Re: forcing a window to the front?

[John Summerfield <summer os2 ami com au>]

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shippy nmt edu said:
> I have dialogs that are modal which means none of 

I* haven't seen a good use of modal dialogues yet, especially system-modal 
dialogues.

A couple of examples.
1) I used to use OS/2. Its default operation is to throw up a system-modal 
dialogue (message box really) to tell you about the latest SYS3175 or 
whatever. You read the message, click OK and the world goes on.

Unless there are two pretty much simultaneously wheen one could be on top, and 
the other had input focus. As you note, it's pretty difficult to click a 
button you can't see. It wasn't until after a few unnecessary reboots that I 
thought of pressing the space bar (you can use OS/2 without a mouse) to 
acknowledge the message box I couldn't see. That works.

2) There's a program on Linux and some other platforms called kdevelop. One of 
the things it has is a wizard (I hate them too) for reporting bugs. This 
wizard is modal which means the user cannot locate information from other 
parts of kdevelop, mark them and paste them into the report.


* I lie. I can't think of a problem with file-list dialogues being modal if 
only one file is required.

In summary, think carefully before choosing to create a modal dialogue. Don't 
do it unless it's essential to your program's use. Many modal dialogues should 
not be modal.


-- 
Cheers
John Summerfield
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