ICON BUTTONS — TOOLTIPS ON ICON-ONLY BUTTONS

Context

Decision of 2026-09-26. An icon-only button in K3 names its action in a tooltip. An icon alone does not tell every user what the button does; the tooltip does, without spending layout width on a text label.

Exception. The per-item expand / collapse chevrons of the trees carry no tooltip (ICB-C3). Their meaning is conveyed by the chevron itself and by the tree around it, and a tooltip on every row would be noise. This keeps the "no tooltip" clause of CDT-F3 (SpecCardsAndTables.md) valid, and keeps the Selection card collapse button without tooltip, as it has been since its tooltip was removed (#759).

Earlier specs superseded on this point. Several specs recorded icon-only buttons as deliberately tooltip-free, to add no translatable string: SRL-C6 and the SearchTermList design note (SpecSearchList.md), the queue remove control (SpecOperationQueue.md), and DVP-F24 (SpecDevicesPage.md). They now point here.

Reading the requirement IDs. Each requirement has a permanent ID. IDs are never renumbered or reused; a retired requirement is marked [Removed], not deleted. Status is one of [Implemented] / [Planned] / [Backlog] / [Removed].

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Scope at a glance

In scope: the tooltip of every icon-only button in K3 (qt_quick/): a button that shows an icon and no text label.

Out of scope: see Out of scope.

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Operational requirements — why / for whom

ID	Requirement	Status
ICB-O1	A user who does not recognise an icon can find out what a button does without clicking it.	[Implemented]

Functional requirements — what the system does

ID	Requirement	Status
ICB-F1	Every K3 button that shows an icon and no visible text shows a tooltip on hover naming its action.	[Implemented]
ICB-F2	A button that is present in the layout but not shown (kept only to reserve space) shows no tooltip.	[Implemented]

Constructional requirements — how it is built / limits / MUST-NOTs

ID	Requirement	Status
ICB-C1	The tooltip text is chosen in this order: (1) an existing K3 string that fits the action is reused first; (2) otherwise K2's existing tooltip string for the same action is reused byte-for-byte; (3) otherwise a new string is written, which needs per-string user approval before it is written. (Amended 2026-09-26: an existing K3 string now takes precedence over the K2 string.)	[Implemented]
ICB-C2	This rule overrides the earlier "no tooltip" rows: CDT-F3's disclosure clause, SRL-C6 for tooltip strings, and the SearchTermList and Operation Queue design notes. Each of those rows is amended to point to ICB-F1 (or marked as an exception) in the same edit.	[Implemented]
ICB-C3	Exception to ICB-F1. The per-item expand / collapse chevrons of the trees carry no tooltip: on the Selection page device cards, on the Devices page (cards and tree table), and in the Explore folder tree. This keeps CDT-F3's "no tooltip" clause valid. It covers the per-item control only: the Explore tree's four header controls (EXP-F9) keep their tooltips.	[Implemented]

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Approved tooltip strings

Reference list of the strings approved under ICB-C1. It is a record, not a requirement row.

Button	String	Source
Search text list, exclude list and metadata field: Paste	Paste the text from the clipboard	K2, verbatim
Search text list and exclude list: Clean	Clean the search Text from characters such as _ - . ,	K2, verbatim
Folder pickers (6): Create path, Create per-catalog exclude, Create global exclude, Device edit path, Device edit exclude, Search connected drive	Select the path	K2, verbatim
Tags folder picker	Select a folder	K2, verbatim
Search results: run button	Run process on all results	K2, verbatim
Create exclusion lists (2), Device edit exclusion list, Operation Queue entry remove	Remove	K2, verbatim
Tags: delete	Remove this tag	K2, verbatim
Create: Global Parameters section toggle (a section toggle, not a per-item tree chevron, so not covered by ICB-C3)	Expand / Collapse	K3, reused
Search min / max date and Statistics start date: calendar buttons	Select a date	K3, reused
Inline clear icon of the search-term rows, metadata text field, Selection device filter field; Statistics clear start date	Clear	K3, reused
SearchTermList: +	Add a term	New, approved
SearchTermList: −	Remove this term	New, approved
Settings: text size buttons	Decrease text size / Increase text size	New, approved

Buttons without a tooltip, by design:

• Drawer pin and Selection-column pin buttons (main window): each has an adjacent label naming it, treated as its visible text, so they are not icon-only under ICB-F1.
• Hidden toolbar-height probe button (main window): present only to reserve / measure space (ICB-F2).
• Devices card expand / collapse chevron: tooltip removed per ICB-C3; Expand / Collapse kept as accessible text.

No string is pending approval.

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Manual test charter

• ICB-O1 / F1: on every K3 page, hover each button that shows an icon and no visible text and confirm a tooltip names its action; the only buttons without one are those of ICB-C3 and those listed under "Buttons without a tooltip, by design" above.
• ICB-F2: find a button kept in the layout only to reserve space (invisible), and hover its position: no tooltip appears.
• ICB-C1: switch the interface to French and hover a K3-reused tooltip (e.g. an inline Clear icon or a Select a date calendar button) and a K2-reused one (e.g. search list Paste and Clean): all are translated, confirming existing strings were reused and not duplicated. Run ninja translations_lupdate: the only new untranslated tooltip strings are the four marked "New, approved" above.
• ICB-C2: confirm CDT-F3 (SpecCardsAndTables.md) cites the exception ICB-C3, and that SRL-C6 and the SearchTermList note (SpecSearchList.md) and the queue remove-control note (SpecOperationQueue.md) cite ICB-F1.
• ICB-C3: hover the expand / collapse chevron of a Selection card, a Devices card, a Devices tree table row and an Explore folder row: no tooltip appears. Hover the Explore tree's four header controls: their tooltips still appear.

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Out of scope

• K2 (qt_widgets/): it is in maintenance mode; its tooltips are the source of reused strings (ICB-C1), not changed by this spec.
• Buttons that carry a visible text label.
• The wording of any specific tooltip beyond the approved list: each one needs its own approval (ICB-C1).