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List:       kde-look
Subject:    Re: DialogBoxes (was: Cookie window popup)
From:       "Steven D'Aprano" <dippy () mikka ! net ! au>
Date:       2000-09-10 16:44:57
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dhennig@altavista.de wrote:
> 
> Right now, a Message Box is always a window. So it should be called 
> Message Window. And that is the problem: I don't like the idea of a 
> new window arising, that blocks the original window.

Firstly, I'd like to check that we are agreeing on terminology. By
blocking, do you mean that a modal dialog prevents the user from
clicking on the original and giving it focus or bringing it to the front
layer?

I think that is pretty much unavoidable for modal dialogs, which is an
excellent reason for not using modal dialogs unless neccessary.

> > Also can you move these dialog boxes. (they are always on top of 
> > the thing you are asked about.)
> I dont' know if they are moveable on aqua, but i don't think so. But 
> even with a window, when the main window is blocked, it is often not 
> possible e.g. to scroll to the necessary information.

This isn't a fault of the modal dialog itself, but of poor design of the
application. If a modal dialog needs to refer to a particular part of a
document window (eg to report an error in Line 300), then the app should
either duplicate this information in the dialog, or scroll to the
correct line and position the dialog so it *doesn't* cover the
information it refers to.

Positioning of dialogs is *very* important. There are many examples
under Windows where badly positioned dialogs confuse users, even
experienced users like myself.

For instance, (going by memory here, its been a while), if you open the
Monitors control panel, and then open a sub-dialog, you have modal
dialog with OK and Cancel buttons positioned over the top of the
Monitors CP. The trouble is, the CP's own OK and Cancel buttons are
still visible. In my experience, the user doesn't even notice the
buttons in the modal dialog because they expect them to be towards the
bottom of the window, and the CP's buttons are further down and
therefore stand out more. Especially since there is no visual indication
that the lower pair of buttons are inactive.


-- 
Steven D'Aprano

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