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List:       kde-devel
Subject:    Re: Pop-up windows always on top?
From:       David Faure <david () mandrakesoft ! com>
Date:       2000-05-01 22:59:28
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On Tue, May 02, 2000 at 12:46:32AM +0200, Thomas wrote:
> > 
> > On Mon, May 01, 2000 at 10:12:01PM +0200, Thomas wrote:
> > > > 
> > > > Shouldn't non-modeless windows of an application always be on top of any
> > > > other windows of the application?
> > > > 
> > > Yes it should.
> > > 
> > > on a related issue, selecting an icon for an kdesktop.desktop entry (in the 
> > > properties dialog) a window comes up which is modeless. I believe this one
> > > should be non-modeless.
> > 
> > Hmm, I made it the way it is (I'm confused by the naming. modeless ==
> > has a parent window ?) following to a user's report... He "lost the window",
> > much the way described at the beginning of the thread.
> 
> THe naming:
> Modeless: a dialog which opens and does not allow input into parent window
>   while open.
> non-Modeless: a dialog which opens and alows you to use the parent window  
>   while the dialog is not open.

Thanks :)

> Most dialogs should be Modeless.
> 
> > 
> > I am a bit... unsure about when to use modeless and non-modeless windows,
> > in fact. When a parent is given (i.e. modeless I suppose), then you can't
> > do anything in the parent window - which is often annoying, and when
> > it is created without a parent (i.e. non-modeless?), then it can
> > "disappear" under the other windows. That's life I suppose... no perfect solution...
> 
> >From a usebility perspective all windows that require you to enter info and are
> closed afterwards should be non-modeless (ie have a parent)
> 
> The problem described in the origional thread where the window disappears is
> a more real-life problem then you might imagine. 
> 
> Consider this: 
> - with a small dialog and a window-to-front mouse setting any modeless dialog
> will be lost in no time.
> - dialogs often have no taskbar entry, which makes them impossible to access.

Yes, but at the same time it's nice when a dialog such as "search in text"
is non-modeless, so that you can edit the text a bit, then keep searching.

This shouldn't mean that it becomes easy to "lose" the dialog though -
and that's where I regret the lack of something better (some sort of
a non-modeless-stay-on-top dialog).

-- 
David FAURE, david@mandrakesoft.com, faure@kde.org
http://home.clara.net/faure/
KDE, Making The Future of Computing Available Today
See http://www.kde.org/kde1-and-kde2.html for how to set up KDE 2

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