components that simulate OS‑level windows. Accessibility considerations include providing meaningful labels, keyboard navigation for moving and resizing, and ensuring focus management for screen readers.

See also: window manager, window decoration, modal dialog, taskbar, z-order.