Discrete Specification

In cursor control interfaces, a positioning method where the user selects from a finite set of predefined locations to move the cursor to an approximate position quickly. Examples include grid-based systems where the screen is divided into numbered cells, or ghost cursor systems where numbered cursor positions are displayed at regular intervals. Discrete specification is fast because the user makes a single selection, but imprecise because the target may not align exactly with any of the predefined positions. It is often combined with continuous specification for fine-tuning in hybrid cursor control systems.