RE: modal dialogs

Modal dialogs should only be used when they ARE necessary, when the
program needs user input before it can procede to do anything else
without getting into incoherent or undefinable behavior. Otherwise
modeless dialogs should be used. Modal dialogs under Windows MFC aren't
that much simpler than modeless dialogs. What isn't simpler is the
developer's task of thinking before acting rather than mindlessly using
modal dialogs all the time. I have found however that most of the time
modal rather than modeless dialogs are appropriate.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Thomas Porschberg [mailto:thomas-qFYQZQr/[email protected]] 
> Sent: August 03, 2003 11:26 AM
> To: software-keyholes
> Subject: [SK] modal dialogs
> 
> 
> Hi,
> I'm not sure if it this count as a keyhole but at least it 
> obstruct the view of the big, wide, wonderful world for a 
> certain time. I speak from dialogs called "Modal dialogs" 
> (This term was used in Borlands C++ builder guide). This 
> dialogs appear often together with a fixed size window and 
> block the application for a specific task. E.g. if I fetch 
> emails from my mailbox to my PC I'm not allowed to write a 
> new email. A window which informs about the status of 
> download process prevents me from typing a new email instead.
> >From a programmer point of view "modal dialogs" simplify 
> work but not 
> >always it is necessary.
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