Bars is an advanced bar controls implementation that includes docking toolbars, standalone toolbars, popup menus, and statusbars. The bar controls are based entirely on a command / command link design pattern, allowing for centralized command updates to filter through to every instance of a related command link in the user interface. This also facilitates complete run-time customization support for the end-user, similar to the features found in products like Visual Studio. Keyboard shortcuts have all the features found in Visual Studio, such as single-key shortcuts, chord shortcuts, the ability to be recognized only in certain application modes, and more. Bar layouts can be serialized to a file or stream and later reloaded to restore all the same layout and customization states.